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Larsson started to write the novel before the Berlin wall came down, and before devolution came to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. He seems to have anticipated a trend that became widespread throughout Europe. We print an extract of George Simpson's translation of The Celtic Ring. Freedom and the seafaring life was also at the heart of Björn Larsson's
second novel, Long John Silver (1995). We print a bone-chilling
extract from Tom Geddes's translation of the novel, which will be
published by Harvill Press, London, in 1999. We also have a general
introduction to the novel and a discussion of the principles followed
by the translator in making his translation. Björn Larsson's latest novel is Drömmar vid havet (Dreams by the Sea, 1997),
and once again the setting is the sea and a central theme freedom. Ian Hinchcliffe
introduces Drömmar vid havet, and has translated three extracts as a taster
which will no doubt whet the appetite for more. The Gothenburg Book Fair 1998 The fourteenth Gothenburg Book Fair took place on October 22-25, 1998,
with two focal themes: Literature for Children and Young People; and Cultural Heritage. On
this occasion the Book Fair joined forces with the Nordic Museum Fair, which offered the
opportunity of many cultural corss references. SBR's Review Editor Irene Scobbie reports
from the Fair.
Paul Binding Paul Binding is a literary journalist and the author of several books, including the
novels Harmonica's Bridegroom (1984) and Kingfisher Weather (1989), the
prize-winning memoir St Martin's Ride (1990) and critical studies of Eudora Welty
(1994) and John Masefield (1998). He writes frequently for the Independent on Sunday
and the Times Literary Supplement. In 1996 Paul Binding was granted an award by Sveriges
författarfond for services to Swedish literature. The House with Five Windows
will be published by Boulevard Press, London, in 1999. The first in a series featuring Swedish and Finland-Swedish publishing houses is devoted to Stockholm-based Ordfront, which has been remarkably successful in recent years.
Kerstin Gustafsson, Feeling one's way
as a translator
Recent English translations of Swedish
literature and a selection of recent books in English on Sweden This is the latest contribution to SBR's running bibliography of Swedish
books published in English translation, and books about Sweden in English. The previous
update was published in SBR Issue 1995:2.
Issue No 7, 1998, of the Finnish publication Kääntäjä -
Översättaren (The Translator) contains a survey of "translation centres"
in various parts of Europe, with brief presentations of each one - various languages are
used, including Finnish, Swedish, English and German. Most of the centres have residential
facilities as well as libraries and resource centres, and they now exist in Straelen
(Germany), Rhodes (Greece), Amsterdam (Holland), Budapest (Hungary), Norwich (England),
Dilbeek (Belgium), Tarazona (Spain), Newbliss (Ireland), Naples (Italy), Albufera
(Portugal), Bratislava (Slovakia), Arles (France), and - most interesting of all for
translators from Swedish - Visby (Gotland): this latter establishment is known as Östersjöns
författar- och översättarcentrum, and is intended as a centre for authors and
translators in the area surrounding the Baltic Sea, including Sweden. For more information
on the last-mentioned centre, contact:
© Copyright 1999 Swedish Book Review. |
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Hans Mårtensson is an interior designer and architect, and has developed a special interest in traditional garden gates and fences, travalling the length and breadth of Sweden in order to record in words and pictures a fascinating cultural heritage which, unfortunately, seems to be in decline. A moment's thought will convince foreign visitors to Sweden that one of the aspects that combine to form the impression of memories "typically Swedish" is the way in which the (usually) wooden fences and gates, often painted white, contrast yet blend prettily with the red or yellow-painted houses they are generally associated with.
The fashion for these beautiful pieces of craftmanship was
at its height in the nineteenth century, especially in the "garden cities" based
on English models; but there are many variations, not least in well-preserved Swedish
seaside resorts. Mårtensson regrets that with the advent of strict building regulations
as the twentieth century progressed (when wooden fences were restricted as a fire hazard!)
and the advent of smaller plots with houses placed in the centre of them in an open-plan
estate, the old tradition has waned. But it is preserved in many places, and Mårtensson
would like to see it revived as we move into the twenty-first century in a spirit that
attaches great value to cultural traditions and the desire to preserve them. He even
supplies advice on how to protect and replace old fences and gates: let us hope that many
readers take his advice - and that those of us outside Sweden who value such traditions
might be moved to emulate them in our own environment. The book is a treasure trove of
stimulating and nostalgic pictures, of which the two we reproduce on our covers are only a
tiny proportion of the 180 in the original. Translators' The fifteenth World Congress on Translation will be held in Mons,
Belgium, on 6-10 August 1999. The registration fee is approx US$ 400 (depending on when
one registers - it is cheaper before March 31, more expensive after that date). To obtain
a brochure, registration form, programme and list of hotels and tours, contact: Scandinavian An initiative stemming from Professor Robert Bjork, Arizona State
University, has led to the setting up of the Scandinavian Translation Association in the
USA. Their aims are: to organize translators, to make translations from the Scandinavian
languages available to the general public (including business enterprises), to compile a
register of translators, and to establish a database comprising translations into English
of Swedish originals. (It should be stressed that this summary is that of an outside
observer, rather than their own!) The steering committee will consist of Professor Bjork,
Professor Ross Shideler (UCLA), Professor Rochelle Wright (University of Illinois) and
Professor Kim Andersson (Washington State University).
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Thomas
Tidholm, born in Örebro in 1943, made his debut as a poet in 1963.
He has since then written numerous volumes of poetry, plays for the
stage, television and radio, and children's books with illustrations
by his wife, Anna-Clara Tidholm. Gabriella Berggren introduces the
work of Thomas Tidholm and presents a series of her translations of
his poetry from Friluftsliv i strandområden och andra prosadikter
(Outdoor Life in Shoreland Terrain, 1991), in which Tidholm says his
aim was to write pseudo-scientific essays in the form of poetry.
Jan-Erik
Pettersson, Advancing on all fronts
The
Swedes have long had a predilection to think in terms of
decades, and this often strikes foreigners as being especially
true in connection with their approach to literary history.
It is easy to raise a smile by wondering how relevant it
is to brand a writer as a tjugotalist when the
author concerned was still writing in 1960; or to ask how
one is to know whether an åttitalist was alive
and kicking in the 1880s or the 1980s. But anyone familiar
with Swedish literature will know that one of the most influential
literary journals in 20th-century Sweden was called 40-tal.
Other periodicals have used the decade designation to little
effect; but we now seem to have a journal for literature
and the arts that has justified its alleged presumption
in calling itself 90-TAL. A useful
barometer for the significance and self-confidence of literary
journals is how they present themselves at literary events:
there is no doubt that 90-TAL placed itself in
the front rank both at Tidskrifts Biennalen, the
"fair" featuring Swedish cultural journals held
in Stockholm in May 1998, and at Bokmässan, the
Swedish book fair held in Gothenburg in October 1998. To
state that as fact would be less interesting if the journal
itself did not live up to its pretensions: but it is a pleasure
to affirm that it does. 90TAL has established itself
as a significant voice proclaiming Swedish literature and
culture in the 1990s. (It will be interesting, to say the
least, to see how it extends its life into the next century...)
Swedish Book Review will be presenting 90TAL
in more detail in a future issue. If readers are unfamiliar
with 90TAL but can read Swedish and wish to be
informed about contemporary literature in Sweden, they could
do much worse than subscribe:
