Translator of the Month
Translators are absolutely key to spreading Norwegian literature around the world. Their work is of vital importance and to showcase this work in 2015 we started the interview series «Translator of the Month». Here we become better acquainted with translators from the Norwegian language and their challenging work, which introduces Norwegian literature to all the different languages of the world.
In 2020 our series of interviews became a translator relay, and we are thrilled to continue our interviews with translators of Norwegian literature into a myriad of languages.
Most of the interviews are in Norwegian, with snippets also available in English – see below.
2024
Outi Menna
Our Translator of the Month for November is Outi Menna from Finland. Since 1998, she has translated over 200 books from Norwegian, Swedish, and Danish into Finnish – mainly adult fiction, but also books for children and young adults.
Outi holds a Master’s degree in Nordic languages and literature from the University of Helsinki and has been working as a literary translator since her student days.
Learn more about Outi and read her interview here
And see her profile on Books from Norway
Those of you who understand Norwegian can read her interview here
Margherita Podestà Heir
Margherita has translated plays, films and so far more than 70 books, mostly fiction, from Norwegian to Italian, but she also translates from Swedish and Danish. Conveying the importance of translation to non-professionals, is something she finds very rewarding and inspiring, and also exchanging ideas and experiences with colleagues from all over the world.
Learn more about Margherita and read her interview here
And see her profile on Books from Norway
Those of you who understand Norwegian can read her interview here
Astri Ghosh
Our translator of the Month this September is Astri Ghosh, who has made the works of authors such as Henrik Ibsen, Jon Fosse, Qurratulain Hyder and Rabindranath Tagore accessible to readers across linguistic and cultural borders.
Learn more about Astri and read her interview in full here
And see her profile on Books from Norway
Those of you who understand Norwegian can read her interview in full here
Olga Drobot
Our Translator of the Month for August is Olga Drobot, who translates from Norwegian to Russian full-time. Among the many authors she has translated, are Henrik Ibsen, Per Petterson, Erlend Loe, Roy Jacobsen, Lars Saabye Christensen, Karl Ove Knausgård, Maria Parr, Rune Belsvik, and Bjørn F. Rørvik. Olga holds a PhD in Nordic literature history from Moscow University. She loves children’s books and is an expert in reading to children. She also participates in the “Ibsen in Translation” project, and has recently helped organize a literature school — “Free Word” — in Armenia.
Learn more about Olga and read her interview here
And see her profile on Books from Norway
Those of you who understand Norwegian can read her interview here
Alex Fouillet
Our Translator of the Month for July is Alex Fouillet, who translates both fiction, including crime novels, and non-fiction from Norwegian to French. During his studies at Sorbonne University, he became acquainted with Norwegian texts and especially liked the excerpts from the Varg Veum novels so much that he decided to translate one of the books, initially on his own, soon helped by his close friend Elisabeth Tangen. That’s when the adventure truly began. Since then, he has translated over seventy books, mainly Norwegian crime fiction novels, but also other genres and a few books from Danish and Swedish. Alex currently lives in Caen, where he also teaches at the Nordic Department at the University of Caen.
Learn more about Alex here
And see his profile on Books from Norway
Those of you who understand Norwegian can read his interview in full here
Carmen Freixanet
Our Translator of the Month for June is Carmen Freixanet, who hails from the city of Manlleu, situated between the Pyrenees and Barcelona. She studied Spanish and Catalan languages and literature at the Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona (Autonomous University of Barcelona) and later taught these subjects in the adult education sector. Carmen has lived in Oslo for 17 years, where her enthusiasm for Norwegian culture, literature, and language blossomed.
Carmen’s love for literature in general, and Norwegian literature in particular, led her to begin translating both non-fiction and fiction. Her latest translations are Erika Fatland’s three books about her travels to various parts of the world.
Learn more about Carmen here
And see her profile on Books from Norway
Those of you who understand Norwegian can read her interview in full here
Cristina Falcinella
Our Translator of the Month for May is Cristina Falcinella, originally from Milan, Italy, where she specialized in Nordic studies before obtaining a doctorate in Gender Studies/Norwegian theatre. She has primarily translated fiction but also non-fiction, and for the theatre. Cristina is currently, and with great pleasure, working on another Jon Fosse book, Olav’s Dreams (original title: Olavs draumar), after a long hiatus of intense ‘motherhood’ and overlapping literary and musical activities. Looking out of her window, she sees the Mediterranean from the Catalan coast in Barcelona, where she has been residing for over twenty years now, amidst the intersection of multiple languages and cultures, but with Norway nestled in her heart.
Learn more about Cristina here
And see her profile on Books from Norway
Those of you who understand Norwegian can read her interview in full here
Chie Asada
Our Translator of the Month for April is Chie Asada from Japan. She studied Swedish at Osaka University of Foreign studies in Japan, and she then learned Norwegian when spending a year in the South of Norway, attending a folk high school (“folkehøgskole”). At present, Chie is collaborating with a Norwegian colleague on translating works by Tarjei Vesaas. She is also teaching Norwegian at Osaka University part-time.
Learn more about Chie here
And see her profile on Books from Norway
Those of you who understand Norwegian can read her interview in full here
Yang-Leng Liu
Yang-Leng Liu is from Changhua, Taiwan. She began her career as a part-time translator four years ago translating history of philosophy from German. She currently lives in Bergen, and is working towards becoming an experienced full-time translator, in order to bring Norwegian literature to Taiwan and vice versa.
Learn more about Yang-Leng here
And see her profile on Books from Norway
Those of you who understand Norwegian can read her interview in full here
Wendy H. Gabrielsen
Originally from London, Wendy H. Gabrielsen moved to Oslo after completing an MA in translation in 1987, and was lucky enough to translate her first two Norwegian books just two years later. After getting “sidetracked” teaching English for a couple of decades, she resigned from the French School in Oslo in 2020 and has since returned to translating and copy editing full time.
Learn more about Wendy, and read her interview in full, here
And see her profile on Books from Norway
Those of you who understand Norwegian can read her interview here
Marie-Pierre Fiquet
Marie-Pierre Fiquet is from France and translates Norwegian fiction into French. She has translated Karl Ove Knausgård’s My Struggle series, as well as novels by Matias Faldbakken. Marie-Pierre has a university degree in German, Norwegian and French and has been living in Norway since 1983.
Before Marie-Pierre began to translate novels, she worked as a teacher at the French School in Oslo for many years. She is also a member of the Norwegian Association of Literary Translators.
Learn more about Marie-Pierre here
And see her profile on Books from Norway
Those of you who understand Norwegian can read her interview in full here
2023
December 2023:
Kirsti Baggethun
Translator of the Month for December is Kirsti Baggethun. She is Norwegian, and has translated around 100 books. She started out translating from English and Spanish to Norwegian, but ever since the 90s she has almost exclusively translated from Norwegian to Spanish, in collaboration with Asunción Lorenzo. She has also translated several novels by Jon Fosse, in collaboration with Cristina Gómez Baggethun.
Learn more about Kirsti here
And see her profile on Books from Norway
Those of you who understand Norwegian can read her interview in full here
Vusala Afandiyeva
Translator of the Month for November is Vusala Afandiyeva. She translates from Norwegian and Swedish to Azerbaijani. Some of the authors she has translated include Per Petterson, Arne Svingen, Åsne Seierstad, Kjersti A. Skomsvold, Maria Parr, Hedvig Montgomery and Swedish Åsa Lind.
Vusala has a PhD in history from the Azerbaijan National Academy of Science. She has also attended several courses in Norwegian history and Norwegian language at the University of Oslo. Now she teaches Norwegian history, culture and gender studies at the Scandinavian program and is also director of The Scandinavian Centre at Azerbaijan University of Languages.
Learn more about Vusala here
And see her profile on Books from Norway
Those of you who understand Norwegian can read her interview in full here
Katarzyna Tunkiel
Translator of the Month for October is Katarzyna Tunkiel from Poland. She has worked with literary translation for 15 years, and translated over 70 books from Norwegian to Polish, mainly fiction and children’s literature but has also translated crime and non-fiction.
Tore Renberg, Kjersti Annesdatter Skomsvold, Carl Frode Tiller, Simon Stranger, Sigrid Undset and Vigdis Hjorth are just some of the authors she has worked with. In addition, Katarzyna works as an Assistant Professor at the University of Stavanger, where she teaches and researches picture books and reading for young children.
Learn more about Katarzyna here
And see her profile on Books from Norway
Those of you who understand Norwegian can read her interview in full here
Stefka Kozhuharova
Stefka Kozhuharova dreamed of becoming a translator since she was in high school. Today, she has translated Roy Jacobsen, Maja Lunde, Dag Solstad and a string of other authors from Norwegian into Bulgarian.
Learn more about Stefka here
And see her profile on Books from Norway
Those of you who understand Norwegian can read her interview in full here
Guilherme da Silva Braga
Guilherme da Silva Braga wanted to be a translator already when he was a teenager. Now he has a PhD in Literary Studies from Brazil, and over 70 published books under his belt. Translator of the Month for August is Guilherme da Silva Braga from Brasil. Portuguese, and in 2016 he was nominated for the renowned literary prize Prêmio Jabuti for best translated fiction for his work with Karl Over Knausgård’s My struggle, 3rd book, and in June 2023 he received NORLA’s Translator’s Prize.
Learn more about Guilherme here
And see his profile on Books from Norway
Those of you who understand Norwegian can read his interview in full here
Leonardo Pinto Silva
Leonardo Pinto Silva has translated a range of books, both fiction and non-fiction, and used to live in Karmøy. Leonardo Pinto Silva has translated a range of books, both fiction and non-fiction. He is very well oriented about Norwegian literature and has a good sense of what books might do well in the Brazilian market. His interest for and knowledge about the Norwegian language and culture, started when he was an exchange student at Karmøy in 1988-89. Since then he has studied Norwegian as foreign language at University of Oslo and translation in Brazil, in addition to an MBA in Business Administration. In June 2023, he was awarded NORLA’s Translator’s Prize for 2022.
Learn more about Leonardo here
Also see his profile on Books from Norway
Those of you who understand Norwegian can read his interview in full here
Ardashir Esfandiari
Ardashir Esfandiari is a Norwegian-Iranian author and translator, translating mainly from Norwegian to Farsi. He is a member of the Norwegian Non-Fiction Writers and Translators Association (NFFO), and his translations of both non-fiction, fiction and poetry is published at renowned publishing houses in Iran and Sweden. His translation of Trond Berg Eriksen’s Nietzsche og det moderne was awarded one of the ten best translated non-fiction titles by the Iranian publishing house Poresh in 2010.
Learn more about Ardashir here
Also see his profile on Books from Norway
Those of you who understand Norwegian can read his interview in full here
Eva Keckova
April’s translator of the Month is Eva Keckova, who translates from Norwegian into Czech. She has studied Norwegian language and literature at the University of Brno. In her thesis she focused on the Norwegian organization Nansenhjelpen, which also helped Czech refugees during World War II. As part of her research, Eva even managed to trace some of these refugees all the way to Australia.
Eva worked for a while in Norway as an interpreter during the contruction of a tunnel, and thought it was cool. She likes to travel, but as she now has four-year-old twins, she has spent the last few years mainly in the Czech Republic. Eva works as an editor at the publishing house Host, and when she is not reading or translating, she enjoys beeing outdoors.
Learn more about Eva here
Also see her profile on Books from Norway
Those of you who understand Norwegian can read her interview in full here
Annika Kupits
Annika is known among Estonia’s youth as “the one who translated the William Wenton books,” thanks to the popularity of the series, which came as quite a surprise for the translator who thought that children’s literature ended with Harry Potter. Her dream has always been to translate “proper” novels, something she hasn’t yet managed to do, as she says. For the last 7 years, Annika has also worked as a librarian, museum curator and interpreter of cultural events for the visually impaired, but the hardest job has been becoming a mother. Right now she is translating Sleeping With the Enemy by Ellen Støkken Dahl, and working as a copywriter for a museum. Her desire is actually to write books herself, but until inspiration strikes, it pays to keep warm by translating other people’s thoughts.
Learn more about Annika here
Also see her profile on Books from Norway
Those of you who understand Norwegian can read her interview in full here
João Reis
February’s translator of the month is João Reis, who translates both non-fiction and fiction from Norwegian to Portuguese. The authors he has translated include Knut Hamsun, Karl Ove Knausgård, Vigdis Hjorth and Dag Solstad. In addition to Norwegian, he translates from Swedish, Danish, Icelandic and English. João has translated more than 80 books and is also a fiction writer himself. He lives in Porto, Portugal.
Learn more about João here
Also see his profile on Books from Norway
Those of you who understand Norwegian can read his interview in full here
Roxana Dreve
January’s translator of the Month is Roxana-Ema Dreve, who translates fiction from Norwegian and Swedish into Romanian and has, among other things, translated Karl Ove Knausgård’s My Struggle 3. In addition to being a translator, Roxana works as an associate professor at Babeș-Bolyai University in Cluj, Romania, where she is currently head of the Department of Scandinavian Language and Literature. Her latest translation is Maja Lunde’s novel for young adults, Battle, which will be published at the beginning of 2023.
Learn more about Roxana here
Also see her profile on Books from Norway
Those of you who understand Norwegian can read her interview in full here
2022
Sara Culeddu
December’s translator of the month is Sara Culeddu, who translates from Norwegian and Swedish into Italian. She has studied Norwegian language and literature in Florence and spent a few years living in Oslo after university; now she is an associate professor of Scandinavian studies at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice and is also a translator. She collaborates with many Italian publishers and has translated Knut Hamsun, Hanne Ørstavik, Erika Fatland, Line Baugstø, Monica Kristensen, Erling Kagge and Halldis Moren Vesaas, among others.
Learn more about Sara here
Also see her profile on Books from Norway
Those of you who understand Norwegian can read her interview in full here
Andrea Romanzi
November’s translator of the month is Andrea Romanzi, who translates from Norwegian and English into Italian. Starting with fiction in 2018, Andrea has translated novels by Norwegian authors Gert Nygårdshaug, Ruth Lillegraven, Ingebjørg Berg Holm and Victoria Kielland, and was presented an award for upcoming translator of the year in 2019. He lived in Bergen for several years while studying at the University of Bergen, and then moved to England to take a PhD in translation studies and publishing history. In addition to translating, Andrea teaches Scandinavian languages and literature at the Sapienza University of Rome, and Statale in Milan. Along with friends from his doctoral studies, he also runs a multilingual magazine called LONGITŪDINĒS which is devoted to creative writing, translation and art.
Learn more about Andrea here
Also see his profile on Books from Norway
Those of you who understand Norwegian can read his interview in full here
Marta Roķe
The Translator of the Month for October is Marta Roķe who translates to Latvian. Her translations include the children’s book series about Doctor Proctor by Jo Nesbø, and she is now in the process of finishing the William Wenton series by Bobbie Peers. Marta has studied the cultural connections between Norway and Latvia, and translation. She has many years of experience with teaching Norwegian, and she helped establish a cultural center dedicated to language: Valodu māja – House of Languages in Riga.
Learn more about Marta here
Also see her profile on Books from Norway
Those of you who understand Norwegian can read her interview in full here
Māra Valpētere
September’s translator of the month is Māra Valpētere from Latvia, who translates from Norwegian. She has studied history, English philology and language teaching methodology at the University of Latvia, “The foundation course in Norwegian language and literature for foreign learners”, followed by a one-year program in Nordic languages and literature at the University of Oslo. Māra worked for a number of years as a Norwegian teacher at the Latvian Academy of Culture, and on several different Norwegian courses. She also works as a tour guide, an interpreter at conferences and seminars, and as an examiner of complaints for the Translator Accreditation Exam at the Norwegian School of Economics.
Learn more about Māra here
Also see her profile on Books from Norway
Those of you who understand Norwegian can read her interview in full here
Nora Strikauskaitė
Our Translator of the Month for August is Nora Strikauskaitė, who translates fiction and non-fiction from Norwegian into her native Lithuanian. This year will see the release of the Lithuanian translation of Roy Jacobsen’s novel Just a Mother; it will be the fourth book in the Ingrid Barrøy series to have been translated by Nora. For poetry festivals in Lithuania Nora has translated the works of a number of Norwegian poets, including Triztan Vindtorn, Inger Elisabeth Hansen, Torgeir Schjerven, Liv Lundberg, Knut Ødegård, and Steinar Opstad. She has also translated Norwegian picture books for children (as part of The University of Stavanger’s SPrELL project), and has been involved in Vilnius University’s Norwegian-Lithuanian Dictionary project.
Nora has worked as a Norwegian teacher for many years, and currently teaches full time at Vilnius University.
Learn more about Nora here
Also see her profile on Books from Norway
Those of you who understand Norwegian can read her interview in full here
Joanna Bernat
Our translator of the month for June and July is Joanna Bernat from Poland. She has an education in Scandinavian studies and Polish philology. For the past thirteen years she has worked for the publishing house Vigmostad & Bjørke and collaborated with translation agencies. She primarily translates literature for children and young adults, but also has experience with non-fiction. In 2018, Joanna started publishing books for children and young adults in Poland under the publishing house named dziwny pomysł (weird idea).
Learn more about Joanna here
Also see her profile on Books from Norway
Those of you who understand Norwegian can read her interview in full here
Natalia Ilishchuk
Our translator of the month for May is Natalia Ilishchuk, who translates into Ukrainian. With a master’s degree in international relations, Natalia has many interests and does a number of things such as being a member of the Ukrainian-Scandinavian Center – but her greatest passion has always been for literature. Natalia became interested in Norway, Norwegian literature and language during her early years at the university and has participated in several Norwegian study programs in Norwegian language and culture.
Natalia is originally from Lviv, but for the last few years has lived in Kyiv. When Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February she had to move from Kyiv but decided to remain in her home country. She has spoken to us via social media about life during the war.
Learn more about Natalia here
Also see her profile on Books from Norway
Those of you who understand Norwegian can read her interview in full here
Ioana-Andreea Mureșan
The translator of the month for April is Ioana-Andreea Mureșan from Romania. She has recently been appointed assistant professor at the Department of Scandinavian Languages and Literature at Babeș-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca, after having collaborated with the department and teaching Norwegian for more than ten years. She has translated two volumes of Karl Ove Knausgård’s My Struggle series, Book 1 and 5. Ioana has also translated Henrik Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler, which was staged at the Radu Stanca National Theatre in Sibiu, Romania in 2018.
Learn more about Ioana here
Also see her profile on Books from Norway
Those of you who understand Norwegian can read her interview in full here
Guy Puzey
Our translator of the month for March is Guy Puzey from Scotland. Guy works in Scandinavian Studies at the University of Edinburgh, where he is also currently Head of the Department of European Languages and Cultures. He has translated work by a wide range of authors, especially from Nynorsk, the lesser-used of the two official written standards of Norwegian. He was shortlisted for the 2015 Marsh Award for Children’s Literature in Translation for Waffle Hearts (published in North America as Adventures with Waffles), his translation of Maria Parr’s Vaffelhjarte.
Learn more about Guy by reading his interview in English here
Also see his profile on Books from Norway
Those of you who understand Norwegian can read his interview here
Lucy Pijttersen and Kim Snoeijing
February’s Translators of the Month are Lucy Pijttersen and Kim Snoeijing from The Netherlands.
After leaving school, Kim worked at a law firm for several years before going on to study Norwegian language and literature in Groningen at the age of 27. While at university, she also worked at the Netherlands-based ‘Arctic Centre’ for three years which, back in the ‘80s, focused heavily on Svalbard and the country’s whaling history. It would be another 10 years before she started translating full-time. She primarily translates from Norwegian, but she has translated a number of Danish and Swedish books too. She also works as a proof-reader, which she will continue doing now that she no longer works in translation: she has just retired and is looking forward to enjoying a bit more time off!
Lucy began studying Norwegian language and literature in Groningen after leaving school – mainly out of pure curiosity and a bit coaxing by Amy van Marken, legendary professor of Scandinavian languages and literature at the University of Groningen.
Learn more about Lucy and Kim here
Also see their profiles on Books from Norway: Lucy and Kim
Those of you who understand Norwegian can read their interview in full here
Deniz Canefe Sahin
January’s Translator of the Month is Deniz Canefe Sahin, who translates both fiction and non-fiction from Norwegian and English to Turkish. She has studied at Hacettepe Universitesi in Ankara and at the University of Oslo. Deniz has translated more than 40 Norwegian titles, by authors like Jon Fosse, Dag Solstad, Tarjei Vesaas, Ola Bauer, Per Petterson, Ingvar Ambjørnsen (the Pelle and Proffen series for young adults and the Samson & Roberto series for children), Eugene Schoulgin, Thorvald Steen and Roy Jacobsen. This year, she will translate Armand V by Dag Solstad and The Eyes of Rigel by Roy Jacobsen. She will also translate Henrik Ibsen’s collected works in cooperation with Haydar Sahin.
Deniz enjoys working with books that are written with a sense of humour and that illuminate the world from different perspectives. She lives in Oslo.
Learn more about Deniz here
Also see her profile on Books from Norway
Those of you who understand Norwegian can read her interview in full here
2021
Dilek Basak Carelius
December’s translator of the Month is Dilek Basak Carelius, who translates both non-fiction and fiction from Norwegian to Turkish. She has translated books by Erlend Loe, Vigdis Hjorth and Anne Sverdrup-Thygeson, among others. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in English language and literature from Bosphorous University and a Master’s degree in theatre studies from the University of Oslo. Dilek lives in Oslo and her translation of Linn Ullman’s Unquiet is just about to be published.
Learn more about Dilek here
Also see her profile on Books from Norway
Those of you who understand Norwegian can read her interview in full here
2021
November 2021:
Krystalli Glyniadakis – Greek
November’s Translator of the Month is Krystalli Glyniadakis from Greece. She is an award-winning poet with a weakness for Norwegian nature, open-water swimming (i.e. in the sea, lakes or rivers), salmon, warm clothes and Ottoman history.
Krystalli works as an editor at a publishing house in Athens and she fell in love with the Norwegian language about 23 years ago, when her Norwegian girlfriend spoke on the phone to people back home. Now she, too, can almost do the same.
Learn more about Krystalli here
Also see her profile on Books from Norway
Those of you who understand Norwegian can read her interview in full here
October 2021:
Radoš Kosović – Serbian
October’s Translator of the Month is Serbian Radoš Kosović (b. 1984) who translates from Norwegian and Danish. He has translated over fifty works in various genres, primarily novels, but he has also translated philosophy, drama, children and young adult’s books and a collection of poems. In 2015 he received the Aleksandar I. Spasić Award for Translating Non-fiction for Lars Fr. H. Svendsen’s A Philosophy of Freedom (Geopoetika, 2013), as well as the Miloš N. Đurić Award for Best Translation of Fictional Prose for Merethe Lindstrøm’s Days in the History of Silence (Geopoetika, 2015). Radoš is a member of the Serbian Translators’ Association (UKPS) and sits on the jury for the Ljubiša Rajić Award for Best Debut Translation, which supports talented young translators. He has a master’s degree in Nordic languages and literature at the University of Agder in Kristiansand. He lives in Belgrade.
Learn more about Radoš here
Also see his profile on Books from Norway
Those of you who understand Norwegian can read his interview in full here
September 2021:
Anja Majnaric – Croatian
September’s Translator of the Month is Anja Majnaric. She translates fiction from Norwegian and English to Croatian. Anja has translated many of Karl Ove Knausgård’s books (My Struggle 1-6, Spring and Summer), Jens Bjørneboe’s History of Bestiality Trilogy and The Sharks, and many other authors such as Maja Lunde, Vigdis Hjorth, Geir Gulliksen and currently Johan Harstad, plus also some crime fiction. She has recently set up a publishing house, together with two friends: Woodencloak Books. Anja lives in Zagreb with two cats and she is a night owl.
Learn more about Anja here
Also see her profile on Books from Norway
Those of you who understand Norwegian can read her interview in full here
Karolina Drozdowska – Polish
August’s Translator of the Month is Karolina Drozdowska from Poland. She works mainly with fiction and her translation of Nina Lykke’s novel Natural Causes (original title “Full spredning”) has just been published in Poland by the publisher Pauza. In addition to being a translator, Karolina is an assistant professor at the Institute of Scandinavian and Finnish Studies at the University of Gdansk and she is also secretary of the board at the Polish Literary Translators’ Association (Stowarzyszenie Tłumaczy Literatury).
In 2013, Karolina won NORLA’s causerie (kåseri) competition with her text about series of commercial fiction, Jens Bjørneboe and leading a double life. She has translated more than 90 books.
Learn more about Karolina here
Also see her profile on Books from Norway and her academic research (in Norwegian, Polish and English) here
Those of you who understand Norwegian can read her interview in full here
Rosie Hedger – Scottish
June and July’s translator of the month is Rosie Hedger, who translates from Norwegian into English. Rosie Hedger was born in Scotland and completed her MA (Hons) in Scandinavian Studies at the University of Edinburgh, as part of which she spent a year at the University of Oslo taking courses in Norwegian literature and researching for her dissertation on contemporary Norwegian fiction. Since completing her studies, Rosie has lived in Sweden and Denmark, and she is now based in the north of England. Her translation of Gine Cornelia Pedersen’s Zero was shortlisted for the Oxford-Weidenfeld Translation Prize in 2019, and her translation of Agnes Ravatn’s The Bird Tribunal won an English PEN Translates Award in 2016. Her translations of Marie Aubert’s Grown Ups and Helga Flatland’s One Last Time are both due out this summer.
Learn more about Rosie by reading her interview in English here
Also see her profile on Books from Norway and visit her homepage
Those of you who understand Norwegian can read her interview here
Andreas Donat – Austrian
Our translator of the month for May is Andreas Donat (b. 1983) from Austria. He is fairly new to the world of translation having started in 2018 and has since then translated Hanne Ørstavik and Roskva Koritzinsky among others. Andreas is also a classical pianist and in the years prior to corona you could sometimes hear him performing at various concert venues around the world. He grew up in Vienna, lived in Oslo for several years, and now lives in Berlin.
Andreas’s work will soon be in the spotlight with Gine Cornelia Pedersen’s Zero (original title: Null) and Hanne Ørstavik’s Ti amo.
Learn more about Andreas here
Also see his profile on Books from Norway or visit his homepage
Those of you who understand Norwegian can read his interview in full here
Marina Heide – French
After growing up in a French-Norwegian family in the Paris area Marina Heide now lives in Stockholm. She works mainly with fiction as well as children’s and young adult literature, and will soon be in the spotlight with a new translation of The Birds by Tarjei Vesaas. Marina is also the French voice for Maja Lunde and Merethe Lindstrøm, among others.
Learn more about Marina here.
Also see her profile on Books from Norway or visit her homepage.
Those of you who understand Norwegian can read her interview in full here.
Daniela Stilzebach – German
Daniela Stilzebach translates both non-fiction and fiction to German – from Norwegian, Danish and Swedish. She works mainly with non-fiction, especially biographies, art, culture, philosophy and history, and has already translated a number of books in this respect, about Edvard Munch in particular. Daniela’s latest translation from Norwegian is Lars Fr. H. Svendsen’s A Philosophy of Lying, which will be published in autumn 2021. She will soon be starting work on Grethe Bøe’s Mayday (in collaboration with a colleague).
Learn more about Daniela here.
Also see her profile on Books from Norway.
Those of you who understand Norwegian can read her interview in full here
Anastasia Naumova – Russian
Anastasia Naumova translates both fiction and non-fiction; from Norwegian, Swedish and Danish, and from English to Russian. She is also employed as a lecturer at Moscow University of the Humanities, where she and her colleagues are doing their best to cultivate a new generation of translators. Her latest translation is Good Dogs Don’t Make It to the South Pole by Hans-Olav Thyvold, and she is currently working on My Struggle: Book 4 by Karl Ove Knausgård.
Learn more about Anastasia here.
Also see her profile on Books from Norway.
Those of you who understand Norwegian can read her interview in full here.
Nobuyoshi Mori – Japanese
Our translator of the month is Nobuyoshi Mori, who translates into Japanese. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Russian from Tokyo University of Foreign Studies and later a master’s degree in German at the same university. In the period 1983-85 he studied Norwegian at the University of Oslo and since returning to Japan he has worked as a language teacher – and since 2006 as a professor. He has also taught German and Scandinavian languages (mainly Norwegian and Icelandic) at various universities and language schools. In March 2019 he retired, but still teaches Scandinavian languages part-time. He is now responsible for teaching Norwegian at the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs to future diplomats who are to be stationed in Norway. He is a language teacher first and foremost, he says, but translates from Scandinavian languages when the opportunity presents itself.
Learn more about Nobuyoshi here.
Also see his profile on Books from Norway.
Those of you who understand Norwegian can read his interview in full here.
2020
Mariya Nikolova – Bulgarian
Our December translator of the month is Mariya Ilieva Nikolova, from Bulgaria. Mariya has a master’s degree in Scandinavian studies – language, culture and translation – from the University of Sofia, and has mostly translated Norwegian fiction including novels by Roy Jacobsen, Vigdis Hjorth and Karl Ove Knausgård. In addition, she has translated thrillers and crime fiction (as well as from Swedish), poems by Olav H. Hauge, Ibsen’s An Enemy of the People for a theatre production, and Jostein Gaarder’s children’s book The Solitaire Mystery. Her most recent translation is the non-fiction book Women in Battle by Marta Breen and Jenny Jordahl.
Learn more about Mariya here.
Also see her profile on Books from Norway.
Those of you who understand Norwegian can read her interview here.
Siân Mackie – British English
November’s translator of the month is Siân Mackie, who translates into English. She was born in Scotland and now lives on the south coast of England. She has an MA in Scandinavian Studies and an MSc in Literary Translation as a Creative Practice from the University of Edinburgh. Siân has translated a wide range of titles from all three Scandinavian languages; from young adult and children’s literature to thrillers and non-fiction.
Siân was selected for the National Centre for Writing Emerging Translator Mentorship in 2014, through which she was mentored by Don Bartlett. She also has experience of translating theatre, having participated in theatre company Foreign Affairs’ mentoring programme for translators and the Royal Court International Residency for Emerging Playwrights.
In 2019, her translation from Danish of Bjarne Reuter’s Elise and the Second-hand Dog was nominated for the prestigious CILIP Carnegie Medal, which is awarded by children’s librarians. More recently, her translation of A Postcard to Ollis, written by Ingunn Thon and illustrated by Nora Brech, was the only book in translation to be nominated for the same prize for 2021. Congratulations from all of us at NORLA!
Learn more about Siân by reading her interview in English here.
Also see her profile on Books from Norway.
Those of you who understand Norwegian can read her interview here.
Paul Russell Garrett – Canadian
October’s translator of the month is Paul Russell Garrett, who translates from Norwegian into English. Paul is originally from Canada, but has lived in London for almost twenty years. He took a degree in Scandinavian Studies at UCL, with a focus on Danish, Old Norse, Literature and History. At the University of Copenhagen he delved even deeper into Danish, studying Danish language, linguistics and translation. Paul also has experience teaching Danish at universities, college and privately. He first started translating Danish literature and drama, but soon moved into Norwegian, so far translating Lars Mytting’s The Sixteen Trees of the Somme, John Arne Riise’s biography, penned by Jens M Johansson, The Running Man, as well as Eirik Vold’s biography, Hugo Chávez: the Bolivarian Revolution from Up Close. Paul has a special place in his heart for theatre and has done a lot of work with drama — as a translator and more. His translation of Ibsen’s A Doll’s House was staged in London’s West End in 2012. He’s now in charge of the theatre translator mentoring programme for the London-based theatre company, Foreign Affairs.
Learn more about Paul by reading his interview in English here.
See also his profile on Books from Norway or visit his website.
Those of you who understand Norwegian can read his interview here.
Jonas Rasmussen – Swedish
September’s translator of the month is Jonas Rasmussen from Sweden. Rasmussen – in addition to being a translator, primarily from Danish but also from Norwegian – is also an author himself. From Danish he has translated about twenty works in various genres with his main emphasis being poetry collections. But he has also translated novels, books for children and young adults and a biography. From Norwegian he has so far translated two books; Steffen Kverneland’s Munch and Mona Høvring’s Because Venus Crossed an Alp Violet on the Day I Was Born. Rasmussen has studied at Lund University’s Writers’ School and has a master’s degree in literary studies, as well as a master’s degree in library and information science. He lives in Lund and made his debut as a translator in 2007 and as a writer in 2008.
Learn more about Jonas on here or visit his website.
Those of you who understand Norwegian can read his interview here.
Jean-Baptiste Coursaud – French
August’s Translator of the Month is Jean-Baptiste Coursaud, from France. In 2008, Jean-Baptiste was appointed a Knight First Class of the Royal Norwegian Order of Merit because of his work promoting Norwegian literature in France. His CV reveals that it is exactly 20 years since he began working as a translator; time he has spent unusually well since he can look back on more than 100 translations from Norwegian alone. Jean-Baptiste also translates from Swedish and Danish, which means that in total he has translated almost 150 books since 2000!
As a Frenchman, living in Germany, he really understands the art of juggling many languages. He has Norwegian literature “under his skin” almost – and has even tattooed several Norwegian quotes onto large parts of his body! He has really dedicated his life and body to Norwegian literature, which is why we are keen to learn more about his path to becoming a translator.
Learn more about Jean-Baptiste here.
Those of you who understand Norwegian can read his interview here.
Kor de Vries – Dutch
Our July translator of the month is Kor de Vries from the Netherlands. He mainly translates fiction and throughout a long career has translated almost 60 books from Danish. Kor is also a consultant for Scandinavian literature and has previously worked as a lecturer in Danish at the University of Groningen, and as a Danish teacher.
His translation of Lotta Elstad’s novel I Refuse to Think will be launched in July.
Learn more about Kor here.
Those of you who understand Norwegian can read his interview here.
Michiel Vanhee – Belgian, translates into Dutch
June’s translator of the month is Michiel Vanhee from Belgium, who translates into Dutch. He works with books of all genres and soon his latest translation will be out; Vinland, the second novel in the popular Jomsviking series by Bjørn Andreas Bull-Hansen.
In addition to being a translator, Michiel has worked as tour guide in the Lofoten islands in 2005, 2008 and 2009 – using six different languages*! When he lived in the north, he even spent some time slaughtering salmon in the winter months. He has also had some, according to himself, rather boring office jobs in Belgium (including at the translator department within the European Commission in Brussels) before deciding to become a full-time literary translator in 2014.
*Michiel speaks not only Dutch and Norwegian, but also English, French, German and Russian. (!)
Learn more about Michiel here.
Those of you who understand Norwegian can read his interview here.
Juste Nepaite – Lithuanian
May’s Translator of the Month Justė Nepaitė from Lithuania. She mainly translates fiction but also other genres, and her translation of Karl Ove Knausgård’s My Struggle 3 was released in January. Later this year, Jon Fosse’s Scenes from a Childhood / Morning and Evening will be available in her translation. Justė has also translated a number of Norwegian picture books for children, for use among Lithuanian children attending kindergartens in Norway.
In addition to being a translator, Juste has also been a tutor of Norwegian language and culture for a number of years.
Learn more about Juste here.
Those of you who understand Norwegian can read her interview here.
Egle Isganaityte – Lithuanian
April’s Translator of the Month is Egle Isganaityte-Paulauskiene from Lithuania. She has translated a number of Norwegian books from different genres, mainly fiction including the authors Herbjørg Wassmo and Jostein Gaarder among others. Egle is a member of the Lithuanian Association of Translators of Fiction. In 2009, she received Lithuanian P.E.N. and the Ministry of Culture award for best translation 2008 for Per Petterson’s Out Stealing Horses. In addition to translating, Egle works part-time lecturing Norwegian at the University of Vilnius. She has also been a contributor to the Norwegian-Lithuanian Dictionary project.
Learn more about Egle here.
Those of you who understand Norwegian can read her interview here.
Kari Dickson – Norwegian-Scot
March’s Translator of the Month is the Norwegian-Scot Kari Dickson. Kari translates fiction, crime, children and youth literature, drama and non-fiction. And her translations receive international attention:
The children’s book Brown (original title: Brune), by Håkon Øvreås and Øyvind Torseter, recently won the American Library Association’s Mildred L. Batchelder Award 2020. And in addition, her translation of the picture book Vanishing Colours is listed on USBBY’s list of Oustanding International Books 2020. The book is written by Constance Ørbeck-Nilssen and illustrated by Akin Duzakin. Congratulations from us!
In addition to translating, Kari has extensive experience as a lecturer in Norwegian language, literature and translation at the University of Edinburgh. We at NORLA are particularly grateful for Kari’s invaluable contribution to both the recruitment and the training of new, skilled translators through her work as a mentor.
Learn more about Kari here.
Those of you who understand Norwegian can read her interview here.
Anne Bruce – Scottish
February’s Translator of the Month is Anne Bruce from Scotland. She has been put forward by – and has received a question from – her Mexican translator colleague Juan Gutiérrez-Maupomé. Now the translators featured in NORLA’s series are passing the baton from one to the other.
Anne translates fiction and has admirable experience with crime novels. In 2019 her translation of Jørn Lier Horst’s The Katharine Code was awarded the coveted British prize The Petrona Award for best translated Scandinavian crime novel.
Learn more about Anne here.
Those of you who understand Norwegian can read her interview here.
2019
Juan Gutiérrez-Maupomé – Mexican
Juan Gutiérrez-Maupomé from Mexico lives in Norway and has translated both Ruth Lillegraven and Edvard Munch. And Ibsen and Fosse for the stage. He also has a fondness for Tarjei Vesaas and for poetry. Juan previously worked as a journalist; and also as a writer and producer for film and television in Mexico and the United Kingdom. He has also worked as a consultant for a number of different museum exhibitions in Mexico.
In addidtion to interviewing him, we also invite Juan to pass on the translator’s “baton” to one of his Norwegian-translating colleagues, in the form of a question. And hence the Translator of the Month series has now been made into a translator relay.
Learn more about Juan in English here.
Those of you who understand Norwegian can read his interview here.
The translator of the month for October is Klaus Anders, who is German. He both writes and translates poetry, and Klaus’ first translation was the poems of Olav H. Hauge.
In imid-October, Norway is Guest of Honour at the Frankfurter Buchmesse, and here Hauge and his beloved poem “It Is That Dream” occupy a central place: The motto of the guest of honour project is “The Dream We Carry”, which, in German, has become “Der Traum in uns”.
In our interview we invite you to get a bit better acquainted with both the translator and Hauge.
Read Klaus’ interview in English here.
Those of you who understand Norwegian can read his interview here.
The translator of the month in September is Åse Birkenheier, who is Norwegian and translates into German.
This year sees the launch of two quite different translations by Åse; Knut Ødegård’s poetry collection It’s time and Asbjørnsen & Moe’s Fairy Tales (Volume 2), for which she has also made the selection of fairy tales. And sharing Norwegian fairy tales with German readers is a thing very close to Åse’s heart. We are pleased that during Frankfurter Buchmesse, she will do just that, in several events at the Norwegian Guest of Honour Pavilion (read more).
Learn more about Åse in English (and German) here.
Those of you who understand Norwegian can read her interview here.
August’s Translator of the Month is German translator Karoline Hippe, who works from Norwegian, Danish and English. Four of her translations from Norwegian are being published this year: children’s book NERD by Mina Lystad, non-fiction book Unongs by Pål Moddi Knutsen, Cappelens Forslag’s Conversation Lexicon (edited by Pil Cappelen Smith), and Lotta Elstad’s novel I Refuse to Think.
In addition to translating, Karoline has taught German as a foreign language and also has experience as a moderator.
Learn more about Karoline in English (and German) here.
Those of you who understand Norwegian can read her interview here.
The month’s translator for June/July is Norwegian-German Ebba D. Drolshagen. In addition to translating Norwegian literature within different genres, she is also the author of several non-fiction books including one about the “German Girls” in Norway (the mistreatment of women who had relationships with German soldiers during WW2). She is currently in the spotlight with her popular travel guide Instructions to Norway (in German: Gebrauchsanweisung für Norwegen), which offers an entertaining introduction to Norway and Norwegians. The book will be published in a new and updated edition this year – in connection with Norway as Guest of Honour at Frankfurter Buchmesse. In addition Ebba has translated a literary travel guide to Oslo written by Erik Fosnes Hansen, which will also be published in connection with the book fair. Ebba’s translation of Mona Høvring’s Something That Helps was published in spring and has received a lot of positive attention.
Learn more about Ebba here.
Those of you who understand Norwegian can read her interview here.
May’s translator of the month is the Hungarian Bence Patat who has been working as a technical translator and literary translator for almost twenty years.
His translations of Karl Ove Knausgård’s My Struggle 3, and My Struggle 4 are recently published. And Knausgård was a guest writer at the Budapest International Book Festival which kicked off recently with Norway as its guest of honour, and with nine Norwegian authors on the program including two others who have been translated by Bence: Bjørn Berge and Thomas Hylland Eriksen. (Read more about the festival here and see photos here).
Bence has written theses on the Norwegian Kvens and on the imitative words of the Nordic languages; and for many years has written articles, in Norwegian and Finnish, about European minority languages for the Kvenish newspaper Ruijan Kaiku. He is a Norwegian-enthusiast through and through, and likes North Norwegian dialects best.
Learn more about Bence in English here.
Those of you who understand Norwegian can read his interview here.
April’s translator of the month is Kateřina Krištůfková from the Czech Republic. She is the elected leader of the newly established association for translators of Nordic literature in the Czech Republic: Překladatelé Severu (Czech Translators of the North).
Kateřina is a very experienced translator having translated over 40 titles from Norwegian, for both adults and children. Her translation of Astrid Lindgren’s biography, written by Agnes-Margrethe Bjorvand and illustrated by Lisa Aisato, was recently nominated for the Czech Republic’s most prestigious children’s book prize, The Golden Ribbon, in the category for translated non-fiction for children.
Read more about Kateřina in English here.
Those of you who understand Norwegian can read her interview here
Translator of the Month for March is Reiko Hidani who translates into Japanese. She’s in the news because her translation of Steffen Kverneland’s Munch has been nominated for Japan’s The Best Translation Award. She has also translated the recently published book What is Economy?, aimed at children and young people and written by Gunhild J. Ecklund.
In addition, Reiko initiated and arranged three great events that recently took place in Tokyo: a seminar for 12 Japanese translators from Nordic languages, which also included a crash course in pitching books. That was followed by a major meeting between translators, and 21 publishers and 3 sub-agencies keen to learn more about Norwegian literature, as well as a booksellers’ seminar on Norwegian literature, which was held at a book store. All these events were welcome follow-ups to the publisher and translator seminars NORLA held in three different Japanese cities in November (read more).
Read more about Reiko in English here.
Those of you who understand Norwegian can read her interview here.
The Translator of the Month for February is the comparative literary scholar, editor and translator Johanna Domokos. She is Associate Professor at the Faculty of Arts at Károli University in Budapest, and the coordinator of the Translation and Book Production Laboratory at the University of Bielefeld’s Faculty of Language and Literature. Together with her students – who studied Sámi language just for the projects- she published about a dozen books of Sámi and Nordic literature in German, English. For the 2019 Bookf Fair in Frankfurt together with Christine Schlosser and Michael Riessler they publish the first comprehensive anthology of Sami poetry translated into German. Their work is supported by NORLA.
Read the interview with Johanna in English here.
The interview is also available in German here.
Or read the interview in Norwegian here.
January 2019: Banu Gürsaler Syvertsen – Turkish
Banu Gürsaler Syvertsen translates Norwegian literature into Turkish. She has contributed to the Nordic January issue of the magazine SabitFikir and has translated the recently released novel Shyness and Dignity by Dag Solstad (original title: Genanse og verdighet).
Read more about Banu in English here.
Read the interview in Norwegian here.
2018
December 2018: Martin Aitken – English
Martin Aitken’s very first literary translation from the Norwegian was “My Struggle” by Karl Ove Knausgård, together with Don Bartlett!
He was recently shortlisted for the coveted National Book Awards in the US for his translation of Hanne Ørstavik’s novel Love. And now they are long-listed in the PEN America Literary Awards 2019 for best translation!
Martin has also translated an impressive number of Danish novelists.
Read the interview in Norwegian here.
November 2018: Anne Lande Peters – Japanese
Anne Lande Peters is from Norway but she translates into Japanese! She was an important contributor when NORLA and Norwegian writers toured Japan in November (read more here).
She is also participating in the “Ibsen in Translation” project by the Centre for Ibsen Studies at the University of Oslo.
Read more in English here.
Read the interview in Norwegian here.
October 2018: Frank Zuber – German
During this year’s Frankfurter Buchmesse, Frank Zuber was awarded NORLA’s Translator’s Award 2018 – presented on this occasion by Norway’s Minister of Culture, Trine Skei Grande. He was specifically honored for his effort in conveying Norwegian non-fiction.
Read more in English here.
Read the interview in Norwegian here.
September 2018: Tamara Kalandadze – Georgian
Read more in English here.
Read the interview in Norwegian here.
August 2018: Shen Chang – Chinese
Read more in English here.
Read the interview in Norwegian here.
June 2018: Anar Rahimov – Azerbaijiani
Read more in English here.
And read the interview in Norwegian here.
May 2018: Leonardo Pinto Silva – Brazilian Portuguese
Read more in English here.
And read the interview in Norwegian here.
April 2018: Jelena Ratsjinskaja – Russian
Read more in English here.
And read the interview in Norwegian here.
March 2018: Ursel Allenstein – German
Read more in English here.
And read the interview in Norwegian here.
February 2018: Cristina Gómez Baggethun – Norwegian-Spanish
Read more in English here
And read the interview in Norwegian here.
January 2018: Sherin Abdel Wahab – Norwegian-Egyptian
“Read more in English here”:
And read the interview in Norwegian here.
December 2017: Evgenia Vorobyeva – Russian
Read more in English here.
And read the interview in Norwegian here.
November 2017: Kerri A. Pierce – American English
Read more in English here.
And the interview in Norwegian here.
October 2017: Anne-Marie Soulier – French
Read more in English here.
And the interview in Norwegian here.
September 2017: Milada Blekastad (2017 – 2003) – Czech
Read more in English here.
And the Norwegian article here.
August 2017: Ben Yu – Chinese
Read more in English here.
And the interview in Norwegian here
June and July 2017: Maike Dörries – German
Read the interview in English here.
May 2017: Tamara Kvizhinadze – Georgian
Read more in English here.
And read the interview in Norwegian here.
April 2017: Jarka Vrbova – Czech
Read more in English here.
And read the interview in Norwegian here.
March 2017: Sara Koch – Danish
Read more in English here
And read the interview in Norwegian here.
February 2017: Dana Caspi – Hebrew
Read more in English here.
And read the interview in Norwegian here
January 2017: Munib Delalić
Read more in English here.
And read the interview in Norwegian here
2016
December 2016: Don Bartlett – British
Read more in English here.
And read the interview in Norwegian here.
November 2016: Pablo Osorio – Mexican
Read the interview.
October 2016: Nargis Shinkarenko – Russian
Read more about Nargis Shinkarenko, winner of NORLA’s Translators award 2016, here.
Read the interview.
August/September 2016: Deborah Dawkin og Erik Skuggevik
Read more in English here.
And read the interview in Norwegian here.
June/July 2016: Hwasue S. Warberg – Korean
Read more about Hwasue S. Warberg, winner of NORLA’s Translators award 2012, here.
And read the interview in Norwegian here.
May 2016: Paula Stevens – Dutch
Read the interview in Norwegian here og bli bedre kjent med Paula.
April 2016: Natalia Ivanychuk – Ukrainian
Read the interview in Norwegian here.
March 2016: Éva Dobos – Hungarian
Read more in English on Éva Dobos, winner of NORLA’s causerie competition 2016, here.
Read the interview – and her winning causerie – in Norwegian here.
February 2016: Ljuba Gorlina (1926-2013) – Russian
In February 2016, Russian-Norwegian translators organized a seminar at the embassy in Moscow dedicated to the translator Ljubov Gorlina (1926-2013).
Read more about Ljubov Gorlina in English here.
And read the article about her (in Norwegian) here.
You may also watch a short film NORLA made for the seminar, in Norwegian with Russian subtitles here.
2015
December 2015: Robert Ferguson – British
Read the interview in Norwegian here.
November 2015: Li Jingjing – Chinese
“Read the interview in Norwegian here.
October 2015: Eva Kaneva – Bulgarian
Read more about Eva Kaneva, winner of NORLA’s Translators award 2015, here.
Read the interview in Norwegian here.
September 2015: Sanda Tomescu Baciu – Romanian
Read the interview in Norwegian here.
June 2015: Gabriele Haefs – German
Read the interview in Norwegian here var Gabriele Haefs.
May 2015: Alice Tonzig – Italian
Read the interview in Norwegian here.
April 2015: Sofija Vucović – Serbian
Read the interview in English here.
March 2015: Frank Zuber and Günther Frauenlob – German
Read the interview in Norwegian here.
February 2015: Aude Pasquier – French
Read the interview in Norwegian here.
January 2015: Olga Drobot – Russian
Read the very first interview in our series (in Norwegian) here.
