29 November 2009

Steve & Tiina back from Copenhagen & Stockholm with tons of new books

Yes, if you were wondering where we were, we took a little jaunt courtesy of the Danish Arts Council to the BogForum book fair in Copenhagen, then on to Stockholm courtesy of the fine folks at the Swedish Authors Foundation. Thanks for the support, Denmark and Sweden! (And thanks to Norway too for the translators conference in May.)

Here's Tiina in the rain at the Medborgarplatsen T-bana station in Söder, just around the corner from Lisbeth's old hangout Kvarnen, with the best food in Sweden. The Nordic lands put on their best November weather for us: rain almost every day and a couple of hours of weak sunshine in Copenhagen; in Stockholm it cleared up the morning we left from Arlanda airport. And the darkness at 4 in the afternoon was, as they put it, "kompakt." But we met lots of very nice editors, agents, and authors (some of whom we've been translating for years from afar but had never met). This trip should result in some hot new crime novels for you in the next couple of years, as well as some excellent new mainstream fiction. More info on that when the deals are made.

I'll post more pix as soon as the jet lag calms down a bit. Got to see Billy's Pan Pizza in the 7-11 too, sorry I didn't have a nuker to heat one up in. They're about the size of a paperback book and quite good if you add more stuff on top, according to one Swedish informant.

9 comments:

  1. Good to hear from you and it is excellent news that there are more translations on stream. Don't forget to post news of the new books as they become available.

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  2. Kompakt darkness, yes that expresses it quite precisely! Good you had a nice time, and thank you for sharing it.

    My husband and I have almost decided to go next year (he is a vicar so he has to plan his weekends very early). It would be wonderful to meet you :D

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  3. Welcome back! Wish I could've been there with you. Scandinavia is a part of the world I am particularly fond of. While you were gone I saw one of the first viewings of the film The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo here in the Washington D.C. area. I reviewed it at my blog Global Around Town - http://www.globalaroundtown.blogspot.com.

    Best,

    David

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  4. so that means that one can actually live of Billy's Pan Pizzas? Well, if Lisbeth can - the rest of us should be able to as well, shouldn't we. Good to have someone with the courage to field-test! Way to go, Steve :-)

    Best,

    Chris
    ----

    sallysfriends.net - " ... because one Millennium should never end"

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  5. Will do, Alan -- that's what this blog is for (besides fun, of course)!

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  6. Hope to see you next year, Dorte. It seems that most of the translators invited make it an annual event.

    David, we still haven't seen the first one, but caught The Girl Who Played with Fire in Copenhagen with Danish subtitles. Noomi was excellent as Lisbeth, even if she's a little too tall.

    And Chris, maybe you youngsters can eat that stuff, but I don't think my doctor would approve. Way to go with the maps!

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  7. I can't wait to see The Girl Who Played With Fire! Any idea if it's out on DVD in Scandinavia?

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  8. Don't think so, it's still in the theaters. But the 3rd is coming out soon, so maybe the DVD of #2 will be early.

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  9. I sooo love books too and it's really awesome to have lots and lots of books around though. Thanks for giving me an idea on what to read this weekend though. Nice post! Thanks for sharing.

    English Hungarian Translator

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