Sofie Maertens – Translator of the Month
Sofie Maertens is a Belgian translator of approximately thirty Norwegian books spanning a range of genres into her native Dutch. She lives in Ename, a village in the Flemish Ardennes. Upon completion of her degree in translation studies in Ghent in 2003, where she specialised in German and Spanish, she and her partner and fellow student, Michiel Vanhee, moved to Germany. She enrolled at the University of Greifswald and began her studies in Norwegian and Polish Philology.
Sofie fell in love with Norway and the Norwegian language and culture following a summer spent working in Geiranger as a multilingual tour guide, and a few years later, she and her partner Michiel both moved to Lofoten in Northern Norway to work as tour guides. Following their time in Lofoten, they returned to Belgium and started a family, but the nostalgia they felt for Norway prompted them to choose Norwegian names for their children (Sindre and Lasse) and they started translating Norwegian novels into Dutch. Her partner Michiel became her husband Michiel, and eventually her partner in translation, too!
How did you end up translating Norwegian literature?
After studying Spanish and German in Ghent, Michiel and I moved to Germany. We wanted to add a Slavic language and a Scandinavian language to our repertoire to cover most of the Western European language families. I chose Polish and Swedish, but the Swedish class was full – we were quite late in enrolling in the German university. As luck would have it, there were two spaces left in the Norwegian class, one for me and one for Michiel. How fortunate, too – if the Swedish class hadn’t been full then we’d never have the wonderful job that we do now, translating Norwegian authors such as Karl Ove Knausgård, Rune Christiansen, Matias Faldbakken, Knut Hamsun, Pedro Carmona-Alvarez and Merethe Lindstrøm!
My first translation assignment was in 2011, one of the saddest years for Norway following the terror attacks carried out by A. B. Breivik. I received a call from a Dutch publisher looking to publish Erika Fatland’s book about the dramatic events that had unfolded on the island of Utøya. Given the short deadline for completing the translation, the publisher wanted to appoint two translators. This was how I became acquainted with my first co-translator, Maud Jenje from the Netherlands. That was a great collaboration (though the process wasn’t all that much faster!) and the start of a partnership that lasted years.
Which of the books that you’ve translated have brought you the most joy?
The work of Karl Ove Knausgård and Merethe Lindstrøm. I’m a big fan of the ways in which Karl Ove Knausgård philosophises on life, and I feel a sense of fellowship with Merethe Lindstrøm: if I had been an author rather than a translator, I feel as if I’d have the same writing style. Translating her work is something I can do with real confidence.
What would you be if you weren’t a translator?
I think I’d be a pianist. At the age of eighteen, I was preparing to take my piano entrance exam – I had played piano from a young age and had competed in a number of piano duo competitions with my best friend, which meant that I was rather good at playing the piano as one half of a partnership, but not quite as confident in doing so alone. When my best friend decided against it, I didn’t feel as if I were good enough to carry on alone, so I gave up on that plan.
But music and language have a great deal in common. Both require empathy, sensitivity and a certain talent for analysis.
Do you like to listen to music when you’re translating?
No, I need absolute silence, but my husband Michiel likes to work to a soundtrack of loud Leonard Cohen or Prince or Queens of the Stone Age… fortunately we don’t share an office!
Read more
Learn more about Sofie 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.
