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.

#deltfeatureweek – Translators Aloud

It’s been a busy week at DELT’s social media HQ, where we’ve been sharing readings by our members from the Translators Aloud YouTube channel. Here we have Martin Aitken, perhaps best known for his translations of Knausgaard, reading from his unpublished translation of Kirsten Thorup’s Recollection of Love. Get in touch if you want to know more!

Follow us on Instagram and Facebook!

DELT In Conversation with Christina Hesselholdt

Photo by Robin Skjoldborg

Founder and editor of Fitzcarraldo Editions, Jacques Testard, literary agent, Laurence Laluyaux, and translator Paul Russell Garrett will join Christina Hesselholdt in discussing the publication of Danish literature in translation. Please contact DELT if you would like to participate in this private event for translators of Danish literature into English.