Posted on February 21st, 2013 Launch of the Finnish-English Literary Translation Cooperative (FELT) website
US and UK translators of Finnish literature have come together to form a new professional community, the Finnish-English Literary Translation Cooperative (FELT). FELT launched its public website (www.feltcooperative.org) today.
The FELT website provides information about new and upcoming works of Finnish literature in translation, worthy works of literature not yet translated into English, translators’ professional bios and contact information, and reflections on the art of literary translation.
FELT is a collegial initiative begun by professionals currently translating fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and drama from Finnish into English. Its mission is to promote Finnish literature in English translation and professionalism in Finnish-to-English literary translation.
The initiative sprang out of growing international interest in Finnish literature and a desire to provide both mutual support for its members and a place for publishers, agents, translators, and others interested in literary translation to learn about works of literature from Finland.
FELT is not a union or trade organization, but a community where translators can exchange news, ideas, and working methods with each other and share their work with the public. FELT translators abide by generally accepted principles of good translation as defined by the Translators Association, the American Literary Translators Association (ALTA), the Finnish Association of Translators and Interpreters (SKTL), and other relevant translation associations. FELT members work with creative fidelity to source texts and transparency in the translation process.
All FELT members have published a minimum of two book-length Finnish-to-English literary translations outside of Finland and have a professional level of work and educational experience. Current FELT members are David Hackston, Emily Jeremiah, Kristian London, Lola Rogers, and Owen Witesman.
Posted on July 13th, 2012 
By Juhani Aho, 1884.
Published and now available! Buy now.
In 2012, Norvik Press will publish my translation of Finnish author Juhani Aho’s Rautatie (The Railroad). Although not the first author to write fiction in Finnish (that would be Aleksis Kivi), Aho is sometimes spoken of as the father of modern literary Finnish and was the first professional Finnish-language author. The Railroad is considered one of his most important works.
From kirjasto.sci.fi:
“In 1884 appeared Aho’s first major work, Rautatie Read More: The Railroad / Rautatie
Posted on June 14th, 2012 
Author Veikko Huovinen; Photo: Harri Nurminen
Literary genius causes all sorts of problems for translators. Veikko Huovinen was from the worst end of that spectrum. Basically, he manipulates his own language and culture so well that it becomes completely untranslatable. But hey, if someone is willing to pay me to try, then why not? And since it was meant to be seriously wacky in Finnish, maybe the English isn’t so bad after all.
Read Huovinen’s 1960s short story “Pop Song Lyrics” at Books from Finland and an introduction to Huovinen’s work by Jarmo Papinniemi.
Read More: Pop Song Lyrics — Veikko Huovinen
Posted on May 21st, 2012 
My First Murder by Leena Lehtolainen
The best-selling Detective Maria Kallio series begins in English!
Coming Dec 11. Available for preorder now, including as an audiobook.
For Inspector Maria Kallio, violent crime investigation is a calling. She’s wanted to be a police officer since she was a teenager. For this mixture of curves, muscles, and wit, playing with the boys is the norm. When a student choir’s animated practice sessions at a Helsinki villa are cut short by the death of a student, the case becomes a chance for Kallio to show what she can do. Read More: My First Murder // Ensimmäinen murhani
Posted on May 18th, 2012 
The Lunatic (Teos, 2012)
by Juha Hurme
One day during Advent in Helsinki the narrator in the novel Hullu (‘The lunatic’, Teos, 2012), a middle-aged man, goes mad.
Read Soila Lehtonen’s introduction and a sample chapter at Books from Finland.
Posted on May 10th, 2012 
For the last few months I’ve been collaborating with Rovio Entertainment, the makers of the Angry Birds games, on a series of picture books based on the game characters. More details to come soon on when you can get a little more anger for bedtime with your kids!
Posted on May 10th, 2012 
Pompom and the Happy Year Otava 2009
By Nina Pirhonen
Coming soon as a smart device app!
The cover pretty much says it all. Or take a look at the author’s website. Pompom is a delightfully whimsical picture book series with a fascinating aesthetic connection to the author/illustrator’s fashion design sensibilities (Google her work for Nanso and Marimekko).
There are four books in the Pompom series. Contact the Otava Group Agency for rights information.
Posted on May 10th, 2012 
Day of the False King Otava 2012
by Kaarle Aho
Writing a documentary about controversial banker Toivo T. Ryynänen is a second chance for washed-up journalist Jyrki Nyrkki, who is trying to collect what shreds are left of his professional pride and win back the love of his wife.
A journey into the past of old money and the Baby Boom generation ensues, taking Jyrki back to his own childhood and the excesses of the 1980s. Everything seems to repeat over and over: whoever believes the most is the one who gets cheated.
When Ryynänen’s friend Read More: Day of the False King // Väärän kuninkaan päivä
Posted on May 10th, 2012 
I Hear the Forest Calling
by Sari Peltoniemi
A supernatural YA thriller in which a young boy is haunted for a forest spirit he encounters in Lapland. Do these apparitions have something to do with his long-lost Sami mother?
Sample translation available from the Elina Ahlback Agency.
Posted on May 9th, 2012 
Jason
by Camilla Mickwitz
A full translation is available for review from the Ahlback agency, translated by me.
While I didn’t grow up with Finnish children’s books myself, Jason seemed familiar the first time I read it this year. To me it has the feel of a Leo Lionni or Shel Silverstein–the sort of timeless simplicity that in this case completely transcends borders between nations and cultures. Mickwitz has a particular gift for injecting seemingly straightforward stories with glimpses of the serious struggles of adult life as seen through Read More: Jason
Posted on April 22nd, 2012 
2012, Otava
By Aino Havukainen and Sami Toivonen
Now available for purchase in Finland! Akateeminen Suomalainen
Get ready for another rollicking ride with the boys from Oddsville, this time through the 2012 World Design Capital!
See also:
Tatu and Patu’s This is Finland (Published)
Tatu and Patu’s Adventures in Outer Space (Sample)
Tatu and Patu as Superheroes! (Sample)
Tatu and Patu in Helsinki // Tatu ja Patu Helsingissä
Posted on March 9th, 2012 
Ihmisen osa, Siltala, 2009. From Finlandia Prize winning author Kari Hotakainen.
Runeberg Prize for fiction, 2010. Prix Courrier International, 2011.
Now available for purchase in the UK!
Hear the BCC The Strand review.
From the publisher:
An elderly woman agrees to sell her life to a blocked writer she meets at a book fair. She needs to talk – her husband has not spoken since a family tragedy some months ago.
She claims that her grown-up children are Read More: The Human Part / Ihmisen osa
Posted on February 2nd, 2012 
I’m currently finishing up a translation of Seppo Jokinen’s award-winning Hukan enkelit (working title Wolves and Angels) for Ice Cold Crime. More details will be coming soon as ICC ramps up marketing, but suffice it to say that this is one of the best old-school detective novels I’ve seen come out of Finland. I cared about the characters from the very beginning, and I wasn’t sure “whodunnit” until the end. In other words, take a bow, Mr. Jokinen!
Posted on December 26th, 2011 
Illustration: Joonas Väänänen
Pop over to Books from Finland for my translation of Jyrki Lehtola’s latest column on the media. Then think for a few minutes about whether Facebook Timeline is an interesting new feature or a hellish reminder that you can never truly escape your digital past..
In the new media it’s easy for our pet-hatreds to be introduced to anyone who is interested. And of course everyone is interested, how else could it be? Jyrki Lehtola investigates…
Read the essay
Posted on December 22nd, 2011 
Alpo Finds Alma by Jukka Lemmetty
2011, Tapisodes and Tammi
by Jukka Lemmetty
From the developer:
In this second book in the Alpo series, Alpo sets off on a new adventure with his friend Jimmy.
When Alpo hurts his leg, Jimmy puts him in ambulance-pram and drives him to the zoo, where animals can be well looked after. But all the animals at the zoo are too busy to help Alpo. Until Alpo and Jimmy meet a wonderful lady at the ice-cream stall…
The first of the Alpo series to be available on iPhone and iPad. Read More: Alpo Finds Alma // Alpo löytää Alman
Posted on December 16th, 2011 
Strange Things Aftoot — The Animals’ World II by Marsa Pihlaja
Annexus, Forthcoming
Environmentally-friendly poems & facts for children and adults
Strange things are happening in the animals’ world!
In this second volume of The Animals’ World, curious things occur: frogs rain from the sky, a blackbird is sporting Ray Bans, a hippo runs out of potamus, chickens take to the streets for a freedom march, a dragon mother urges a dragon father to give up smoking, an elephant does a good turn for the environment, and much more!
While the poems are about animals, they offer surprising Read More: Strange Things Afoot: The Animals’ World II
Posted on November 23rd, 2011 Vilja-Tuulia Huotarinen (Image linked from HS.fi)
As reported today in the Helsingin Sanomat, YA author and poet Vilja-Tuulia Huotarinen has been awarded this year’s Finlandia Junior prize for children’s and young adult literature for her novel Light, Light, Light [Valoa valoa valoa]. You can read more about the novel at the Stilton Agency website or my post on my English sample translation.
More on the author at Books from Finland and the Finnish Literature Exchange FILI.
Translation of Helsingin Read More: Finlandia Junior Award to Vilja-Tuulia Huotarinen
Posted on October 21st, 2011 
Author Tuomas Lius
2011 Like
by Tuomas Lius
From the Otava Rights Guide:
A lovable rural rogue and a female detective who’s coming to terms with her past are searching for a priceless historical treasure
Private investigator Marko Pippurinen from the rural village of Tohmajärvi has revived his detective agency with the help of his young friend, Pyry Lehikoinen. Then Julia Noussair, the other half of the duo familiar from Lius’ previous books, Haka and Outside the Law, appears out of nowhere with an intriguing offer. Marko eagerly seizes this opportunity, but by doing so Read More: The Running of the Bulls // Härkäjuoksu
Posted on October 14th, 2011 
The Buyout, by Karo Hämäläinen
The Buyout, by Karo Hämäläinen
WSOY, 2011
After reading this book, I felt like immediately changing my investment strategy (perhaps switching to cash in a mattress?), and my ability to stomach the nonsensical explanations of self-serving politicians about why the world is suffering from this financial crisis dropped through the floor. Karo Hämäläinen reminds us what really got us here: the greed and machinations of financial wizards who did their best to hide the risks and consequences of their actions in order to keep making money. The Buyout is that rarest Read More: The Buyout // Erottaja
Posted on October 14th, 2011 
Illustration: Joonas Väänänen
Are we dumbed down by the Internet? Jyrki Lehtola takes a look at who might be to blame and reminds us that everything really was better in the past.
Read the latest essay from journalist Jyrki Lehtola at Books from Finland.
Posted on October 11th, 2011 
So you’ve heard about how Finland kicks everyone else’s tuckuses in public education outcomes? Well, it’s not just about running classrooms right. They also have a strong tradition of nonfiction writing and reading, as exemplified by these five books from Gaudeamus Helsinki University Press. Links to reading samples below. Messages from the Islands is particularly recommended as a delightfully quirky and engaging approach to an oddly fascinating subject. Special thanks to Setti and Elli at Translizer for helping with these during Frankfurt crunch time.
The Long History of Electricity by Ismo Lindell
Ismo Lindell’s The Long History Read More: GAUDEAMUS Helsinki University Press
Posted on October 11th, 2011 
The Heretic Essays, by Kari Hukkila
The Heretic Essays, by Kari Hukkila
Savukeidas, 2010
“An Algerian Friend” now published in Hyperion Volume VII, Issue 1, Jan. 2013.
From the Burning Bridge Agency 2011 rights guide:
The starting point of Kari Hukkila’s The Heretic Essays is the turn of the eighties when Hukkila gets to know a group of Algerian youngsters hanging around in front of Notre Dame. The essays deal with a friendship which does not depend on similarity, and a Europe which defines the positions and attitudes between the West and Islam as Read More: The Heretic Essays // Kerettiläisesseet
Posted on September 29th, 2011 
The Ahtisaari Story by Katri Merikallio and Tapani Ruokanen
Otava, 2011
From Otava Foreign Rights:
The first authorised biography of the influential Finnish Nobel Peace Prize Laureate
How did a little boy who was evacuated during the war grow up to become the president of Finland, one of the most widely known Finnish decision-makers on the international stage and a leading global figure in crisis resolution? How has Martti Ahtisaari managed to get people to achieve peace, and what lies at the core of his approach? And where does this man, Read More: On a Journey: The Martti Ahtisaari Story
Posted on September 29th, 2011 
Light, light, light by Vilja-Tuulia Huotarinen
Vilja-Tuulia Huotarinen
2011, Karisto
As a translator, I generally think of “lyrical” as a dirty word. Even beyond the pretense that’s usually bound up in using language like that about a book (your own book?), translating poetry is generally a fool’s errand, unless you fully embrace what the *huge* limitations are. Every once in a while, though, a translation of something lyrical just works. This is a good story, and a beautiful thing to read. It feels true to life.
From the Stilton Agency:
What else can one Read More: Light, Light, Light // Valoa valoa valoa
Posted on September 22nd, 2011 
Tatu and Patu's Adventures in Outer Space
Otava 2011
by Aino Havukainen & Sami Toivonen
From the 2011 Otava Foreign Rights Guide:
A universally weird intergalactic adventure that thrusts forward at hyperspeed and plunges readers into orbits of laughter!
The wildly fast-paced and utterly wacky series of adventures continues – this time, the brothers from Oddsville have a go at sci-fi. Tatu and Patu take off on an adventure across the universe – their mission is to defend galactic peace and perform other important feats of derring-do.
Tatu and Patu build their own spaceship for the Read More: Tatu and Patu’s Adventures in Outer Space // Tatun ja Patun Avaruusseikkailu
Posted on August 20th, 2011 
I recently completed a series of non-fiction samples as part of an initiative by the Finnish Literature Exchange FILI. See the FILI brochure about the project here.
From the brochure:
In Finland, over 3,000 non-fiction book titles are released by publishers each year, of which around 2,000 come under the category of general non-fiction. The total number of works published in Finland in 2009 that were designated as non-fiction books – a category which includes items as diverse as annual company reports and scientific publications – was around 8,000. The spectrum of non-fiction books is so broad because the Read More: Nonfiction 2011
Posted on August 20th, 2011 
Harjukaupungin salakäytävät by Pasi Ilmari Jääskeläinen
The Cinematic Life: A Novel [Harjukaupungin salakäytävät] by Pasi Ilmari Jääskeläinen
Ateena, 2010
Speculative fiction author Pasi Ilmari Jääskeläinen takes a plunge into magical realism, with cinematic results. More on this book (soon) as the project progresses. Pasi is being represented by the Kontext Agency.
An English sample and synopsis are available.
Reviews:
Jääskeläinen (…) offers international quality”
Pasi Ilmari Jääskeläinen, a schoolteacher in Jyväskylä, has a third surprise in store for the Finnish reading public. His first novel, Lumikko and Nine Others (2006), and his short-story Read More: The Cinematic Life: A Novel by Pasi Ilmari Jääskeläinen
Posted on August 20th, 2011 General Thoughts:
A few quick thoughts post-Finncon. First of all, speculative fiction is alive and well in Finland. Every panel I attended had good turn-out, and there was a lot of energy, despite some pretty stupid things being said by a few presenters. Prediction: if you tell people they won’t succeed and won’t make any money doing what they love, they won’t. Mika Waltari, Johanna Sinisalo, and Sofi Oksanen didn’t succeed and make money until they did, writing things that blew away not only the domestic audience, but also international readers. The comments from the keynote speakers, particularly Finncon Report
Posted on July 4th, 2011 
See you at Finncon!
This year I’ll be running a seminar for translators interested in speculative fiction and comic translation in conjunction with Finncon, organized and funded by the Turku Burning Bridge Literary Agency project and FILI.
On Saturday as part of the Finncon program, there will be a special panel discussion on Finnish speculative fiction abroad featuring myself, Irma Hirsjärvi, Maria Säntti, Toni Jerrman, and Cheryl Morgan. The time of the panel is a little uncertain. Check announcements at the con.
If you’re attending Finncon this year, drop me a Read More: Finncon
Posted on June 17th, 2011 
Homo sapiens populismus: Timo Soini of the True Finns Party. Image via Wikipedia
Illustration: Joonas Väänänen
My latest Jyrki Lehtola essay translation at Books from Finland:
Big electoral turnouts are generally considered a good thing. But, writes columnist Jyrki Lehtola, in Finland the fact that the vote went up in the last Finnish general election caused a revelation. Educated urbanites and the media (perhaps near enough the same thing), are shocked by how 20 per cent of their fellow Finns think – and the ramifications caused tremors all across Europe.
The Politics of Difference — Jyrki Lehtola
Posted on June 7th, 2011 
Essays on Desire and Doubt by Antti Nylén
Antti Nylén
From the Burning Bridge Literary Agency:
Antti Nylén (s.1973) is an essayist and translator specializing in 19th century French literature. He has translated Baudelaire, Flaubert and J.K. Huysmans, among others. Nylén is a feminist, a devout Catholic, a vegan, a dandy, a father of two, and an exceptionally violent writer. He lives in Helsinki.
His first book, Vihan ja katkeruuden esseet (Essays on Anger and Bitterness, Savukeidas 2007) Read More: Essays on Desire and Doubt / Halun ja epäluulon esseet
Posted on June 3rd, 2011 
The Sands of Sarasvati by Risto Isomäki, 2005
Risto Isomäki
I grabbed The Sands of Sarasvati off the shelf as soon as I saw it in 2005, immediately devoured it, and then went looking for more from the author. It was a great pleasure to do the finishing work on the graphic novel version, and I’m thrilled now to be working on the full novel. Look for more info and a sample in fall 2011!
From the Stilton Agency:
The Sands of Sarasvati is an Read More: The Sands of Sarasvati / Sarasvatin hiekkaa
Posted on May 27th, 2011 
Atena, 2003 by Tiina Pihlajamäki
It doesn’t matter where the war happened, who the opposing forces were, or what justifications were given. After the dust settles, after the dead are removed, the work of survival continues for the living. The world seeks justice, but at the cost of retraumatizing the innocent.
Tiina Pihlajamäki’s You Can’t Tell About It explores the aftermath of a fictional eastern European conflict reminiscent of the Bosnian War in the mind of a young girl, Mirjana, who remained relatively unscathed by the atrocities experienced by so many others. Or did she? How can even Read More: You Can’t Tell About It / Siitä ei voi kertoa
Posted on May 5th, 2011 
What happens to you in hell if your last name really is Bastard? Can’t a fox girl living in the human world catch a break? Do you really have to slow down in your eighties? These and many more important, hilarious, and twisted life questions we’ve all been wondering about are tackled by the comic artists of Turku, Finland.
I recently translated and/or edited several comics samples for the Burning Bridge Literary Agency in Turku. There is some seriously funny stuff here.
View the whole brochure (PDF 4.5 mb)
Mika Lietzén: Yesterday, Tomorrow Read More: Comics from Turku
Posted on May 4th, 2011 
Pirius, 2010 (3rd Ed) by Pekka Piri
In 1994, Pekka Piri and Matti Pulli set out from Helsinki as skipper and navigator (respectively) of the FinnFaster, an open-top motor boat, on a daring attempt to reach Iceland. The Call of the Sagas chronicles not only their voyage across the cold northern seas, but also through the shoals and rocks of life. Their skills are tested. Their equipment is punished. Their endurance is pushed to the limit. In the end they do reach Iceland, but more importantly, they arrive as new men.
More information to come…
The Read More: The Call of the Sagas / Saagojen kutsu
Posted on May 4th, 2011 
Tammi, 2011
by Tapani Bagge
From the Elina Ahlbäck Agency:
The year is 1940. Detective Sergeant Mujunen, familiar to readers of White Heat, is swept up in a new, more poignant chain of events. Mujunen, in mourning for the death of his wife, meets the Lithuanian dancer Ilse Anders at the cemetery, and his heart skips a beat. But his troubles are far from over.
A Finnish commuter plane vanishes after taking off from Tallinn, a bank is robbed in Kerava, and riots flare in Helsinki, the protesters demanding peace and brotherhood between Finland and Read More: The Blue Phantom / Sininen aave
Posted on March 25th, 2011 
WSOY, 2011
by Tuomas Kyrö
From Books from Finland:
We Are the Champions
Heroes are still in demand, in sports at least. In his new book, author Tuomas Kyrö examines the glorious past and the slightly less glorious present of Finnish sports – as well as the meaning of sports in the contemporary world where it is ‘indispensable for the preservation of nation states’. And he poses a knotty question: what is the difference, in the end, between sports and arts? Are they merely two forms of entertainment?
Read a sample (HTML)
Also by Tuomas Read More: The Book about Sports / Urheilukirja
Posted on March 16th, 2011 
Tammi, 2010
by Peter Franzén
From the Elina Ahlbäck Literary Agency:
A touching and finely tuned growing up story set in northern Finland.
For children, every day brings something new and amazing. It could be a game with your little sister and the kids from next door, it could be a Grandpa who makes you laugh, or it could be the snow crunching under the runners of your pushsled during a race. Or, like for Pete, it could be the first year of school, which is coming up Read More: Over Dark Waters / Tumman veden päällä
Posted on February 23rd, 2011 
Tammi, 2010
by Sami Hilvo
From the Elina Ahlbäck Literary Agency:
A bold, beautiful story of World War II Finland and a love that does not find acceptance in the world around it.
Mikael arrives at his grandmother’s funeral and finds that nothing has changed. His deceased grandparents’ home still feels like home, and his relatives treat him just as coldly as before. When Mikael gets the key to his grandfather’s study, the past takes over. The blue uniform shirt inherited from his police chief grandfather, and the liquor card it holds right next Read More: The Liquor Card / Viinakortti
Posted on February 12th, 2011 
To be, or not, a true Finn? Illustration: Joonas Väänänen
A new article translation at Books from Finland on Finland’s answer to Sarah Palin.
Elections are coming: what will the vox populi, the voice of the people, dictate? And which people will be deciding Finland’s political future? As columnist Jyrki Lehtola reports, a political debate has arisen about the ‘right’ and the ‘wrong’ sort of pollster – and the ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ kind of Finn.
Link
Posted on February 2nd, 2011 
Luke (left) and Owen (right) on the trail
Just back from the trailhead
Red Castle
Just got back from snowshoeing and camping for two days in sub-zero weather in the Uintas. Our goal was to do the same hike we did this summer, but we didn’t make it due to snow conditions and sickness in the group. The winter trailhead is 8 miles farther out than the summer trailhead. I made it in to the summer trailhead, but no farther. Already planning to try again next year! Check out Read More: White Castle
Posted on January 1st, 2011 
Leena Lehtolainen
Tammi, 2010.
By Leena Lehtolainen.
A complete translation is of this novel is now available. Please contact me or the Elina Ahlbäck Agency for more information if you are an interested publisher.
From the Elina Ahlbäck Agency:
The new installment of the Maria Kallio series is a chronicle of xenophobia and hate. Maria Kallio is investigating the disappearance of three Muslim girls – and the killing of another. Maria Kallio, working on an EU project training Afghani police, travels to the opening ceremonies for the country’s new police academy, with disastrous consequences. Upon returning Read More: Where Have All the Young Girls Gone / Minne tytöt kadonneet
Posted on December 19th, 2010 Summary: you have options, and your selection of translator matters.
Literary translators don’t exactly grow on trees. However, at least in my main combination, Finnish to English, there are now options. As a result of a number of factors, most importantly perhaps the work of FILI Finnish Literature Exchange, there are now perhaps a half-dozen translators working at least part-time doing Finnish literary translation into English. If we think more broadly, including non-fiction as well as fiction, the number climbs to ten or fifteen.
However, this is a new enough development that many translation clients are still unaware Read More: Translation Tip #1: Talk to more than one translator
Posted on December 2nd, 2010 
The Oven by Antti Hyry
Winner of the 2009 Finlandia Prize for Literature.
A man builds a brick oven and ponders life. Events come and go, the bricks rise and remain. “He started to remember a model, an oven in the Hökkä’s cabin. It was nearly a meter high on the interior, of arching bricks, with an outlet for the flames in the back corner. The vents came forward at the top and then down the sides and then turned at the bottom toward the back wall and then from the back to Read More: The Oven / Uuni
Posted on November 19th, 2010 An abridged version of this essay has been published at Books from Finland.
I am a professional translator, and I have a secret: I don’t read translations. Shocked? Don’t be.
I’m not alone. The literary website Three Percent draws its name from the fact that only about 3 % of books published in the United States are translations (the figure for Germany is apparently something like 50 %). There are various opinions about why this is, including this one from Three Percent’s Chad Post writing at Publishing Perspectives. I’ll get to Read More: On the Rocky Road to a Good Translation — Long Version
Posted on November 19th, 2010 
You get the picture? A translation error in China. Photo: Leena Lahti
See my new article on the difficulty of translation and how to make it better at Books from Finland.
Why just three per cent? Translator Owen Witesman seeks an explanation for the difficulties of selling foreign fiction to the self-sufficient Anglo-American market. Could there be anything wrong with the translations?
I have a much longer version of the essay here.
Posted on October 26th, 2010 
Tammi, 2009.
by Jyrki Vainonen
From the Tammi/Elina Ahlbäck Agency Rights Guide:
A unique story of death, revenge and atonement from a true Master of Surprise. The Towers is a perceptive and psychologically charged story, mixed with the elements of fantasy, erotica and horror. Jyrki Vainonen’s works have previously been likened to those of Roald Dahl and Julio Cortàzar, and his world is found in the wild no-man’s-land between reality and fantasy.
Jyrki Vainonen — Towers — Sample Translation (PDF)
Posted on October 12th, 2010 
Illustration: Joonas Väänänen
Another article I translated for Books from Finland, this one from fall 2010.
Should a journalist show his hand? Columnist Jyrki Lehtola ponders the pros and cons of showing one’s true political colours.
Link
Posted on October 8th, 2010 
Photo: Mikko Lehtimäki
From the Tammi/Elina Ahlbäck Agency Rights Guide:
Worms is an intensely emotional tale of the long shadows cast by the past and atonement for irreversible deeds. It is also a story about modern day people clinging to their blind faith in their own free agency as they are faced with the forgotten secrets of the past. On a barren island lurks the mysterious legacy of a shipwreck, marked by nine stone graves and a small, dilapidated chapel. These ghostly memorials conceal an ancient tragedy and an ideology in which a sinner is of Read More: Worms / Torajyvät
Posted on October 2nd, 2010 
Tammi, 2010
By Markku Pääskynen
From the Elina Ahlbäck Agency rights guide:
A young father’s stunningly intensely depicted trial of strength in a time of difficulty Markku Pääskynen’s Book of Angels is an intense and poetic description of the waning of an individual’s strength and his slow ascent to fresh hope. It is a story of consolation, a bold description of the grandeur of the small, everyday things in life, of the fundamental questions of existence.
Why, and for whom, do we live? What is love? Pääskynen once again exhibits an astounding capacity, familiar to readers of Read More: The Book of Angels / Enkelten kirja
Posted on October 2nd, 2010 
Tammi, 2010
From the Ahlbäck Agency foreign rights guide:
A lyrical, down-to-earth story of family members painfully searching for their place in this world.
A ballad of unrequited love. “The bear would shamble up and she would become the bear’s and everything would be the way it was and no one would be able to do anything about it.” But the bear never comes, and Stella stops waiting.
Until someone starts sniffing around the house. The Bear’s Death expands on Finno-Ugric mythology. Mumma dies but refuses to rest. She cannot; she is simply incapable of it. The Read More: Death of the Bear / Karhun Kuolema
Posted on September 16th, 2010 
Otava, 2010. By Aino Havukainen and Sami Toivonen
From Otava.fi:
Super fast, super fun, super weird! Super oddballs Tatu and Patu kick off their new, fantastic Incredible Adventures series!
Tatu thinks superheroes are awesome. “Just think how great it would be to run faster than a tall building or leap speeding bullets in a single bound. Or wait, was it….”
Tatu and Patu’s dream comes true: with the help of a televisioactive laser beam they transform from ordinary Oddsvillians into superheroes, who set out to battle super scoundrels and struggle against misrepresentation! They become Read More: Tatu and Patu as Superheroes! / Tatu ja Patu Supersankareina
Posted on August 21st, 2010 
I’m behind on updates, so I’m going to list work here that I need to create individual entries for later. Contact me for the actual samples if I haven’t posted them yet.
Samples:
Laittomat [Outside the Law] by Tuomas Lius (LIKE) Tuomas Lius — Outside the Law — Sample Translation (PDF) Fully synopsis also available. Pakonopeus [Escape Velocity] by Taavi Soininvaara (Otava) Taavi Soininvaara — Escape Velocity — Sample (PDF) Viides tuuli [The Fifth Wind] by Päivi Honkapää (WSOY) Päivi Honkapää — The Fifth Wind — Sample (PDF) Meren Read More: 12 Samples — More Details to Come
Posted on August 3rd, 2010 
Turbator/Pelipeitto Oy, 2008
By Kirsti Ellilä
Read an excerpt.
From the Burning Bridge Agency project:
Romantic horror stories
Kirsti Ellilä’s (b. 1958) short stories will be a surprise to readers who expect routine romantic short prose: her stories are literally strange, stories about human relationships in which romance intersects with elements of crime, horror, fantasy, and science fiction. Ellilä has demonstrated herself to be an excellent short-story writer with a first-rate ability for describing human relationships, no matter what the genre.
Kirsti Ellilä is a generalist writer who lives in Turku and has published Read More: Strange Love / Outoa rakkautta
Posted on July 17th, 2010 
The incomparable debut collection from the Finnish science fiction guru.
M. G. Soikkeli belongs to the absolute top names in new Finnish science fiction literature. The most notable Finnish sci-fi prize, the Portti magazine competition, has already been won by Soikkeli on three occasions. Longing for Mars was also nominated for the Tähtivaeltaja Prize for best published Finnish science fiction book in 2008.
The stories in Longing for Mars, which expertly plumb the different trends in the genre, show that sci-fi is more than entertainment. Soikkeli’s sociological short stories are a splendid example of the possibilities for the science Read More: Longing for Mars / Marsin ikävä
Posted on July 16th, 2010 
View north from Red Castle Lake (our group on the left).
Just got back last week from three days with the Boy Scouts in the Red Castle area of the high Uintas. Hiked in ~11 miles the first day and then toured the lakes the next day, adding another good 12 miles. We had rain, sleet, and snow most every day for a while, intermingled with sun. Hiked out the third day. The fishing was good, but I wish I would have taken my photo gear instead. One boy firmly established that pants Read More: Red Castle Hike
Posted on July 6th, 2010 
Tammi 2009, 279 pp
By Marko Hautala.
From the Tammi/Elina Ahlbäck Rights Guide:
A story about people’s need to preserve their loved ones, both dead and alive, but also the need to conceal their wrongdoing from the eyes of others.
On a mild May day, as Finland is celebrating its victory in the Ice Hockey World Championships, a violent crime takes place in the depths of a concrete suburb. The murderer turns out to be Olavi Finne, a lonely old man who can’t explain what happened. He’s locked up in a mental institution.
Over ten years Read More: Shrouds / Käärinliinat
Posted on July 6th, 2010 
Leena Lehtolainen
I recently finished a sample translation for the Elina Ahlbäck Agency of Leena Lehtolainen‘s novel Tappava säde, the current working title of which is The Killing One.
Leena Lehtolainen is the bestselling female crime author in Finland. Her new titles head straight to #1 on the Finnish bestseller lists. In addition to her career as an author, she has also worked as a literary researcher, columnist, and critic. Lehtolainen published her first novel at the age of 12; this work of juvenile fiction Ja äkkiä onkin toukokuu (”And Suddenly It’s Read More: The Killing One / Tappava säde
Posted on July 5th, 2010 
Otava, 2008
By Aino Havukainen and Sami Toivonen
From the Otava Rights Catalog:
An indispensable book for anyone who sleeps! This book has everything, from instructions for choosing a bedtime toy to a troubleshooting chart for insomniacs. As a bonus, the book includes the world’s most boring bedtime story. When goddaughter Satu is coming to spend the night at Tatu and Patu’s house, the boys go all out in preparation. Since they’ll have to put her to bed, they’ve composed a new treatise entitled On Dreams, Drowsiness, Bedtime, and Lovely Lullabies or O.D.D.B.A.L.L.
The book explains Read More: Oddball Bedtime Book / Tatun ja Patun Outo unikirja
Posted on July 1st, 2010 
My translation of extracts from the collection of short prose, Mielensäpahoittaja (‘Taking offense’, WSOY, 2010) by Tuomas Kyrö were just published at Books from Finland.
The extracts at Books from Finland
Tuomas Kyrö at WSOY
Tuomas Kyrö’s blog
Posted on June 22nd, 2010 
Otava 2008, 191 pp.
From Petri Tamminen. Tamminen (b. 1966) is known in Finland as a master of short prose and laconic humor. His work has often consisted of page-length vignettes, and even when writing in longer formats, as in the short novel What Happiness Is, the focus remains on trenchant observations of individual phenomena. To summarize What Happiness Is very briefly: two friends set out to write a book about happiness. In the process, the protagonist manages to destroy much of what might have formed the basis for his own happiness.
As a reader, Tamminen’s work Read More: What Happiness Is / Mitä onni on
Posted on June 22nd, 2010 
Like Publishing, 2009.
By Tuomas Lius.
From the publisher:
A weapon of mass destruction from the Second World War.
A lake in Northern Karelia.
A distinguished female undercover cop and a redneck heartthrob.
These are the ingredients of Haka, a startling first effort which is shooting to the top of the thriller charts. It is a supreme mix of eccentric characters and multiple sources of suspense that culminates in a race to find an abandoned German recognisance device at the bottom of a lake in Northern Karelia.
Tuomas Lius (born 1976) moves through the story with a Read More: Haka
Posted on June 20th, 2010 
Otava, 2006
By Juhani Seppänen.
Helsingin Sanomat review
From the Otava 2006 Foreign Rights Catalog:
This book could change your attitude to alcohol – for good. The author spins the bottle and questions many of the things we take for granted about the demon drink, shaking up some long-held misconceptions.
Out of a population of around five million, Finland boasts around 500,000 “heavy users” of alcohol. Liquor is an everyday thing for increasing numbers of people, not to mention its use on festive occasions. Does the idea of a party with just a glass Read More: Clearly Drunk / Selvästi juovuksissa
Posted on June 20th, 2010 
Teos 2007. 384 Pages
By Mikko Rimminen.
Rimminen’s second novel Pölkky (“The Block”) is a story about a park attendant in Helsinki whose inaction is narrated with extreme stylistic precision. Even the most insignificant move by the main character is shared with the reader. However, unlike Volter Kilpi’s tour de force Alastalon salissa (800 pages about a 6 hour span), or even Ulysses, you’re certain to finish The Block, rather than reading the CliffsNotes and then pretending you actually read the book. Rimminen’s second novel is breathtakingly funny and its language is pure genius.
PDF Read More: The Block / Pölkky
Posted on June 19th, 2010 
Atena Kustannus OY. 2006. 119 pages.
Dual-language book about contemporary Finnish weaving and fiber art by Minna Koskinen, Anelma Savolainen, and Anna-Maria Väätäinen. I translated the Finnish portions into English. The pictures are stunning!
Listing at Suomalainen.com
Posted on June 19th, 2010 
Atena Publishing, 2009
By Paula Hahtola
In 1951 a mother and daughter travel to the country in search of acknowledgment of the mother’s paternity.
PDF Sample
Posted on June 19th, 2010 
Tammi Publishers. 2008. 219 pages. Finnish edited by Nina Suomalainen and Jyrki Karvinen English edited by Owen F. Witesman Translation by Marju Galitsos, David Hackston, and Setti Mulari.
This book was put together from essays by diplomats and public officials who have worked closely with former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari in the Balkans. When I was approached about the project by Tammi, I was busy with school, so I suggested something that is rather rare in the literary translation world: subcontracting. I put together a team of translators I knew I could trust and farmed Read More: The Ahtisaari Legacy: Resolve and Negotiate
Posted on June 19th, 2010 
Bonnier Books Ltd. 2008. 184 pages.
A cookbook by Marianne Kiskola and Sanna Miettunen (2006).
It’s this food blogger’s favorite cookbook! One of the recipes being prepared at Kitchenbutteryfly.com.
Suomalainen.com bookstore listing
Amazon.co.uk listing
Posted on June 19th, 2010 
By Teuvo Pakkala, 1895.
This is a little story I translated ages ago, mostly for fun. The original title is “Mahtisana” (‘The mighty word’) from the collection Lapsia. Another of those Finnish authors that the world is missing out on. Enjoy.
Teuvo Pakkala — Stignafulia — Mahtisana
Posted on June 19th, 2010 
Atena 2004.
Sport in Antiquity: From the fields of Olympia to the arenas of Rome Antiikin urheilu: Olympian kentiltä Rooman areenoille
From Sami Koski, Mika Rissanen & Juha Tahvanainen. Winner of the most prestigious prize for nonfiction in Finland, the Tieto-Finlandia Award (2005).
This gave me a rare chance to use my undergraduate minor in Latin! This is a generously illustrated, general audience description of sporting in the ancient world, including detailed descriptions of individual events in addition to discussion of the cultural and religious significance of physical contests.
Sport in Antiquity Sample (PDF)
Read More: Sport in Antiquity / Antiikin urheilu
Posted on June 19th, 2010 
Miles Conway
Local news is a Finnish comic strip written by Vesa Ilmaranta and illustrated by Timo Kähkönen which has appeared in over 40 outlets. In addition to Finland, it has appeared in Norway and will soon be seen elsewhere. The basic storyline is that a young dot-com bubble victim named Miles Conway has moved back to his hometown to work in the local paper. He was burned out on the big city, but small-town life isn’t a piece of cake either.
See more strips at Localnews.fi.
Read More: Local News / Paikallisuutiset
Posted on June 19th, 2010 
Hannele Klemettilä
Atena, 2008
By Dr. Hannele Klemettilä
From the author’s introduction:
If you ask the average person on the street what historical period could most aptly be described by the word “cruel,” she will without hesitation answer “the Middle Ages,” as opposed to suggesting perhaps antiquity or the beginning of the modern era. Cruelty is generally perceived as one of the main features of the Middle Ages, alongside darkness, violence, backwardness, and barbarism. However, in many regards this is largely a question of myths, false impressions, and misunderstandings, which have been shaped and Read More: Cruelty in the Middle Ages / Keskiajan julmuus
Posted on June 19th, 2010 
The only literary journal devoted to Finnish literature. I provided translations for every issue from late 2004 through the end of the journals print publication in 2008, approximately 50 essays and literature reviews in total, plus at least the short fiction translations listed below. I continue to contribute to their online publication.
“Misery me” [from Mielensäpahoittaja] by Tuomas Kyrö (2010). “Noah’s progeny” [extracts from Puupää] by Juha Hurme (2009). “What about me?” [from Mitä onni on] by Petri Tamminen. 42:3 (2008). “No place to go” [from Lakanasiivet] by Sirpa Kähkönen. 42:1 Read More: Books from Finland
Posted on June 19th, 2010 
Tammi, 2009.
Footballs and Concert Halls: A Light Blue Love Story or Concert Halls and Soccer Balls: A Light Blue Love Story in US (Sello & Pallo) by Lauri Törhönen.
Winner of the 2010 Topelius Prize for youth fiction.
This is a very sweet (but not saccharine), engaging love story with some of the same elements of anticipation that readers enjoy so much in the Twilight series. The main characters are thrown together, but then separated, with no real way of finding each other again.
Lauri Törhönen — Read More: Footballs and Concert Halls / Sello & Pallo
Posted on June 19th, 2010 
Atena Publishing 2004. 389 pages. Written by Tero Niemi and Anne Salminen
Classic sci-fi with lyrical, wistful feel reminiscent of Bradbury mixed with the hard science edge familiar from Arthur C. Clark and Kim Stanley Robinson (space is big, and no, lasers don’t make any sound). This episodic novel follows the travels and travails of Nimbus, a young female star traveler and her AI companion, Talamus. Nimbus herself departs her body, both to be reconstituted in new bodies grown by Talamus and populated with recordings Read More: Nimbus / Nimbus ja tähdet
Posted on June 19th, 2010 
Otava Publishing. 2007. 48 pages. In 5th printing.
This is a children’s book written and illustrated by Aino Havukainen and Sami Toivonen (2007). It was awarded the 2007 Finlandia Prize for Children’s Literature. The artwork is pure genius–it captures contemporary Finnishness like few things I’ve seen. Even visiting Finland probably won’t give you nearly as intimate a look into what is important to Finns both in terms of where they’ve come from historically and what modern life is about. And it’s hilarious.
Sample pages:
Finnish oddities, Part 1: Sauna Finnish oddities, Part Read More: This is Finland / Tatun ja Patun Suomi
Posted on June 19th, 2010 
Tammi, 2004. 48 pages.
Written by Riitta Jalonen and illustrated by Kristiina Louhi.
From Tammi foreign rights brochure:
A memory never ends
The Girl and the Jackdaw Tree describes a turning point in a little girl’s life, the unavoidable changes caused by her father’s death. Her thoughts and feelings relate a sensitive story – with the child pondering the happenings of her life under a tall tree. The tree is known as a Jackdaw tree as a flock of these big birds frequently nest in the safety of its branches. The girl knows how the tree must feel when Read More: The Girl and the Jackdaw Tree / Tyttö ja naakkapuu
Posted on June 19th, 2010 
Tammi, 2009.
YA fantasy from Sari Peltoniemi. Sample translation with rough translation help from John C. Alleman.
PDF Sample
Sari’s website
A short blurb at Finnishwriters.com
Posted on June 19th, 2010 
Tammi, 2008
Nominated for the Finlandia Junior Prize!
Written by Tove Appelgren and illustrated by Salla Savolainen
From Ahlbäck Agency foreign rights guide:
Vesta-Linnea feels like her mother always takes her little sister’s side over hers, and she is suddenly very certain that no one in the family really loves her. Will anything disperse her darkest thoughts?
Tove Appelgren & Salla Savolainen — Vesta-Linnea’s Darkest Thought — Sample Translation (PDF)
(A full-length translation with images is available upon request)
Blurb at Books from Finland
Read More: Vesta-Linnea’s Darkest Thought / Vesta-Linnea mieli mustana
Posted on June 19th, 2010 
Short story by science fiction author J. Pekka Mäkelä. Originally published in Tähtivaeltaja 1/2009.
Full translation
J. Pekka Mäkelä at FinnishWriters.com
J. Pekka Mäkelä’s website
Karsta listed in Locus Magazine review of international science fiction 2009
J. Pekka Mäkelä has four smashing science fiction novels ready to be translated! Info Read More: Thirty More Years / Kolmekymmentä vuotta
Posted on June 19th, 2010 
Tammi, 2009
Written by Tuula Korolainen. Illustrated by Christel Rönns.
From Tammi/Elina Ahlbäck Agency foreign rights guide:
Kitten’s mum is upset feeling she has to clean up after everyone else in the family. And as if that wasn’t enough. Sloppy jumps out of the mirror – a little, sloppy cat who looks just like Kitten. And boy, can Sloppy make a mess! He storms from room to room putting everything in disarray, even pasting the walls with jam. Kitten gets carried away with the mess-making, fi nding how much fun it can be. But when Sloppy Read More: Kitten and Sloppy / Kissa Killi ja Sottapytty
Posted on June 19th, 2010
Posted on June 19th, 2010 
Otava, 2006.
Finnish author Olli Jalonen’s doctoral dissertation on the creative process and association. I translated the English summary, which was also published in revised form in Books from Finland (3/06).
Olli Jalonen at Transcript
Entry at Books from Finland
Posted on June 19th, 2010 
Annexus Oy 2010
Written and illustrated by Marsa Pihlaja. Translated by Owen F. Witesman
Environment-themed poems with eye-popping illustrations.
Sample from Annexus Publishing
Posted on June 19th, 2010 
Forthcoming. Annexus Oy.
This is a book of mother-themed children’s poetry. More info when it goes to press!
Posted on June 19th, 2010 
Tammi, 2010.
By Hannu Hirvonen.
From the Tammi/Elina Ahlbäck Agency 2010 Rights Guide
The cat raised its head and rubbed its cheek against Mii’s hand. ‘We can get out of here with the help of a cat. Maybe.’ ‘How so?’ the boy asked. ‘I don’t know. But it may be the only way. Only a cat can walk on both sides.’
In the beginning everything seems like an exciting dream to Mii. She sees a beautiful little city rising out of nothing. She sets off to look at the investigate. There are people standing around in Read More: Moths of Hades / Tuonenkehrääjät
Posted on June 19th, 2010 
The Sands of Sarasvati by Risto Isomaki
Risto Isomäki
Tammi Publishers. 2008. 72 pages.
Collaborative translation with Lola Rogers. I handled the final translation and editing.
The original is a graphic novel based on the novel of the same name by Risto Isomäki (2005).
Review at forbiddenplanet, with images.
Another review.
Suomalainen.com bookstore listing
The Sands of Sarasvati by Risto Isomäki (graphic novel)
The Sands of Sarasvati by Risto Isomäki (graphic novel)
The Sands of Sarasvati by Risto Read More: The Sands of Sarasvati / Sarasvatin hiekkaa
Posted on June 19th, 2010 
Hannele Klemettilä
Atena, 2004.
By Hannele Klemettilä
From Dr. Klemettilä’s homepage:
Hannele Klemettilä published her first monograph The Executioner in Late Medieval French Culture in 2003 (Annales Universitatis Turkuensis). Klemettilä is familiar to larger audiences not only from her popular books but also from radio and television programmes. She has published historical texts both in Finland and abroad. Klemettilä’s publications include scientific studies, monographs, articles, columns, and two radio series. Her historical books have received a lots of space in media, critics’ praises, and a large audience.
Hannele Klemettilä — Medieval Read More: Medieval Executioners / Keskiajan pyövelit
Posted on June 19th, 2010 
Aspasia Books. 2008. 109 pages.
This is a themed set of short stories by Petri Tamminen (Otava 2002). The starting point is the impulse toward seclusion–the original title is literally “land of the hider”.
PDF Sample
Article by Soila Lehtonen in Transcript.
Some of the pieces from the book were also previously translated by my colleague David Hackston and can be read in the Books from Finland archive here.
Posted on June 19th, 2010 
Dalkey Archive Press. 2006. 133 pages.
A novel by Anita Konkka (1988). This was a retranslation of a rough translation done by Agatha Haun.
From Publishers Weekly:
The querulous, nameless, love-weary narrator of Konkka’s 1988 novel might have emerged from a Jim Jarmusch film: in her late 30s, recently unemployed, her engagement broken off and in love with an unavailable man, the narrator is a cerebral, dreamy observer of the flotsam of life as she sits at the base of her favorite pine tree writing in a blue notebook. She imagines the lives of people she sees, Read More: A Fool’s Paradise / Hullun taivaassa
Posted on June 19th, 2010 
Tammi, 2010.
Written by Riitta Jalonen and illustrated by Kristiina Louhi.
From the Tammi/Elina Ahlbäck Agency foreign rights guide:
Aidan and Sophie are 8- and 9-year-old friends. This book is a sweet story of summer, closeness, games, adventures – and of first love, from a boy’s perspective.
Through small, delicate details Riitta Jalonen communicates the strong emotions of childhood. Kristiina Louhi’s warm and inventive illustrations bring the magical realm of childhood handy.
Riitta Jalonen — Aidan and Sophie — Translation Sample PDF
Posted on June 19th, 2010 
Tammi, 2009.
The Hurricane Detective Club and the Guardians of the Star Triangle (Etsiväkerho Hurrikaani ja tähtikolmion vartijat) by Jari Mäkipää.
The Hurricane Detective Club returns to school after a hectic summer vacation. The fall begins strangely when Principal McBride doesn’t show up for work. The club sets out to investigate the principal’s strange disappearance. The think it must have something to do with a strange symbol, the star triangle, a mystery the sleuths have tried to solve before.
As they investigate the star triangle, Jesse, Jenny, Caroline, and Matthias descend deeper into the dark secrets of Alder Read More: The Hurricane Detective Club // Etsiväkerho Hurrikaani
Posted on June 19th, 2010 
Tammi, 2006.
Elämänkirja by Esko-Pekka Tiitinen.
From the Elina Ahlbäck Agency/Tammi Publishing foreign rights guide:
The Book of Life is a refined, yet intense novel about Marja, a 17-year-old girl, and the summer during which she has to let go of her old home and way of life.
Esko-Pekka Tiitinen — The Book of Life — Translation Sample (PDF)
I was seventeen then.
When I called out from the edge of the field, the cows stood up from resting and followed after me. I could have walked with them even as far as the village; Read More: The Book of Life / Elämänkirja
Posted on June 19th, 2010 
Petri Tamminen
Visa Infinite. 3 (2005): 72-73.
Based on an unpublished original short work by Petri Tamminen. This was an amusing project since both Petri and I are quite sure we will never be the sort of people who qualify for this credit card or afford anything advertised in the magazine.
Visa Infinite PDF
Posted on June 19th, 2010 
Cover of original CD
Kapsäkki Opera and Theatre Company.
A tintamaresque children’s opera by Sinikka and Tiina Nopola featuring their Heinähattu and Vilttitossu characters. I translated the songs lyrics for performance in the US.
Posted on June 19th, 2010 
Journal of Finnish Studies 7:1 (Aug 2003).
A short story by Hannu Raittila, from the collection Miesvahvuus (1999).
PDF
Posted on June 19th, 2010 
Brigham Young University Theses (2001).
A play by Minna Canth (1891). This was done as my undergraduate senior project. My first lengthy translation project.
You may access my full translation of the play using the following link just so long as you realize this was my first translation ever! (Also, it was originally done in Word Perfect, so there are some very, very slight oddities in the file as a result of bringing it into the modern world, as it were).
The Parson’s Family by Minna Canth (Papin perhe — 2001 Translation) (PDF)
Read More: The Parson’s Family / Papin perhe
Posted on June 19th, 2010 Mox Mäkelä/Finnish Public Radio (YLE).
Näkymättömiä kuvia olemattomista asioista, a radio play by Mox Mäkelä (2004).
Posted on May 13th, 2010 I’m going to use this space to document a few of my hobbies. The big one right now is my garden. In the last two years I’ve planted 24 fruit trees on our property, plus a variety of berry bushes. I’m also doing a vegetable garden.
My other main hobby is mountain biking. Minor hobbies include photography, paintball, mountaineering, and hiking.
Some nautical exploits:
Rowing in Savonlinna in 2003
Boating in Helsinki in 2007
My brother, my dog, and I violating Canadian sovereignty in a canoe in 2006
Read More: Watch this Space
Posted on May 6th, 2010 
The sample translations posted on this website all represent books for which the authors are seeking foreign publication, unless otherwise noted. All material is copyrighted by the respective authors, illustrators, and translators. Nothing here may be published without permission and it should not be assumed that the sample translation represents the final form in which a translation would be published. Please contact me or the listed foreign rights representative for more information.
Enjoy!
Posted on March 12th, 2010 
Illustration: Joonas Väänänen
Yet another old Books from Finland translation of a Jyrki Lehtola column.
How does it sound, the people’s voice? Loud and sometimes clear perhaps, but, as columnist Jyrki Lehtola finds, more often than not shrill and puerile.
Link
Posted on February 12th, 2010 
Illustration: Joonas Väänänen
Last of my old Jyrki Lehtola translations for Books from Finland:
When the Finnish media developed a crush on the country’s foreign minister, writes Jyrki Lehtola, no one could foresee the consequences. Especially if the object of their affections might begin to believe what they say about him…
Link
Posted on December 22nd, 2009 
Tatu and Patu's Amazing Alphabet
Otava, 2009
From the Otava Foreign Rights website:
The alphabet is led down memory lane with the boys from Oddsville, where there’s plenty of whacky humour and earth-shaking revelations about the crazy life they’ve lived! With an extra bonus letter: the mark of Oddsville!
Tatu and Patu find a box in the attic brimming with old photos and mementoes of years gone by.
The box is a true cornucopia: there are pictures of their trip to Barbados, a shot of the curling club disco, and one of the Christmas market in Järvenpää. Read More: Tatu and Patu’s Amazing Alphabet // Tatun ja Patun Oudot aakkoset
|
|
