Nordic Translation Conference

This sounds like it could be an interesting conference:

The Nordic Translation Conference will take place March 6, 7, and 8, 2008, at the Institute of Germanic and Romance Studies in London. This will be the first conference of its kind, the first to focus solely on the Nordic languages and their translation. The conference will look at literary and non-literary translation, both between various Nordic languages and also between English and the Nordic languages. Nordic here refers to Danish, Faroese, Finnish, Greenlandic, Icelandic, Norwegian, any of the Sámi dialects, and Swedish.

The speakers will include Douglas Robinson, Kirsten Malmkjær, Tiina Nunnally, Geoffrey Samuelsson-Brown, Janet Garton, and Martin Næs. Several Nordic authors will read from their most recent books. In addition, the conference will include panels and workshops on relevant topics. The conference dinner will be at the Houses of Parliament.

I’m always intrigued by events that include a dinner at Parliament . . .

Over the past few years, the Nordic countries have been making a concerted effort to get their books translated and out into the larger world. Although not directly connected with this conference, FILI, NORLA, Icelandic Literature Fund, and the Danish Arts Agency are among the best foreign cultural agencies in the world. (And yes, I am leaving off the Swedish Institute on purpose. With all the changes going on there I’m adopting a wait-and-see attitude.)

In addition to the plethora of crime novels coming out of Scandinavia, there are a number of interesting literary authors worth checking out. Dalkey’s published a few Finnish authors, like Rosa Liksom and Anita Konkka, we’re going to be doing the Norwegian Jan Kjaerstad, and Lars Saabye Christensen is another great author from there. In addition to Halldor Laxness, there are a few great Icelandic books worth checking out, including Bragi Olafsson’s The Pets and Hallgrimur Helgason’s 101 Reykjavik. Hopefully conferences like this will support all the great work the various agencies are doing and help make more Nordic lit available to English-readers.