Livi & Nate

Livi & Nate

by Kalle Hakkola and Mari Ahokoivu
Translated by Owen F. Witesman
Published by Owlkids.
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Livi and Nate are a sister and brother who live with their mom and grandpa in a house deep in the snowy hills. Every night after dinner, they have a bath, followed by story time, and then bed. But tonight, Livi can’t sleep?her vivid imagination takes over, turning little moments from everyday life into fantastical adventures. This book tells the story of one eventful night inside her imagined adventures: a giant snow bear comes to visit, Mom becomes a superheroine, and Livi grows wings and plays with butterflies.

Cartoon-style illustrations in warm colors bring the brightness of Livi’s fantastic dreams to life in this entry point to graphic novels. Speech bubbles, sequential art, and bold, energetic sound effects are paired with sweet and true depictions of a loving family life. This book celebrates a strong sibling relationship and is a charming tribute to the joys of imagination and dreaming.

Sisterland

Sisterland

by Salla Simukka
Translated by Owen F. Witesman
Published by Crown Books for Young Readers.
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Fall under the spell of this contemporary fairy tale that’s perfect for fans of Emily Winfield Martin’s Snow & Rose and the Chronicles of Narnia series.

Alice thought it was unusual to see a dragonfly in the middle of winter. But she followed it until she fell down-down-down, and woke up in a world unlike any other.

Welcome to Sisterland, a fantastical world where it is always summer. The most enchanting magic of all, though, is Alice’s new friend Marissa. But as the girls explore the strange land, they learn Sisterland’s endless summer comes at a price. Back on Earth, their homes are freezing over. To save their families, Alice and Marissa must outwit the powerful Queen Lili. But the deeper they go into Sisterland, the less Alice and Marissa remember about their homes, their lives before, and what they are fighting for.

This is a wondrous tale about heroism, loyalty, and friendship from one of the most celebrated Finnish children’s authors, Salla Simukka.

An excerpt is available from the publisher’s website.

Praise:

“While a few readers may wish for longer pauses in this Odyssey-paced journey, most will delight in the wondrous details and flexible metaphors.” Publishers Weekly, starred review

“A girl-centered hero’s journey, at once princess-free and enchanting.” Kirkus

“A humorous, delightfully sweet tale of magic and sisterhood.” Booklist

“The enchanting writing contains rich descriptions and similes, and will be accessible to reluctant readers. -School Library Journal

Where Have All the Young Girls Gone

Where Have All the Young Girls Gone

The Maria Kallio Series (Book 11)
by Leena Lehtolainen
Translated by Owen F. Witesman
Published by AmazonCrossing
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A group of hate crimes, a conspiracy, or a coincidence? Investigator Maria Kallio searches for answers close to home in award-winning author Leena Lehtolainen’s riveting thriller.

After completing a dangerous mission training police officers in war-torn Afghanistan, Detective Maria Kallio returns to Finland as the head of a new special crimes unit. But what awaits her in her home country is her most challenging and unsettling case yet. Three immigrant Muslim girls, all members of the same social club, have gone missing under mysterious circumstances. When the body of a fourth girl is found in the snow, strangled with her own headscarf, the investigation takes on a grim new urgency.

Is there a xenophobic serial killer on the loose? A random white nationalist? Or does something more insidious bind the girls? In a Finnish city struggling to assimilate a new population of Muslim immigrants, the answers are hard to come by…

One thing is certain: it will take a detective familiar with the darkest depths of humanity to sift through the wreckage of clashing cultures in search of the truth. That detective is Maria Kallio.

Derailed

Derailed book coverDerailed

The Maria Kallio Series (Book 10)
by Leena Lehtolainen
Translated by Owen F. Witesman
Published by AmazonCrossing
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Detective Maria Kallio investigates a doping scandal turned murder in award-winning author Leena Lehtolainen’s pulse-pounding thriller.

After surviving a terrifying assault during her last investigation, Maria Kallio traded in her badge for a comfortable desk job. But when the head of social affairs for the Finnish Athletics Federation is murdered—the victim of an apparent poisoning—Maria is drawn back into a race against more than murder. A series of crimes has unfolded, and to Maria’s trained eyes, they look like the makings of a conspiracy.

As Maria follows the track to a doping scandal, a money-laundering scheme, domestic abuse, and explosive death threats leveled against a sports reporter, she collects the pieces of a baffling puzzle. Now, to run down the killer and save the next victim, all she has to do is make them fit.

So far only one thing is for certain: Maria Kallio is rediscovering the thrill of the chase.

Oneiron

Oneiron

by Laura Lindstedt
Translated by Owen F. Witesman
Published by Oneworld.
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WINNER OF THE FINLANDIA PRIZE

From the publisher:

Seven women meet in a white, undefined space seconds after their deaths.

Time, as we understand it, has ceased to exist, and all bodily sensations have disappeared. None of the women can remember what happened to them, where they are, or how they got there. They don’t know each other. In turn they try to remember, to piece together the fragments of their lives, their identities, their lost loves, and to pinpoint the moment they left their former lives behind.

Deftly playing with genres from essay to poetry, Oneiron is an astonishing work that explores the question of what follows death and delves deep into the lives and experiences of seven unforgettable women.

Laura Lindstedt (b. 1976) burst onto the Finnish literary scene in 2007 with her debut novel Scissors, which earned her a nomination for the Finlandia Prize, the country’s most prestigious literary honour. Lindstedt’s second novel Oneiron has continued Lindstedt’s critical success, earning her the 2015 Finlandia Prize. She lives in Helsinki.

Praise

‘This book is stunning, phenomenal, wow.’

– Cecelia Ahern, author of P.S. I Love You

‘Incredibly audacious.’

– Chicago Review of Books Most Anticipated Fiction Books of 2018

‘Reflective and full of depth, Finnish author Laura Lindstedt blends in elements of other genres such as poetry and essay to wrestle with some of life’s most difficult questions.’

– World Literature Today

‘Super-readable, but buckle up – things get a bit Black Mirror at times.’

– Cosmopolitan

Oneiron seems to rise effortlessly to the best of international literature.’

– Finlandia Prize Jury

‘In the sheer diversity of her characters, Lindstedt might be responding to other modern realities: genetic interconnections revealed by DNA tests; global migration and interdependence; the random array of newspaper obituaries that follow a terrorist attack; and the boundary-breaking and community-building properties of social media, two years before the rise of the #MeToo movement.’

– Public Books

The Nightingale Murder

The Nightingale Murder

by Leena Lehtolainen
Translated by Owen F. Witesman

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From the publisher:

Award-winning author Leena Lehtolainen’s heart-stopping series continues as investigator Maria Kallio’s hunt for a killer gets dark, dangerous, and dirty…

A grievously mutilated young woman arrives at the hospital in Espoo, Finland—only to vanish without a trace. Though the victim refused to identify herself, Violent Crimes Unit Commander Maria Kallio suspects she’s connected to the city’s sex-worker underworld. The next day her suspicions grow when celebrity call girl Lulu Nightingale is murdered during a live television broadcast.

The victim’s clients included some of the top names in Finnish society, but the list of suspects is even longer: her infatuated bodyguard, a suicidal TV producer, and a talk-show host with political aspirations. But how is Lulu’s murder connected to the tortured woman’s disappearance?

As the body count keeps rising, Maria plunges into the dark demimonde of the sex trade. And this time, searching for answers may shatter all that she has.

Also in the Maria Kallio series:

Below the Surface

Below the Surface

by Leena Lehtolainen
Translated by Owen F. Witesman

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From the publisher:

When a woman’s body turns up in a lake—a bullet to the back of her head—Violent Crime Unit commander Maria Kallio, freshly back from maternity leave, is fast to get on the case. The victim is ID’d as Annukka Hackman, wife of a prominent publisher and author of an upcoming unauthorized tell-all book on Sasha Smeds, Finland’s celebrated racing rally driver.

Almost as soon as the inquiry starts, it goes off the rails, as those connected to Annukka—and to Smeds—seem to have more secrets than they have alibis. Was the journalist about to reveal a bombshell that someone was desperate to keep quiet? Or will it take some reading between the lines? The clues may be few, but the list of suspects is long. As she struggles to balance her home life, run a department tainted by career-threatening allegations, and catch a killer, Maria is shocked to find just what someone was willing to do in the name of love…or revenge.

Also in the Maria Kallio series:

Norma

Norma

by Sofi Oksanen
Translated from the Finnish by Owen F. Witesman
Published by Knopf, September 2017

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Read a sample

From the publisher:

When Anita Naakka jumps in front of an oncoming train, her daughter, Norma, is left alone with the secret they have spent their lives hiding: Norma has supernatural hair, sensitive to the slightest changes in her mood–and the moods of those around her–moving of its own accord, corkscrewing when danger is near. And so it is her hair that alerts her, while she talks with a strange man at her mother’s funeral, that her mother may not have taken her own life. Setting out to reconstruct Anita’s final months–sifting through puzzling cell phone records, bank statements, video files–Norma begins to realize that her mother knew more about her hair’s powers than she let on: a sinister truth beyond Norma’s imagining. As Sofi Oksanen leads us ever more deeply into Norma’s world, weaving together past and present, she gives us a dark family drama that is a searing portrait of both the exploitation of women’s bodies and the extremes to which people will go for the sake of beauty.

From the internationally best-selling author of Purge and When the Doves Disappeared, a spellbinding new novel set in present-day Helsinki, about a young woman with a fantastical secret who is trying to solve the mystery of her mother’s death.

Praise for Norma:
“Oksanen (When the Doves Disappeared) creates intricate characters and imagery, and the hair plays well as a multifaceted metaphor for various forms of the patriarchal exploitation of female bodies.”

-Publisher’s Weekly

Cruel is the Night

Cruel is the Night

by Karo Hämäläinen
Translated from the Finnish by Owen F. Witesman
Published by Soho Crime, April 2017

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From the publisher:

Prizewinning Finnish author Karo Hämäläinen’s English-language debut is a literary homage to Agatha Christie and a black comedy locked-room mystery about murder, mayhem, and morality in our cynical modern world.

Three cell phones ring in an opulent London apartment. The calls go unanswered because their recipients are all dead.

Earlier that night, four Finnish friends meet for dinner. It’s been ten years since the host, Robert, has seen his once-best friend, Mikko. The two had an ideological falling-out because Robert, a banker, made millions off of unethical (but not illegal) interest rate manipulation. Mikko, meanwhile, is an investigative journalist who has dedicated his career to bringing down corrupt financiers and politicians. Mikko’s wife, Veera—with whom Robert once had a secret affair—and Robert’s young trophy wife, Elise, are also joining the fray. Mikko has arrived in London with an agenda and thinks he’s about to get away with murder, but he has no idea what’s on the menu for the night: not only does every diner have a bone to pick with another, but there’s an arsenal of deadly weapons hiding in plain sight.

And by the end of the night, there will only be one survivor.

Media:

“This English-language debut by a prize-winning Finnish author has a great hook…[for] readers who enjoy books like L.S. Hilton’s Maestra and Caroline Kepnes’s You, in which the game is the goal.”

—LIBRARY JOURNAL

“A very dark comedy… enjoy the ride.”

—INTERNATIONAL NOIR FICTION ON CRUEL IS THE NIGHT

“Hämäläinen makes his English-language debut with a darkly humorous, carefully crafted Finnish take on the classic British locked-room mystery. Hämäläinen is at ease with using the four distinct character voices to shift the apparent power balance constantly over the course of the evening, providing both thrilling surprises and the dread of inevitability, all in the context of some truly delightful dinner dialogue.”

—PUBLISHERS WEEKLY, STARRED REVIEW ON CRUEL IS THE NIGHT

“It’s hard to separate the potential killers from the probable victims, and the mood ranges from darkly humorous to just plain terrifying. Hamalainen is a wicked and controlled writer who rarely allows his readers a moment of peace.”

—TORONTO STAR ON CRUEL IS THE NIGHT

“[A] well-paced thriller… raises thought-provoking questions and makes relevant political commentary. Crime-fiction readers shouldn’t think twice about accepting Hämäläinen’s invitation to this lethal dinner.?”

—SHELF AWARENESS, STARRED REVIEW ON CRUEL IS THE NIGHT

“[A] darkly elegant locked-room thriller?.”

—STOP, YOU’RE KILLING ME!

Before I Go

Below the Surface

by Leena Lehtolainen
Translated by Owen F. Witesman

Order now.

From the publisher:

A fierce detective risks everything to unravel a tangle of secrets and corruption protecting a killer in this spellbinding seventh mystery in the tension-filled Maria Kallio series.

When Petri Ilveskivi is murdered in the street on his way to a city-planning meeting, Maria Kallio, commander of Espoo’s Violent Crime Unit, and her team are first on the scene. Almost immediately, her focus is on the band of skinheads who brutally attacked the Finnish commissioner and his husband three years earlier. Did they finally finish the hate crime they started? But the trail soon reveals a web of lies—secrets Petri was keeping from even those closest to him—and a long list of suspects.

As she juggles her obligations as a wife, mother, and detective, Maria suggests to her superiors that what first appears to be a random assault may actually be something more sinister. When she’s met with silence and higher-ups take her off the case, she disobeys orders and investigates on her own, putting both her family and herself at risk. In this captivating tale in the Maria Kallio series, someone is protecting a killer. Can Maria track them down before the next victim falls?

Also in the Maria Kallio series:

Tales by Trees

Tales by Trees

by Iiro Küttner and Ville Tietäväinen
translated by Owen F. Witesman
Published by Books North.
Order ebook now. (But you should also contact the publisher to get print copies of these beautiful books.)

Tales by Trees is a series of illustrated fairy tales for grown-ups. It combines fantasy, nature, wisdom, wonder and folklore into inspiring reading experiences. Each book is a fully self-contained story.

The Carpenter (Book 1)

The emperor’s chief master cabinetmaker is given an order to make whatever his own heart most desires. He knows immediately what he needs to build. But the challenge that he faces has serious consequences on his life and the people he loves.

“It was said that in his hands wood ceased to be wood. In his hands it turned to gold, to beautiful dreams and works of philosophy.” – The Carpenter

The Knight (Book 2)

A young Knight spends his entire life preparing for a battle against the Dragon. The task proves difficult since time passes at a highly accelerated pace in the Dragon’s cave. Ultimately only love can defeat the monster.

“By day the air over the distant mountains seemed to swirl as if stirred by the motions of mighty wings. By night the firmament was black and eerily devoid of stars. As if the very stars had taken fright, fearing that all too soon the dragon’s hunger would reawaken from its age-long sleep.”

The Seafarer (Book 3)

Every day, a Prince goes to the seaside and dreams of sailing away. The sea means everything to him. But as his city is surrounded by desert, it has no ships nor are there trees to build any. The Prince decides to trade his crown to three seeds which are said to be from the Great World Tree itself.

“One branch of this giant tree gave man shelter, another gave him fire. The third branch helped men to cross the waters and conquer the entire earth. It was from parts of this branch that ancient people had shaped the first seafaring craft, and it was from its sprouts that came all trees fit for building ships.”

The Authors

Iiro Küttner is an award-winning screenwriter, playwright and author currently serving as the professor of screenwriting at the Aalto University in Helsinki.

Ville Tietäväinen is an award-winning graphic novelist and visual artist. His works have been published internationally.

“Each reading is like peeling an onion, always uncovering new thoughts or revelations about life.” / Värikäs päivä

“Within the framework of a fairy tale, Küttner writes a story with multiple interpretations, a philosophical lesson and a riddle about the nature of humanity.” / Etelä-Suomen Sanomat

“The Carpenter is a melancholy but wise story, which makes the reader ponder what is ultimately important.” / Anna magazine

“Küttner’s narration shows old-fashioned restraint and unrestrained beauty, as does the whole of Tietäväinen’s graphic design.” / Parnasso

Fatal Headwind

Fatal Headwind

by Leena Lehtolainen
Translated by Owen F. Witesman

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From the publisher:

After months of maternity leave, tough-talking Espoo police detective Maria Kallio is ready to return to work. But before assuming her new post as head of the Violent Crime Unit, she vacations with her husband and daughter on the island of Rödskär. There Kallio learns that, one year earlier, her ex-boyfriend Harri had mysteriously fallen to his death from the isle’s steep and treacherous cliffs.

On the anniversary of that event, Harri’s boss, the CEO of an allegedly nontoxic paint company, loses his life on those very same rocks. In light of such a coincidence, Kallio searches for the link between these two tragedies and is soon convinced that they weren’t accidents—they were murders. As the Finnish nights grow longer, so too does the list of suspects. Was the CEO’s disillusioned wife involved? His environmental-activist son? Or perhaps his rebellious daughter? Or might the culprit be his half brother, an adventurous sailor whom Kallio finds altogether a little too intriguing?

From internationally bestselling Finnish author Leena Lehtolainen comes the sixth book of the gripping Maria Kallio Mystery series.

From internationally bestselling Finnish author Leena Lehtolainen comes the sixth book of the gripping Maria Kallio Mystery series.

Also in the Maria Kallio series:

As Black as Ebony

As Black as Ebony

The Snow White Trilogy (Book 3)
by Salla Simukka
Translated by Owen F. Witesman
Published by Hot Key Books.
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The final story in the thrilling Nordic crime series The Snow White Trilogy, an international success published in 52 territories worldwide and soon to be a Hollywood film.

Secrets turn to poison in this YA Scandi crime thriller where Lumikki Andersson must uncover a dark personal truth to outwit her murderous stalker. . . Lumikki has a new boyfriend – easygoing, gorgeous Sampsa – but she is unfaithful in her dreams, longing for the electrifying touch of her ex, Blaze. Then the threats start arriving, from someone who seems to know Lumikki intimately. Sharing her fears risks deadly consequences, so now she is more alone than ever. When Blaze suddenly reappears, Lumikki is torn. She can’t deny the chemistry between them, but can she trust him? To stop the killer, Lumikki must uncover a dark secret that has haunted her family for years. AS BLACK AS EBONY is the final dramatic chapter in the thrilling, contemporary ‘Snow White’ trilogy by award-winning author Salla Simukka.

Praise for the series:

AS_RED_AS_BLOOD_Cropped 2“This trilogy opener from a talented young author has a bracing energy that stands up to the most muscular of Scandinavian thrillers and a heroine more than equal to her competition. … Limned in stark red, white and black, this cold, delicate snowflake of a tale sparkles with icy magic.” — Kirkus

“Finnish author Simukka creates a tough, self-sufficient heroine in 17-year-old Lumikki Andersson in this first book in the Snow White Trilogy. … Fans of Nesbø and Larsson won’t be disappointed.” — Publisher’s Weekly

 “Lumikki is fit, resourceful and a mistress of disguise, able to transform her appearance at a moment’s notice…the world Lumikki infiltrates is amoral and cynical; a sophisticated tale, then, suavely translated by Owen F. Witesman.” – Financial Times

The Mapmakers’ World

 

ThMape Map Makers’ World: A Cultural History of the European World Map

by Marjo T. Nurminen
Translated by Owen F. Witesman and Erik Miller
Published by Pool of London

For a geography buff like me, working on this massive translation project for the past three years has been a delight. Anyone with an interest in European art, world geography, or the history of exploration will love this handsome volume!

FROM THE PUBLISHER:

The Mapmakers’ World  illuminates the fascinating cultural history of European world maps: what do historical world maps tell of us, of our perception of the world, and of places and peoples that are foreign to us? Who were the makers of these early world maps? How were the maps created and for whom were they drawn and printed? For what purposes were they used? What kind of information did they pass on? The answers to these questions open up a fascinating narrative of discovery and cartography relating not only to ideology and political power but also the histories of art and science.

mapmakers_world_interior

Rigorously researched and informed by the latest academic discoveries, The Mapmakers’ World  is beautifully illustrated presenting some 300 maps from the world’s finest museums, libraries and private collections. The book gives us a revealing and captivating perspective on the development of European world maps from the Early Middle Ages up until the modern period, i.e. from the 8th century until the end of the 18th century.

The Mapmakers’ World  is a major work which ambitiously showcases all of the early European world map traditions: Medieval world maps (T-O maps, mappa mundis, Beatus maps, etc.); Ptolemy’s maps; seafarers’ maps (portolan charts, planispheres and nautical charts), printed world maps and globes from the pre-Renaissance through to the Baroque era.

Furthermore, The Mapmakers’ World  takes its readers through the history of European global discovery and cartographic research, and also brings to life the exciting times when many of these historical maps were first discovered in the 19th century, after centuries of oblivion. The volume includes dedicated features further exploring 100 of the most important cartographic masterpieces from the period. The book is written as an exciting, flowing narrative, rather than a catalogue or an encyclopedia, and it takes the reader on the ultimate voyage of discovery.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Marjo T. Nurminen (born 1967) is an archaeologist by education and specialises in the history of science. She has worked as a TV journalist at the Finnish Broadcasting Company YLE for more than ten years, focusing on science and its popularisation. Her book Tiedon Tyttaret (Sisters of Science) won the Tieto-Finlandia Award for the Best Finnish Non-Fiction Book in Finland 2008, and has been translated into a number of languages. Nurminen lives in Helsinki with her family.

Death Spiral

deathspiralDeath Spiral

by Leena Lehtolainen
Translated by Owen F. Witesman
Available from AmazonCrossing

From the publisher:

Noora Nieminen was destined to become a world champion. But when the sixteen-year-old skating sensation is found slain with her own skates, her promising career is unexpectedly cut short.

Detective Maria Kallio is seven months pregnant, but that isn’t going to stop her from putting everything she has into solving the murder. With a promotion on the line and her arrogant adversary, Pertti Ström, vying for the new job, Maria is determined to make an arrest. Could it be the deviant criminal who’s lately been terrorizing the city? Is it the former lover of Noora’s mother, who has been stalking the family since she rejected him? Or might the killer be someone even closer than that? With so much riding on Noora’s success—and so many people with motives to murder—the detective must sift through the long list of suspects before the case turns ice cold.

Death Spiral, the fifth book in Lehtolainen’s international bestselling Nordic crime series, is a chilling tale of hot tempers, high stakes, and the untimely death of a rising star.

Also in the Maria Kallio series:

Lithium-6

lithium6Lithium-6

by Risto Isomäki
Translated by Owen F. Witesman
Published by AmazonCrossing

From the publisher:

In the span of a few days, six tons of lithium-6 are stolen in Japan, and 180 grams of plutonium vanish in France. Word of these crimes quickly reaches Colonel Kenneth Andrews at the US Nuclear Terrorism Unit. He mobilizes the best team in nuclear defense, including special agents—and couple—Lauri Nurmi and Alice Donovan.

As this secret task force sets out to find the contraband elements, they begin to fear that someone is developing a doomsday weapon. Breeder reactors are being installed around the world to provide clean energy, but they also present risks: every shipment of fuel to a nuclear power station gives terrorists an opportunity to create a nuclear weapon. When Lauri and Alice realize that they have a global conflict on their hands, one in which the definition of terrorist is a moving target, they’ll put their relationship—and their lives—in jeopardy to venture headfirst toward a new and dangerous front line. But in this game of nuclear reaction, what holds the most power to destroy the world as we know it—the weapon itself or the fear it inspires?

Risto Isomäki is an author, science editor, and environmental activist. He has worked on several international projects in Africa and India, and he has published numerous nonfiction books on environmental affairs, development cooperation, and the third world. Isomäki’s fiction titles use solid scientific expertise and research-based facts to create fantastical visions of the future. His novel The Sands of Sarasvati was nominated for the Finlandia Prize in 2005 and also received the Thank You for the Book medal in 2006. Lithium-6 is his first novel to be published in English.

Also from this author:

SandsOfSarasvati_Cover_nettiin

 

As White as Snow

AWAS_UK_CoverAs White as Snow

The Snow White Trilogy (Book 2)
by Salla Simukka
Translated by Owen F. Witesman
Published by Skyscape in the US
and Hot Key in the UK.
Order now.

Lumikki Andersson may be innocent, but she’s no Snow White…Three and a half months have passed since Lumikki Andersson was left for dead in a snowdrift – a bullet wound in her thigh and frostbite creeping into her skin. But the scorching hot streets of Prague in summer provide a welcome contrast to that terrifying time, and now Lumikki just wants to move on – forget the events of the past year, forget about the Polar Bear’s crime ring – and escape her parent’s oppressive concern…She’s alone again, which is just how she likes it.But Lumikki’s peaceful solitude is about to be shattered. She is approached on the street by a nervous young woman, who, unbelievably, thinks she might be Lumikki’s long-lost sister. Lumikki is unconvinced – although Lenka’s story seems to ring horrifyingly true – but there’s something weird about her. Something jumpy, and suspicious.Turns out Lumikki is right to be wary, as Lenka is part of a dangerous religious cult who believe they are descendants of Christ – and that Lumikki is one of them, and must be ‘martyred’ alongside them. On the run for her life again, Lumikki must once more draw on her all her powers of resolve and strength if she is to survive.

AWAS_US_CoverPraise for As Red as Blood:

“This trilogy opener from a talented young author has a bracing energy that stands up to the most muscular of Scandinavian thrillers and a heroine more than equal to her competition. … Limned in stark red, white and black, this cold, delicate snowflake of a tale sparkles with icy magic.” — Kirkus

“Finnish author Simukka creates a tough, self-sufficient heroine in 17-year-old Lumikki Andersson in this first book in the Snow White Trilogy. … Fans of Nesbø and Larsson won’t be disappointed.” — Publisher’s Weekly

 “Lumikki is fit, resourceful and a mistress of disguise, able to transform her appearance at a moment’s notice…the world Lumikki infiltrates is amoral and cynical; a sophisticated tale, then, suavely translated by Owen F. Witesman.” – Financial Times

Snow Woman

Snow Woman

The Maria Kallio Series (Book 4)
by Leena Lehtolainen
Translated by Owen F. Witesman

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From the publisher:

When the well-known director of a women’s retreat center goes missing, Espoo Police Detective Maria Kallio is called to investigate. As the missing woman’s friends and family quickly become the pool of suspects, Maria must soften her tough interrogation style to uncover the information she needs to solve the crime. Meanwhile, a killer Maria put in prison escapes and sets out to take revenge. As the missing persons case—and Maria’s personal life—become increasingly complicated, the Espoo Police work to track down the escaped killer before it’s too late.

The Sands of Sarasvati

SandsOfSarasvati_Cover_nettiinThe Sands of Sarasvati

by Risto Isomäki
Translated by Owen F. Witesman
Published and sold by Into Publishing, 2013

I grabbed the Finnish version of 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 work on the graphic novel version with Lola Rogers, and I’m thrilled now to announce the publication of the full novel!


From the publisher:

Indian scientists discover a vast stretch of underwater ruins at the West Coast of India. Have they found Atlantis, the fabled sunken continent? Marine archaeologist Amrita Desai and Russian submarine expert Sergei Savelnikov investigate the underwater ruins, and discover a mysterious field of human skulls and skeletons. At the same time scientists realise that a huge meltwater lake has formed inside the Greenland ice sheet. Is the ice sheet about to slide into the ocean? Are our own cities in danger of becoming the New Atlantis?

The Sands of Sarasvati has been translated from Finnish to ten other languages. It has inspired debates and votes in the European parliament, three theatre plays, a major international feature film project, a comic album, multi-media installations, glass art, music, a foundation, short radio plays and several serious research projects.

The Sands of Sarasvati was nominated for the Finlandia prize for literature. It was already awarded the Thank You for the Book medal, and the Star Wanderer (Tähtivaeltaja) prize for science fiction.

Reviews:

The Sands of Sarasvati is an eco-thriller of apocalyptic proportions, which culminates in a giant flood. The book is both topical, and frighteningly believable. It is a lesson in how our melting of the polar ice sheets may trigger a tsunami that threatens the entire globe. Isomäki’s thought provoking and captivating thriller is flooded with cultural and historical knowledge, and with old wisdom from the East.” Finlandia Prize judges panel

The Sands of Sarasvati is a cleverly written thriller which goes many levels deeper than just the prospect of an environmental catastrophe.” –Kansan Uutiset

The Sands of Sarasvati is a frightening thriller because its set-up is so very real. This book must be commended for the way that it handles a difficult subject, and explains the complex causative chain to the reader. At long last, we get to read a literary work that has a lot to say. The Sands of Sarasvati is a significant contribution to the ongoing dialogue about climate change.“ –Parnasso

“Thanks to its subject and the way it is written, The Sands of Sarasvati is one of the key books of this autumn. As a narrator of the movement of snow and ice, Isomäki is as captivating as Peter Hoeg was in his novel Smilla’s Sense of Snow.” –Aamulehti

As Red as Blood

As Red as Blood by Salla Simukka US Cover ArtAs Red as Blood

The Snow White Trilogy (Book 1)
by Salla Simukka
Translated by Owen F. Witesman
Published by Skyscape in the US and Hot Key in the UK.
Order now.

*Kirkus starred review*
*Publisher’s Weekly starred review*

In the midst of the freezing Nordic winter, seventeen-year-old Lumikki Andersson walks into her school’s dark room and finds a stash of wet, crimson-colored money. Thousands of euros left to dry—splattered with someone’s blood. Lumikki lives alone in a studio apartment far from her parents and the past she left behind. She transferred into a prestigious art school, and she’s singularly focused on studying and graduating. Lumikki ignores the cliques, the gossip, and the parties held by the school’s most popular and beautiful boys and girls.

But finding the blood-stained money changes everything. Suddenly, Lumikki is swept into a whirlpool of events as she finds herself helping to trace the origins of the money. Events turn even more deadly when evidence points to dirty cops and a notorious drug kingpin best known for the brutality with which he runs his business.

As Lumikki loses control of her carefully constructed world, she discovers that she’s been blind to the forces swirling around her—and she’s running out of time to set them right. When she sees the stark red of blood on snow, it may be too late to save her friends or herself.

AS_RED_AS_BLOOD_Cropped 2“This trilogy opener from a talented young author has a bracing energy that stands up to the most muscular of Scandinavian thrillers and a heroine more than equal to her competition. … Limned in stark red, white and black, this cold, delicate snowflake of a tale sparkles with icy magic.” — Kirkus

“Finnish author Simukka creates a tough, self-sufficient heroine in 17-year-old Lumikki Andersson in this first book in the Snow White Trilogy. … Fans of Nesbø and Larsson won’t be disappointed.” — Publisher’s Weekly

 “Lumikki is fit, resourceful and a mistress of disguise, able to transform her appearance at a moment’s notice…the world Lumikki infiltrates is amoral and cynical; a sophisticated tale, then, suavely translated by Owen F. Witesman.” – Financial Times

Copper Heart

PPCover_CopperHeart_lowresCopper Heart

The Maria Kallio Series (Book 3)
by Leena Lehtolainen
Translated by Owen F. Witesman
Published by AmazonCrossing
Order now
.

Former police sergeant Maria Kallio gladly left her tiny Finnish hometown of Arpikylä without looking back. But even though Maria despises the small town and the acrid smell from its now-closed copper mine, when Arpikylä’s sheriff asks her to serve as deputy sheriff for the summer, she agrees.

What should have been a quiet summer soon turns dramatic—and deadly. Meritta, an outspoken local artist, plunges to her death from the copper mine’s tower, and Maria immediately suspects someone helped her fall. Now Maria must face the harsh truth that one of the town’s residents killed Meritta, and friends Maria has known for decades all harbor their own murderous motives—even Johnny, her gorgeous former crush who almost makes her forget about her long-distance boyfriend, Antti, who is studying in Chicago.

In this thrilling addition to the internationally successful Maria Kallio mystery series, the past and present of the beloved Finnish detective violently collide, leaving her future in grave danger.

Also in the Maria Kallio Series:

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Her Enemy

HerEnemy_CvrImgHer Enemy

The Maria Kallio Series (Book 2)
by Leena Lehtolainen
Published by AmazonCrossing

Order now.

After solving her first murder and leaving the Helsinki Police Department behind, Maria Kallio thought that a move to the neighboring city of Espoo would signal a fresh start—a chance to not only put her new law degree to use, but to nurture her budding romance with Antti Sarkela. But when she discovers the strangled body of a new acquaintance, old habits die hard for the redheaded sleuth—especially since the accused is not only the victim’s fiancé, but a member of Antti’s family.

Though she works as a legal counselor, Kallio soon finds herself unofficially investigating the murder, now labeled a sex crime. While Antti’s relative may have some peculiar sexual tendencies, Kallio doubts that the man she’s agreed to defend is capable of the crime. To crack the case, Kallio will have to pull back the curtain on Espoo high society…and uncover a secret someone is willing to kill to keep hidden.

Her Enemy, the latest addition to Lehtolainen’s bestselling crime series, sends intrepid Detective Kallio into the dark side of human passion.

Also in the Maria Kallio Series:

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Cold Courage

Cover ArtCold Courage

by Pekka Hiltunen
translated from the Finnish by Owen F. Witesman
Hesperus Press.

Order now in the UK.

“Panic spread through the street, rippling in a viral wave of contorted faces and anxious gestures. The moment before catastrophe. This is what it looks like.”

When Lia witnesses a disturbing scene on the way to work, she, like the rest of the city of London, is captivated and horrified. As details unfurl in the media the brutal truth transpires – a Latvian prostitute has been killed, her body run over by a steamroller and then placed in the trunk of a car to be found. As the weeks pass and no leads are found, the story quickly disintegrates but Lia can’t easily forget. So when she meets Mari in a bar late one night she feels fate might have brought them together. Like her, Mari is a Finnish woman in London finding her way, somewhat of an outsider, very independent. But there is much more to Mari than meets the eye: she is a psychologist who possesses an unnatural way of being able to ‘read’ people, see into their inner most thoughts and pre-empt their actions. She uses her ‘gift’ to try to help people and has formed a close unit she calls the Studio, a kind of team of investigators, who are not beyond breaking the law to put the worlds to rights. Mari and Lia strike up a firm friendship and when Lia shares her plaguing thoughts about the murder, Mari thinks she and the members of the Studio can help where the police have failed. But Mari and Lia are about to step foot into extremely dangerous territory, especially as Mari has a will to control others, take vengeance on those she deems deserve it and use the Studio to questionable ends.

From WSOY Foreign Rights:

“Hiltunen’s debut novel Cold Courage is a skillfully paced, intensive and exciting psycho-thriller. The book sets a new, high standard for intelligent entertainment. The novel is food for both thought and for the feelings. Though the narrative dwells on human trafficking in Europe, political populism and the hard culture of working life these days, the author does not moralise. With his debut novel, Hiltunen takes his place among the mystery authors that write about ordinary people solving crimes. Hiltunen’s protagonists Lia and Mari, two Finnish women living in London, take the reader on a journey through the contemporary world.

The book opens with Lia seeing a murdered body. The sight of it stays with her. Soon Lia meets Mari, who through questionable means tackles injustice. Thus the narrative sets the question of whether the end justifies the means. Alongside moral questions, the novel dwells on modern people’s sense of alienation, with elements of a growth story.

The Finnish Whodunnit Society in awarding the Clue of the Year 2012 (Finland’s top prize for mysteries and thrillers)

Praise:

“I predict international success for this confident, unique and captivating thriller.” – Kaleva

“Pekka Hiltunen hooks the reader of his new thriller from the very first page. The main characters are likeable and believable, and the author’s awareness of social issues shines through in his writing. Cold Courage is a very topical novel.” – Apu

“The women’s friendship, the organisation’s activities, and the use of technology are all narrated in a convincing way. I recommend this book to readers who like slightly unusual psychological thrillers – here evil certainly gets its just rewards in a way which, while being complex, is also often amusing, touching and unusual. A good opening for the new series!” – Kirjavinkit

“Cold Courage expands the thematic landscape of Finnish crime literature. It is refreshing to read about professional and amateur private detectives with no problems regarding either alcohol or woman. In its own way the book gives faith in the notion that the world can and should be changed.” – Helsingin Sanomat

“The novel updates the story traditions of crime novels in an interesting way. It is a psychological thriller and a whole lot more, too. As well as having an exciting plot it shows depth in its descriptions of people. Hiltunen´s concept of the Studio is a fascinating insight into these modern times. Rich in details, sure in its descriptions of London and smoothly written, this novel is a stylish debut.” – Turun Sanomat

My First Murder

My First Murder
by Leena Lehtolainen
Published by AmazonCrossing

The best-selling Detective Maria Kallio series begins in English!

Order now, including as an audiobook.

Maria Kallio has just been assigned her first murder investigation. To prove to herself and her squad that she has what it takes to be a detective, she’ll have to solve the death of Tommi Peltonen. Found floating face down at the water’s edge of his Helsinki villa, Tommi had invited his choir group to spend a weekend at his retreat. But beneath the choir’s seemingly tight-knit bonds seethed bitter passion and jealousy. As Maria sets out to determine the difference between friends and foes, she uncovers the victim’s unsavory past—and motives for all seven suspects. Now it’s up to her to untangle a complex set of clues before the killer strikes again.

The first book in Leena Lehtolainen’s bestselling Finnish crime series starring Detective Maria Kallio, My First Murder offers hard-boiled realism from a female perspective.

 

Also in the Maria Kallio series:

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The Human Part

The Human Part by Kari Hotakainen

The Human Part
by Kari Hotakainen
translated from the Finnish by Owen F. Witesman
Published by MacLehose Press

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 doing well, but the writer imagines less salubrious lives for them, as the downturn of Finland’s economic boom begins to bite. Perhaps he’s on to something.

The Human Part is pure laugh-out-loud satire, laying bare the absurdities of modern society in the most vicious and precise manner imaginable.

Now available for purchase in the UK!

Hear the BCC review.

From the WSOY foreign rights guide:

A fearlessly tragic and deeply humorous novel about how, now more than ever, we buy and sell things with rhetoric. This is Kari Hotakainen at the top of his craft.

A writer buys a life from Salme Malmikunnas, an 80-year-old former yarn seller. You can get a lot for 7000 euros. Salme opens up and tells him everything the way she wants to remember it – the silence of her husband, Paavo, the accident that befell her daughter Helena, Maija’s marriage, and Pekka’s success in business. But will the author tell the story like they’d agreed? Can he resist the urge to write about subjects that are off limits? And is Salme telling the truth?

True to its title, the novel asks what the human part of life is. Its rich cast of characters answers this question in many voices. The novel takes the pulse of the present and builds on the past to portray a world where buying and selling are the order of the day. It sheds light on eternal truths about working life, both then and now. More than anything else, it’s talk that makes business run today. Instead of things like yarn, we now sell images. And when the words run out, it’s time for action.

Hotakainen is a prolific writer, but he has never produced anything quite like this. The Human Part is a rich, wide-ranging novel full of honest wisdom. It’s disarmingly moving and deeply humorous. The novel fearlessly grapples with today’s world and tries to understand it. That’s not possible without laughter. Or tears.

“Hotakainen is a skilled storyteller whose works are full of understated surprises. His humour is intelligent, transporting the reader from laughter to tears. Hotakainen’s books are not meant to be mindlessly devoured – but demand to be read in one sitting.”
Savon Sanomat, 2009

“Aesthetically, The Human Part is one of Hotakainen’s most complete works. Chapter by chapter, he builds his ideas about society like a jigsaw puzzle. Grotesque effects occasionally echo the author’s keen interpretations of the waning of hope and quality of life among modern Finns.”
Satakunnan Kansa, 2009

“Hotakainen delights in language and makes your shoulders shake with laughter.”
Aamulehti, 2009

“Definitely one of the author’s best books.”
Helsingin Sanomat, 2009

 

The Blue Phantom

The Blue Phantom bagge_the_blue_ghost

Tammi, 2011
by Tapani Bagge

From the Elina Ahlbäck Agency:

The year is 1940. Agent 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 with protesters demanding peace and brotherhood between Finland and the Soviet Union. Also involved is a big time gangster, Finnish-American Bill Kovanen, arrived too late to take part in the Winter War. Crime journalist Ossi Koho and photographer Sanna Rytkönen suspect a conspiracy: what if everything is connected with the accident where actress Sirkka Sari fell into the chimney of the Aulanko Hotel? The last act is played out on the windy shore of the Ice Sea, where Mujunen’s faith in mankind is put to the test.

My own thoughts: My favorite part is the milieu, the feel of 1940s Finland. There are strong shades of our own US noir gumshoes, with just a hint of levity mixed into the narrative to avoid being overly earnest. The pace of the action is blistering. This is a book any mystery reader would love.

Read a sample from The Blue Phantom

Also featuring Agent Mujunen:

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White Heat
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The Black Vortex

Coming in 2013: The Red Shadow

On the Rocky Road to a Good Translation

Just some Pekka out to catch some fish.
Just another Pekka out to catch some fish.

An abridged version of this essay was 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 my own explanation in a moment.

Why do I say it’s a secret that I don’t read translations? Because people expect me to read translations, as if as a translator it were my sacred duty to show solidarity with my professional community. Or maybe I can’t be cosmopolitan otherwise. Americans are just a bunch of xenophobic boors anyway, right? If you like that explanation, I hope it keeps you warm at night. In most industries, if the boys in marketing fail to reach a major target audience, they get kicked to the gutter. But if it makes you feel better to blame the consumer, be my guest.

Here’s the cold, hard truth: there are some 350 million native English speakers in the world, most of whom live in the United States. The US is the equivalent of 60 Finlands in terms of population. Among those 350 million English speakers there are a lot of writers. And while for a very few readers translated literature is a category unto itself, for most of us translated literature is competing with everything else on the fiction shelves. If a translation doesn’t get read widely (and most don’t), the translated book itself (a new work being presented in a new context) has failed to appeal to a publisher enough for them to spend money marketing it and failed to appeal to an audience enough for them to finish the book and then recommend it to a friend.

Ok, so why don’t translations usually compete well? I don’t think it’s any mystery. In a really, really good book, the concepts and events being described run together with the language being used to describe them. The concepts the author imagines influence the choices made in the language, and the language the author conjures influences the choices of concept. And I’m not talking just at the novel level. I mean from sentence to sentence and word to word.

In genre fiction, the concepts (i.e. the “action”) are most important, so the language is more functional than poetic, which is part of why some literati turn their noses up at it. Genre literature generally translates well. In art fiction, there is more balance, sometimes even with the how of the expression becoming more important than the what. This is extremely difficult to translate, especially given the cult of “faithfulness” among translators. Even though I know what the author just described, I can’t just restate it, since he also made sure every other word in the sentence started with the same letter (just to choose a common device from Finnish). How often do you think that sort of thing can be replicated in another language? In a language from a completely different language family (Finnish is non-Indo-European)? Not often.

So with art fiction, right out of the gate you can assume that a big part of what made the book a success is going to be lost. Just think about it. Does anyone get turned off from translated literature by a Henning Mankell? No. It’s usually a Kafka or Marquez that was challenging enough in the original, but made absolutely incomprehensible in translation. (Luckily for big names like those, a new translation usually comes along.) We read Mankell for the puzzle—the language just has to not get in the way. We read Marquez for both the story and the language.

Take how many people have had a bad experience with a translation that made the foreign seem alien, add the language barriers between foreign books and domestic agents and publishers, and then put this in the context of stiff domestic competition, and you get only 3 % of books published in the US being translations.

The ironic thing about the 3 % figure is how tremendously important translated literature is to the Anglo-American literary consciousness. Ask anyone who paid attention in high school who the greatest authors of all time are, and you’re almost certain to get at least two Russians, a Frenchman or two, a Spaniard, two Chileans, and a Brazilian, plus an ancient Greek or three.

Despite my dirty little secret, my favorite book is a translation. When I was eighteen years old, I read Narcissus and Goldmund, by Hermann Hesse. I’m not one for rereading books, but this has been an exception. However, and with all due respect to the English language translator, Ursule Molinaro (and whoever her editor was), even as a teenager, and without any reference to the source German text, I knew the translation wasn’t the best it could be. But note, this is my favorite book, so whatever deficiencies there are in the translation or with the original work, the virtues of both far outweigh them for me. And let me tell you, the problems with Narcissus and Goldmund (and with every other conscientious translation in the history of the world) are child’s play compared to some of what I’ve seen lately.

Remember what we’re talking about though: one of the most beloved books by a Nobel Prize winner who explored the same themes over and over, honing his conceptual expression, written at the height of his career. What happens to the average book that ends up in a translation in which an eighteen-year-old can see deficiencies?

I can tell you what happens to it in my case: it doesn’t get read. I read a paragraph, I start editing the grammar and punctuation in my mind, perhaps rephrasing the dialogue, and I get bored. Whatever great concepts or action there might be in the book, if the language is sub-par, I’m never going to get far enough to find out. There’s just too much good literature (and other things) out there to waste my time. No book is ever perfect, but at the very, very least the language needs to not get in the way of whatever might be interesting otherwise about the book.

One of the most basic standards in professional translation is that translators only translate into their native language. Brain development changes after age 12; if you don’t learn a language before that point, you aren’t a native speaker. Taking me as an example, Finnish and Estonian are second languages for me, so I translation from these languages into English. If someone asks me to translate the other direction, I say no.

The reason should be pretty obvious: even if a translator were to misunderstand something in the original, if he can express what he understood in a fluent, interesting way, the reader will almost certainly never know or care there had been a misunderstanding. Reading is always an act of interpretation after all. But if the language is odd, the reader knows immediately.

What do I mean by odd language? I mean teenagers whose speech makes them sound 50 years old. I mean book after book narrated in the present tense, which is rare and usually awkward in English. I mean non-English punctuation, particularly comma splices. I mean non-English expressions like “open the television” resulting from literal translation. I could go on.

The basic remedies for these types of problems are professional-level fluency and proofreading.

Fluency is, like most human attributes, a result of innate ability, training, and maintenance. The professional translator presumably already has the first two, but maintaining fluency can be devilishly tricky. Does that seem odd?

Consider the path a (Finnish) translator walks to arrive at his profession. First comes a connection to Finland, one that surprisingly often comes either by chance or fate, depending on one’s cosmology. Then comes what we might call an infatuation: the nascent translator becomes obsessed with Finnish language and culture, which leads to improved language skills and literary awareness. By the time the literary translator really breaks into the profession, his Finland hobby has likely been going on for a decade. If the translator works with Finnish literature by day professionally, and then continues to read Finnish literature, follow Finnish news, and keep up with Finnish friends during his free time out of old habit, how current is he likely to stay with literature in his native language? Taking myself as an example, I know exactly what’s going on in Finnish literature right now, but I haven’t really the slightest idea about what’s going on in American literature, other than some guy named Franzen is hot. Peter? Oh, no, Jonathan. Peter is the Finnish actor. See what I mean?

So why is a failure to stay current with my native language literature a problem? Because my job, the entire point of my profession, is to produce good English. This is what translation is: rewriting a book from another language in your own. The author takes care of the plot and the Finnish, and I’m supposed to take care of the English. Reading Finnish doesn’t help with that. Reading other translators’ work probably won’t help either, and may even hurt. However, every word of English-language literature I read can improve my ability to manipulate the English language in the way that Finnish authors manipulate Finnish. To my mind, reading in his own language should be a literary translator’s primary professional development activity. And when I say read, I don’t just mean read, I mean read and pay attention. The basic mechanics of fluent expression are surprisingly easy to lose one’s grasp on, especially when constantly immersed in a foreign set of mechanics. Remember the comma splices—Finnish uses commas differently than English, and translators forget.

Finally, the translator’s lifeline. The importance of professional proofreading and editing cannot be overstated. Publishing translations without multiple reviews by native linguistic experts is professional suicide for everyone whose name is on the title page. The same is true of written materials used to promote translated literature. A publisher or agent who sends out material without multiple reviews by native linguistic professionals doesn’t want to make money (sample translations and promotional materials should be top quality, not an afterthought—see this post by Emily Williams ).

Literature in translation can and does compete with native literature, even in demanding markets. I don’t expect to see any “breakthrough” that permanently changes the 3 % figure cited above, but that doesn’t mean translated literature has failed to find a readership. It just means that there is a lot of competition and that every book succeeds or fails on its merits, not on the reputation of the overall field. Whatever momentum one big hit may create is likely to be short-lived. Yes, there are aspects of the book trade that make breaking in difficult, but every new author faces these challenges. Perhaps the greatest disservice any of us involved in translation can do is to adopt a sort exceptionalist attitude, as if the success of a book or author in Finland (or wherever) should give the book a free pass from all of the normal requirements for finding a publisher and an audience. Hype will only get you so far.

Last week I perused the shelves at a local big box store, which only sells best-sellers. I was pleased with how many translations there were; definitely more than 3 % of the fiction. But in every case there was something odd. One book pretended not to be a translation. In another the translator’s name was buried in the copyright page. The third, fourth, and fifth we’ve all heard about. Despite the heroic efforts of thousands of translators over the years at an impossible task, often working at a pittance, there have been enough problems to convince publishers here that they have to be wary of translations.

The beginning of this essay is a lie. I do read translations. I want to read translations. But you, the translator, and I, the translator, must understand that I like television and films and music and my bicycle and my garden and my dog as much as I like books. I like my wife and my children and my church even more. I read the books I’m supposed to in order to be literate, but I also read science fiction and fantasy and espionage.* I’m not a captive audience. You have to win me over. Please win me over. You can’t say the Finnish or German or Chinese or whatever made you do it. You have to be a translator. Take responsibility. Win me over.

*But not nonfiction. Too far-fetched for my tastes. I do look at the pictures though.

On Choosing a Translator

I know there's one in here somewhere.
I know there’s a translator in here somewhere.

Summary: you have options, and your selection of translator matters.

I should dispense with one thing first: If you have any interest in either making money or creating good art or entertainment, hiring an amateur translator or a student is risky business at best. That should go without saying, but I’ve learned never to underestimate the strength of the siren call of discounted or free services. I’ve also lost count of how many projects I’ve done that were essentially repairing an incomplete or substandard translation that someone thought they were getting on the cheap. So, keep the work coming! I guess…

I digress.

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 a generous 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 numbers climb a bit.

However, this is a new enough development that many translation clients are still unaware of their options. Others don’t believe the selection of a translator really matters.

Literary translation is a creative process similar to the writing of an original work. There are differences of course, since the starting point is an existing work rather than the translator’s imagination, but in terms of the editorial and publication process, life is much easier if we just think of the translator as a co-author who is rewriting the original work. The translated work is a new creation. So, if we’re thinking of the translator as a co-author, it’s pretty obvious that it matters who the translator is. You wouldn’t hire just anyone to be your co-author. For that matter, you wouldn’t hire just anyone to be your editor or proofreader.

Which brings me to one of the scourges of the translation world: the phrase “native speaker”. There are approximately 375 million native speakers of English in the world. How many of them are competent to edit a work of fiction by a major author? How many of them can even write a professional document? Not many. As a former college instructor, I can attest that being a “native speaker” doesn’t count for much when it comes to the ability to write well. Even within the translation industry (not just literary translation–all translation) there are plenty of native English speakers whom I wouldn’t let touch a document I really cared about. Everybody makes mistakes, and no one is the God of Perfect Grammar, but that doesn’t mean anyone should settle for substandard work. Everyone needs an editor and a proofreader, but the editor shouldn’t have to rewrite the whole dad-blasted thing.

So how do you choose a translator? The same way you choose anyone else you need to work for you: interview, ask for references, and look at their prior work (actually look at it, don’t just accept that because it was published it must be good). If you’re offering a major project, like a book translation, ask for short sample translations (just 2 or 3 pages) from two or three translators. Longer samples than that you have to pay for, but a few pages isn’t a big investment for the translator.