Jitka Jindřišková – Translator of the Month
Our Translator of the Month for July is Jitka Jindřišková, who translates from Norwegian into Czech. She studied history and Norwegian language and literature at Masaryk University in Brno, the second-largest city in the Czech Republic. Jitka’s fascination with Scandinavian culture and history started when she gave a presentation on the topic of Norse mythology in high school, but her first trip to Norway wasn’t until the age of twenty, thanks to Bergen Summer School. During that visit she became captivated by Norway, and it was then that she made her first foray into fiction translation. Since then, she has racked up around thirty book translations across a range of genres. Earlier this year she was presented The Golden Ribbon Award for her translation of Nora Dåsnes’ graphic novel Cross My Heart and Never Lie (original title: Ti kniver i hjertet).
How do you tackle a translation: do you dive straight into it to maintain a sense of suspense, or do you read the whole book meticulously before getting started?
Before I get started, I need to decide on my translation strategy (the right style for the text, for instance), and I need to gain some idea of the reader’s experience of the book. For these reasons, I always read the book first; not necessarily meticulously, but in the same way anyone would.
Do you have any other professional roles in addition to translation?
I do, yes, for financial reasons, but to be perfectly honest I can’t be confined to doing just one thing. I started working part-time in 2018 on several projects at the Masaryk Institute and Archives of the Czech Academy of Sciences, and for the past two years I’ve also worked as a public relations and science communication coordinator. I’ve also been actively involved with the Scandinavian House since 2009, heading up their literary projects and focus on Norway. We arrange cultural events, share information on Nordic culture and also manage a small library, which I mainly do in my free time.
What is your best memory from your time as a translator?
I have so many good memories from my work in translation. The best of those are connected to meeting with the authors whose work I’ve translated, such as Maria Navarro Skaranger, Linn Strømsberg, Siri Pettersen, Marta Breen, Bjarte Breiteig and Øystein Stene. They’re all lovely people. When Siri Pettersen visited the Czech Republic on a promotional tour for The Raven Rings a few years ago, I acted as her guide throughout her stay. Siri had a book signing event in a large bookshop in Prague where an enormous number of people were queued up to see her, and most of them also asked me if I would sign her work (or our work, perhaps?). That was an incredible experience.
Read more
Learn more about Jitka on Books from Norway.
Those of you who understand Norwegian can read her interview in full here.
See also other translators interviewed in the Translator of the Month series.
