400 publications from and about Norway in German in 2018/2019!

Norway’s status as Guest of Honor country at the Frankfurt Book Fair this year has led to a record interest in literature from and about Norway in German-speaking countries. From September 2018 to December 2019, German-language publishers will have released 400 titles from and about Norway. The translators are making a formidable effort.

On our website norway2019.com you will always find an up-to-date overview of literary and cultural events in Germany as well as articles about Norwegian literature, interviews with translators and booksellers and much more!

See the events 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.h2.

Spring as Guest of Honour has been rich, hectic and fun! Some of the highlights being the book fair in Leipzig featuring 18 authors and 40 events; Berlinale, where Norway was the partner country at the European Film Market (EFM); jazzahead! in Bremen which included 117 musicians from Norway; the German-Norwegian literature festival in Oslo with the German press; and The Norwegian Festival of Literature in Lillehammer with German booksellers and journalists, international publishers and translators.

Between 25 – 31 May, the Nordic region’s biggest literature festival took place in Lillehammer, and this year’s was bigger than ever! NORLA organised programs both before and during the festival: We arranged a seminar for translators of Norwegian fiction to English, Spanish and Korean – and invited a group of international publishers and scouts to Oslo and Lillehammer in collaboration with the Publishers Association and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In addition, two groups of German guests – including both journalists and booksellers – visited Norway in connection with the festival. Also participating was a group from Georgia – which was the Guest of Honour at Frankfurter Buchmesse last year – as well as representatives from the book fair itself. All of these groups took part in an exciting and packed program!

The Guest of Honour at Frankfurter Buchmesse 2019 presented its extensive cultural programme, the concept for the Guest of Honour Pavilion and the list of authors who will attend the fair. Her Royal Highness The Crown Princess Mette-Marit will travel across Germany on a literary train tour in collaboration with Deutsche Bahn AG. Erika Fatland and Karl Ove Knausgård will speak at the fair’s opening ceremony.

With more than 70 program posts we hope to engage and entertain the German and international audience at the main stage in Norway’s Guest of Honour Pavilion from 16 to 20 October 2019.

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.

From April 26 to 28, the German-Norwegian literature festival “On the way to Frankfurt” was held at Litteraturhuset in Oslo. And the festival was a huge success, with over 5000 people in the attendance!

At NORLA we are happy to welcome four translators to Oslo and a two-week stay at Hotell Bondeheimen. And this spring markes a jubilee, as our guests take part in the popular scheme’s tenth season!
The four translators are:

Ina Kronenberger (German)
Vera-Agnes Pap (Hungarian)
Pluschkat (German)
Kaija Anttonen (Finnish)

In addition to being Guest of Honour at Frankfurter Buchmesse, Norway was also the focus country at the European Film Market (EFM) at the Berlinalen in February; and in April Norway was the partner-country at the world’s largest jazz trade-fair jazzahead! in Bremen.

At NORLA, we are very happy to be part of “Nordic Books of the Month” – a NordLit campaign promoting Nordic literature!
During the next month we will publish and share reading tips on interesting Nordic books together with our fellow Nordic literature export centres.