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.

As of this year, Norway holds a seat in the United Nations’s Security Council. We will be a member of the Council until 31 December 2022.
At NORLA we are celebrating this international commitment with a sneak peak – on Instagram – in to our book shelves. You might call them a miniature UN of books!

NORLA opens the doors for Norwegian literature abroad. And in 2020, this has meant digital solutions and meetings. In collaboration with the Norwegian embassies abroad and on our own initiative, we have arranged 20 different webinars involving a total of 354 participants from 26 countries (of these 108 were Norwegian). We have created tailor-made webinars for publishers and translators in markets all around the world. We have presented both NORLA’s selected titles and several other authors.

“Art in numbers 2019” is an annual report about the income of Norway’s arts industry within literature, music, visual arts and performing arts. The report is prepared by Rambøll Management Consulting for Arts Council Norway.

The report for 2019 shows an increase in the sales of foreign rights to Norwegian books: real income from the sales of rights, co-production and royalties from abroad has increased by 11.2 percent annually since 2013. Norwegian agents and publishers reported 1,082 new contracts in 2019. From 2019, the income for Norwegian authors via foreign agencies is also included in the figures. The foreign agents reported 69 contracts with Norwegian authors in 2019.

2020 was a year that has fully demonstrated how important books are to people. The written word provides knowledge, reading pleasure, art experiences, comfort and visions in times of change. From March, NORLA altered its plans for following up the 2019 Guest of Honour year – to the dissemination of literature digitally. Through a range of webinars, we facilitated author presentations, exchanges and networks between literary agents, editors and translators, in close collaboration with Norwegian embassies and consulates, among others. Read more.

Crown Princess Mette-Marit is an ambassador for Norwegian literature abroad and participated in last year’s Frankfurter Buchmesse. Now the Crown Princess has written a Christmas letter to 2,540 booksellers in Germany.

On behalf of the Ministry of Culture, Economics Norway has carried out an external evaluation of the Guest of Honour project. The evaluation has been based primarily on whether the goals for the initiative Norway as Guest of Honour at Frankfurter Buchmesse 2019 were achieved. The report is now ready and has concluded that the Guest of Honour project was successful.

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.

Every day in Stories, we present a new, Norwegian book. And we also share lots of good content about Norwegian literature abroad.

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The winners are:

Naturally, this year’s autumn book season will be an exceptional one, with almost no authors making physical trips abroad. Nevertheless, many of them will be attending festivals and events around the world, digitally. And that means that more people will be able to see them!

At NORLA we are happy that so many realize how very important it is to support local booksellers during the corona pandemic. We greatly appreciate the various ongoing initiatives and would therefore like to share them – for inspiration: