Diving into Danish Literature

DELT’s Annual General Meeting and BogForum 2023 Recap

by Miranda M. Nicholas-Zaar

For DELT members, the beginning of November was a busy time.

Kick-off was DELT’s sixth Annual General Meeting at Kulturhuset in Copenhagen. Twenty Danish-English literary translators from around the world got together – both online and in-person – to catch up and share plans regarding the world of Danish literature. The discussions spanned from recent and current DELT activities, such as the Danish Translators Aloud Week or the Early Career Translators group, to upcoming projects and actions.

Members who attended in person had the chance to have new, smart headshots taken for the soon-to-be revamped DELT website. While most of us like to hide behind a book or computer screen, our photographer, Camila França, did an excellent job making you feel at ease in front of the camera.

The AGM concluded with a pleasant dinner, allowing DELToids to continue their discussions and connect with old and new colleagues.

Next up was BogForum 2023. For three full days, you could immerse yourself entirely in Danish literature. DELT organised coordinated coffee meet-ups on each day of the fair. These were a great start to the day if you wanted to see familiar faces and – for those new to the game – get some valuable advice from old hands.

BogForum’s programme was packed with great talks, discussions and events across all stages. Some of my personal highlights included the presentation of BogForums Debutantpris to Amina Elmi for her poetry collection Barbar, the interview with lovely Ane Riel about her latest book Små Stød and a wildly entertaining discussion between Knud Romer and Jesper Wung-Sung about the power of stories. Browsing the stands of different publishers was an excellent opportunity to explore the current book market and get inspiration for new projects. My favourites were the micro publishers that offered exciting new titles and the chance to meet some of their authors.

DELT in 2020 – the year we met virtually!

2020 was a tumultuous year in many ways, but we are extremely grateful for the continued dedication of the DELT committee. Ellen left big shoes to fill as Chair, but she continues to be a source of invaluable help and advice (and remains part of the committee as Treasurer). Huge thank yous go to John and Lin for all their work on the founding and first committee, and despite them stepping back at the end of 2020, they’ll no doubt continue to be strong voices within the organisation! Thanks also to Sinéad, who as Secretary is tasked with the bulk of the administrative duties. Hearty welcome to new committee members: Misha Hoekstra and Kyle Semmel.

Throughout 2020, the committee has met monthly (previously quarterly) via Skype to discuss various goals for DELT, as well to deal with general duties to strengthen and maintain the association. Following our AGM in 2019, the committee spent significant time identifying and allocating the various committee tasks and roles in part to make it easier for future committee members to carry on the work of the committee seamlessly. We have also been using a number of digital tools that will ensure the committee has a strong foundation going forward including Slack and Google Drive. We are proud that our first virtual AGM and julefrokost was successful in December 2020!

Mentoring was one of the new Chair’s priorities this year. DELT hosted two online events for members on mentoring in 2020 to establish how to help members at various stages of their translation career, including how members can share their experience with each other, and how we might support them as a committee. DELT hopes to formalise this mentorship process in 2021. We are proud that our Chair Paul Russell Garrett has helped secure funding for Danish workshops at the BCLT Summer School in 2020 and 2021, as well as having a Danish mentorship as part of the NCW (National Centre for Writing) Emerging Translator Mentorship in 2020/21.

DELT has a core group of active members, but we would always welcome and encourage further engagement among members, including more involvement in planning and running events, mentoring, and sharing useful resources on our website and Facebook page. We’ll continue to plan regular online meet-ups and professional development sessions for members. We also welcome new members – please spread the word among your networks about our supportive and informative community for Danish to English literary translators!

(This news post is based on Paul Russell Garrett’s Chair’s Report for DELT’s AGM, December 2020)

Virtual AGM 2020

DELT’s first virtual AGM and Julefrokost!

DELT will host its third Annual General Meeting (AGM) for members on Thursday 3rd December 2020. The meeting will be online via Zoom, starting at 15.00 UTC (i.e. 3pm UK, 4pm Denmark, 10am Eastern Standard Time). The AGM will be kept brief, closely followed by a sociable Julefrokost.

An information pack and registration instructions have been emailed to DELT members. The info pack contains: AGM 2020 Agenda, Chair’s Report 2020, Treasurer’s Report 2020, AGM Minutes 2019, Balance sheets for 2019 (Final) and 2020 (Provisional), Proposal for amendment to DELT Constitution, DELT Constitution, and, finally, Julefrokost Recipes!