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A tale about the export of contemporary Norwegian literature
You don’t say
BY EIRIN HAGEN
Over the past few years writers in this elongated country
in the north have been privileged to see their works translated
in extraordinary numbers and at an extraordinary rate. Nordic
writing is being noticed abroad. There have been wide ranging
changes since the publication of Jostein Gaarder’s Sophie’s
World.
Quite independent circles come together in acknowledging the
literary boom Nordic literature is currently enjoying, reminiscent
of the tendency about a decade ago to award the seal of approval
to practically anything bearing the label ‘magic realism’.
But things are not that easy: it is not simply a matter of
picking a Norwegian novel, seasoning it with good reviews
and ditto sales figures (furnished by book shops and book
clubs), and, at the wave of a wand, have a book translated
into Spanish, German and Polish. Behind and surrounding the
sale of publishing rights a number of people and organisations
are putting their shoulder to the wheel. And it is here that
NORLA (Norwegian Literature Abroad) and its executive manager
Kristin Brudevoll play such an important part.
Self-confidence
NORLA was founded in 1978 at the instigation of the Norwegian
Author’s Union. It was subsequently placed within the
orbit of the Norwegian Council for Cultural Affairs on a pilot
basis. There were few expectations of stupendous effects among
key Norwegian publishers at the time. No support was offered,
for instance, when NORLA expressed a wish to take part at
the Frankfurt book fair. Given this magnitude of distrust
in the country’s literature, planting the idea that
Norwegian writing may be of interest to foreign readers required
patience, determination and a fighting spirit.
Since 1984 the Ministry of Cultural Affairs has funded NORLA.
The trial period is over. In 2000, it was suggested to lower
funding because Norwegian literature was doing so well in
the big, wide world beyond. As if you would confiscate a sprinter’s
running shoes just at the moment he or she had qualified for
the European athletics championship! Fortunately, after widespread
protest, the ideas were put back in the drawer.
The Ministry is even more enthusiastic today, expanding NORLA’s
remit to cover non-fiction as from 2003. Support for translations
in this area is crucial for the export of Norwegian literature.
While Nordic publishers can apply to Nordbok for funding,
the support given by NORLA is intended for non-Nordic publishers.
Image building
The sale of novels published by Cappelen aimed at the adult
market rose from ten in 1991 (representing five authors) to
48 in 2001 (eleven authors). The same level of growth is seen
in general in other Norwegian mainly fiction-based publishing
houses, relatively speaking. In other words, self-confidence
has been won! If a Norwegian publisher just a few years back
managed to sell a novel to the Netherlands or Germany, it
was called author cultivation. There were no wider ambitions
in play.
Today we move in a different and wider landscape. The efforts
of rights managers are helping Norwegian publishers drive
home their particular profile in the international publishing
world; not unlike the way in which one can deduct a publisher’s
profile on the basis of the foreign authors it presents in
translation. It’s like meeting one’s former self
– but a benign experience in this case. Let me add a
point: there is financial sense in these sales – they
benefit all parties. The fact that most Norwegian authors
are happy to let their publishers represent them rather than
relying on foreign agents also means that revenues end up
in the country of origin.
Heave-ho!
Although Cappelen is Norway’s oldest publisher, founded
in 1829, there were few fiction titles among its publications
before the 1950s. One searches therefore in vain for big names
like Hamsun, Ibsen, Undset and Vesaas among Cappelen’s
authors. We had to start from scratch and build up a stable
of new writers. It was around 1970 that the biggest effort
was made to turn Cappelen into a publisher for contemporary
epic literature in Norway – with critically acclaimed
and popular writers like Roy Jacobsen, Lars Saabye Christensen
and Ingvar Ambjørnsen. They were followed later by
Erik Fosnes Hansen and Erlend Loe, along with fresh crime
talent the likes of Anne Holt and Karin Fossum.
All these and a wide range of other fiction authors at Cappelen
have been sold abroad through the auspices of the in-house
rights manager (apart from Fosnes Hansen). The number of languages
you can read these authors in now ranges from ten to twenty-two.
And there is more in the pipeline. Figures like this are attainable
because they write good books. That said, what was crucial
in the past and will remain crucial in the future is the expertise
found in the publishing house, Cappelen. The pooled efforts
of the rights manager and the editors are critical to the
flow of information and dialogue on manuscripts and, not least,
ongoing contact with the authors.
Close contact
By maintaining close contact with writers and editors, we
can build up a corpus of knowledge of the various authors,
insight that is the be-all and end-all of a rights manager’s
work. By nurturing a sense of ownership to the history of
the publishing house and the works of the authors, a novel
written fifteen years ago may suddenly prove critical when
establishing contact with publishers in new linguistic environments.
As a rights manager I see my role less as a seller dealing
with customers, more as an editor communicating literature
to other editors and publishers.
After a book has been sold it is of immense importance to
secure a good translation. If students are going to interest
themselves in our small Nordic languages, constant reminders
are needed along with fresh faces. Both NORLA and the Cultural
Section at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have been inviting
translators to seminars and working visits to Norway for many
years. Students of Nordic countries and languages, along with
active translators, should be given short and long-term support
and inspiration so that we will be able to find someone in
Italy who really knows his Finnish or somebody in Portugal
with the requisite Norwegian.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs awards funds for the all-Nordic
stands at several book fairs and hosts publishing delegations.
In addition, embassies are an invaluable setting to launch
authors and hold press briefings. The residence of the Norwegian
ambassador to the UK is a particularly constructive venue
under the London Book Fair for publishers, translators and
other people in the literary firmament. The list of contacts
can be lengthened by adding enthusiasts working at the different
literature festivals and book events.
This fairly intricate apparatus is available for Norwegian
publishers who need advice and practical help, and comes on
top of the direct contact with the overseas editors/publishers,
of course. It is both assuring and challenging to have this
entire spectrum at one’s fingertips for those of us
engaged in selling publishing rights. A network of connections
is built slowly and diligently – and it has to be taken
care of. Not everybody convenes at book fairs – keeping
in touch is a year-round thing. All the component parts and
all the individuals are vital cogs in the machinery.
Aiming beyond the immediate horizon
So self-confidence has proved to be a remarkably effective
driving force. It has been important to keep in mind throughout
that promoting and selling authors are long-term activities.
Lars Saabye Christensen was ahead of his time when he scored
a national success with his novel Beatles in 1984. It was
published in Danish and German by small publishers and in
Sweden – and later in Romania. At the time Cappelen
was not in a position to invest more in promoting the novel
outside Norway – even if it was sold to 200,000 Norwegian
readers. Publishers abroad had little awareness of or interest
in contemporary writers in Norway.
Then in October 2001 Saabye Christensen’s Halvbroren
(The Half Brother) was released – a novel the critics
received extraordinarily well and the public loved. Not a
common occurrence, but a happy one nonetheless. In a very
short time it had sold to nine countries, including the UK.
In February 2002 we heard that it had won the Nordic Council
Literature Prize. As of December 2002, it has been sold to
18 countries. The publishers knew that it would be a success,
and we were convinced that it would be translated into many
languages despite its size – 651 pages. Faith in the
project – and the machinery – worked in this case.
Pride in one’s national literature has made a difference.
There’s nobody standing on the sidelines, cap in hand,
any more.
Eirin Hagen is a publishing rights manager
Translated by Chris Saunders
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