First round of New Voices completed
NORLA set up its New Voices programme to help new Norwegian authors reach the international market. The first round is now complete and the first group consisted of Simen Ekern, Roskva Koritzinsky, Nils Henrik Smith and Sigbjørn Mostue.
Over the spring, they’ve had meetings in Oslo and have been given a chance try their hand at overseas appearances, participating in book fairs in Germany and Georgia. At the international book fair in Tbilisi, the four Norwegian authors were the special guests.
The aim of the New Voices programme is to give the participants awareness of what translation entails and how translators work. In both Leipzig and Tbilisi, the four took part in a translation seminar, where they worked closely with translators.
- “We are very happy with the first round of New Voices and look forward to getting to work with the next batch in autumn,” says project manager Dina Roll-Hansen.
The spring 2017 programme consisted of:
26 – 28 January
First meeting in Oslo, where the four authors were given lectures on the international book industry and translation theory, as well as an intensive workshop in how to pitch their own writing projects in English. They got a chance to try out their pitching technique in real life during a visit to Skaugum, where they introduced themselves to HRH Mette-Marit, who will assume the role of ambassador of Norwegian literature abroad and will work in particular with the Frankfurt project in the coming years.
Read more.
20 – 25 March
The four attended in the Leipzig book fair – among the most important literary events in Germany, with 270,000 visitors.
They had collaborated with a translator to produce a sample translation, which they presented at the popular Nordic stand. The authors also took part in a seminar for German translators.
Read more.
22 – 27 May
The four authors were the main attraction at the international book fair in Tbilisi, Georgia, appearing on stage for interviews alongside Georgian writers, and taking part in panel discussions on different topics. Before the book fair, they also took part in a translation seminar for translators into Georgian and Azerbaijani. All of them gave talks on their books and Norwegian literature, and all of them worked closely with the translators in small groups.
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30 May
Sigbjørn Mostue met nine translators at NORLA’s seminar for German translators of children’s and YA literature at the Norwegian literature festival in Lillehammer. The translators had produced sample translations of “Brage’s Story” and worked with the texts in a separate workshop.
Read more.
Within the framework of the programme, sample translations of all four authors’ texts have been produced in English and German.
