Søk etter “2019”

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! (Read more).

NORLA has formed an agreement with Talent Norway (Talent Norge) on a recruitment programme for Norwegian authors. The programme will be a part of Norway’s investment in Guest of Honour status at the Frankfurt Book Fair in 2019 and the agreement is effective under the condition that Norway is named Guest of Honour.

Upon the signing of the agreement between NORLA and Frankfurter Buchmesse for Norway as Guest of Honour at the Book Fair in 2019, the talent programme for young authors in Norway was confirmed. The development programme for new author talents will be organized through a collaborative agreement with Talent Norway (Talent Norge). The Norwegian Publishers Association will also contribute generously to the programme.

Recruitment is an important aspect of the work of Norway as Guest of Honour and Margit Walsø, NORLA’s director, emphasizes that cultivating new literary voices internationally is an important goal of the Frankfurt initiative. The long-term timeframe leading up to 2019 and the collaboration with Talent Norge will provide the opportunity to flush out unknown talents from Norway’s abundant literary underbrush.

In the years leading up to 2019, 20-30 authors will receive an offer of participation in a development programme focusing on the international aspects of the author profession. The programme will facilitate development through the exchange of experiences, travel, lectures, activities and network building.

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.

Wednesday, August 14th was a big day for Norwegian literature: ten Norwegian books were released during Shanghai International Literature Week. The books are being published by Shanghai Translation Publishing House.

“Over the past five years, Norwegian literature has experienced a huge increase in popularity in China. It’s mainly been literature for children and young adults – illustrated books in particular – and non-fiction for adults. It’s therefore especially gratifying that Shanghai Translation Publishing House’s efforts are now giving Chinese readers access to a wide selection of Norwegian novels in addition to an important non-fiction book,” says Margit Walsø, director of NORLA.

When the summer holidays approach it is always exciting to summarise the activities we at NORLA have carried out in our effort to open doors to Norwegian literature around the world. But this spring was turned upside-down due to the COVID-19 situation, and this meant that many of the meetings we had been looking forward to were cancelled. There were no physical book fairs in Leipzig, London or Bologna, and no international guests in Lillehammer for the Norwegian Festival of Literature.

Luckily, however, we have been able to meet digitally. Many organisers have turned things round by grasping the opportunities available within modern technology. The Norwegian Festival of Literature reinvented itself and, in collaboration with NRK, Norway’s public broadcaster, became the biggest digital festival in the Nordic region. By doing this they reached hundreds of thousands of people who would have been otherwise unable to participate. For the first time, NORLA arranged webinars for international publishers and translators who should have been our guests at this year’s festival in Lillehammer.

Germany, in other words! Leipziger Buchmesse takes place in an exhibition hall located 20 minutes from the city centre by S-Bahn but can nonetheless boast of attracting 285,000 visitors to a city with a mere 500,000 residents. How do they achieve this?

Norway as Guest of Honour at Frankfurter Buchmesse 2019 is the country’s largest overall cultural initiative abroad. The main goals set for the initiative by NORLA were achieved. The goals were to renew the foothold of Norwegian literature in Germany, to create new international interest in Norwegian literature, to showcase Norway as a modern cultural nation and to revitalize the relationship between Norway and Germany through cooperation on literary and cultural projects.

The Frankfurter Buchmesse is beyond doubt the world’s most important book fair when it comes to the sale of foreign rights and international dissemination of literature in all genres. The Norwegian guest of honour status was used as an arena for the presentation of a myriad of voices from Norway, as well as sparking the joy of reading and, not least, it served as a platform for promoting freedom of speech.

For everybody working at NORLA, sparking the joy of reading is a true privilege. And today we are happy to celebrate World Book Day by recommending books from our selected spring titles.

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:

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.

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).

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.

In connection with Norway being Guest of Honour at the Frankfurter Buchmesse in 2019, NORLA and Grafill collaborated on a touring exhibition with Norwegian book illustrations. As a finale, the exhibition is now coming to Norway, and Grafill’s premises in Oslo and will be on display January 9 – February 2.
The exhibition "Georg Grosz meets Mulysses on Slush Mountain. Modern illustration from Norway” includes work by eleven Norwegian illustrators, selected from a variety of new Norwegian picture books for both children and adults, all of which can be found in books that are translated and available in German.

During 2019, the exhibition has been shown in a number of cities in Germany and Switzerland: Berlin (2 times), Bremen, Leipzig, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Zofingen and Wohlen.

We are happy to share some key figures from Norway as a Guest of Honour at this year’s Frankfurter Buchmesse. NORLA’s Guest of Honour project report will be presented in the first quarter of 2020: