Nordic, New, and Captivating - Students Publish an Anthology of Translations of Emerging Authors from the Countries on the Shores of the Baltic Sea

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Cover of the Anthology, ©Heiner Labonde Verlag
Cover of the Anthology, ©Heiner Labonde Verlag

For the seventh time now, two students of the University of Greifswald have recently published the anthology Neue Nordische Novellen (New Nordic Novellas). The latest anthology Zeitstücke was published by the Heiner Labonde Verlag. It comprises 53 short stories and poems which engage with various interpretations of time as a theme. 30 Students of the University translated these texts from Danish, Estonian, Finnish, Icelandic, Latvian, Norwegian, Polish, Russian, Swedish, Czech, and Ukrainian into German for the first time. Illustrations by students from the Caspar David Friedrich Institute complement the stories.

Over the last two years, the students worked on their translations. The interdisciplinary student project is a collaboration of the Department of Finnish and Scandinavian Studies, the Department of Slavonic Studies, and the Department of Baltic Studies; it was funded by interStudies_2. Prof. Dr. Pantermöller started the project Neue Nordische Novellen in 2004; and, through this project, students gain literary translation skills. Moreover, their published translations provide them with work samples and references for their future careers. The student translators researched and acquainted themselves with emerging authors of their focal languages, they contacted authors themselves, and, finally, translated the short stories and poems on their own or in small groups.Teachers belonging to the involved departments provided them with assistance.

In Zeitstücke, the emerging authors depict their ideas of the perception and understanding of time. By making use of flashbacks, they present the childhood and adolescence of characters and reveal precious bygone moments; however, they also reflect on sad and traumatic events. Continually, the book shows how the past, present, and future are intertwined.

For the first time, the anthology Neue Nordische Novellen was not only published as a printed edition but is also available as an eBook. Subject to the current COVID-19 pandemic, the anthology will be presented to the public either at a reading or as a digital alternative during the festival Nordischer Klang 2021.

 

 

Further Information

  • Project Neue Nordische Novellen [de]
  • Noëmi Grimm, Anja Köneke (eds.): Zeitstücke: Neue Nordische Novellen VII. Heiner Labonde Verlag, 2020. ISBN 978-3-937507-97-2. 

Contact at the University of Greifswald
Noëmi Grimm and Anja Köneke
Department of Finnish and Scandinavian Studies
Ernst-Lohmeyer-Platz 3, 17489 Greifswald 
neuenordischenovellen@uni-greifswald.de

Prof. Dr. Marko Pantermöller
Department of Finnish and Scandinavian Studies
Ernst-Lohmeyer-Platz 3, 17489 Greifswald 
Tel.: +49 3834 420 3611
panter@uni-greifswald.de

 

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