March’s Translator of the Month is the Norwegian-Scot Kari Dickson. She has been put forward by – and has received a question from – her translator colleague Anne Bruce. 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. She has also led workshops in translation from Norwegian on many occasions, including at the Summer School of British Center for Literary Translation (BCLT), University of East Anglia in Norwich. 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.

We at NORLA are proud and happy to present our selected titles for spring: 31 wonderful fiction and non-fiction books for both adults and children/young adults.

Find your favourites here

Due to the corona virus pandemic, the Norwegian Festival of Literature in Lillehammer has made substantial changes to it’s original plans and programming.

One glimmer of light this spring is that with so many cancelled events organisers have had to think differently: There are of course many possibilities in this digital age!

Internationally, literature from Norway is in an incredibly strong position. 2019 was the year that Norway featured as Guest of Honour at the world’s most important book fair – Frankfurter Buchmesse – with the motto The Dream We Carry. NORLA planned and implemented this initiative on behalf of the government and the book industry.

Thanks to the Guest of Honour initiative, the number of books that were published in German reached a record high in 2019: 510 titles from or about Norway. One hundred authors from Norway came to the 2019 Frankfurt Book Fair, with 100,000 people visiting the pavilion. Almost two hundred authors participated in a program in Germany, Austria, or Switzerland in 2019, and a total of 1120 literary or cultural events were held in German-speaking regions. Norway set a record for media attention as guest country, being mentioned 14,997 times throughout the autumn of 2019.

“Thanks to all the publications in German during its year as Guest of Honour, Norwegian literature has a bigger window on other languages too. With targeted efforts in the future towards other markets, we will be able to see the long-term ripple effects of the work behind the guest-country initiative,” says Margit Walsø, director of NORLA.

POSTPONED: Due to the latest developments concerning the coronavirus and new guidelines from the Institute of Public Health, the conference marking the end of the Literature Go Global program is postponed.
This is seen as a necessary measure to limit the risk of spreading the corona virus. At the same time we are doing our best to set an alternative date for the conference.

According to German sales figures six books from Norway made it to the bestseller lists for 2019, the year Norway was Guest of Honour at the world’s most important book fair; Frankfurter Buchmesse:

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 published in 2019.

Learn more about Anne and the books she has translated here.

Those of you who understand Norwegian can read her Translator of the Month interview here.

Today is the Sami National Day, and everyone at NORLA offers our warmest congratulations to all our Sami friends and the Sami people: Læhkoeh biejjine – Vuorbbe biejvijn – Lihkku beivviin – Gratulerer med dagen!

See below for pictures from some of last year’s events at Frankfurter Buchmesse featuring Sami authors and literature.

We also recommend the Book Fair’s official Guest of Honour film from Norway’s pavilion, which includes Sami joik from 03:40 mins. and a soundtrack by Elle Márjá Eira – who also performed at the opening ceremony of the fair.
Watch the film here

February 5-7, NORLA will host a seminar for 10 international non-fiction editors from seven countries: The Netherlands, France, the UK, Germany, Switzerland, Russia and Canada.
Norwegian non-fiction has received a lot of international attention in recent years, and NORLA wants to take advantage of this trend by giving non-fiction literature an extra boost.

The international editors will meet Norwegian non-fiction authors, literary agents and editors in Oslo, before taking the train Thursday night across the mountains to Bergen to experience the city’s International Literary Festival.
This is a collaboration between NORLA and Bergen International Literary Festival.

February 1 is the application deadline for translators of Norwegian literature regarding stays at NORLA’s Translators hotel spring 2019 (weeks 19-20, i.e. as of Monday May 6th through Sunday May 19th).
Please note that the offer is only available for translators who translate directly from Norwegian.

The application deadline is 1 March.
Read more here (in Norwegian only).

We invite foreign publishers/editors, sub-agents and scouts to apply for participation in our seminar at the Norwegian Festival of Literature in Lillehammer, May 2020. This year, the focus will be on literature for children and young adults.

The fellowship program is organised by NORLA in collaboration with the Norwegian Publishers’ Association, and supported financially by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The fellowship program runs from 26 to 29 May 2020.
The application deadline is 31 January 2020.

Read more