Books | “Frankly speaking, it’s a bit embarrassing” – This is how Finnish publishing houses explain the fact that the recent Nobel laureate has not been translated into Finnish

“Directly to be honest, it’s a bit embarrassing.”

This is the answer from the publisher of WSOY’s Finnish fiction Leena Balmewhen he is asked why the recent Norwegian Nobel laureate has never been translated into Finnish.

Jon Fosse is a big name not only in his home country of Norway, but also worldwide. His works have been published in more than 40 languages.

Balme guesses that one reason might be that Fosse is so strongly profiled as a playwright.

Still, signs of his appreciation also as a prose writer have been visible for a long time. Balme says that certain literary awards foreshadow the fact that a writer should be considered even a Nobel laureate. Such an award is, for example, the Nordic Council’s literature award, which Fosse won in 2015.

Balm has read Fosse’s works in English and Swedish and has been thinking about his Finnish translation for several years.

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“There are many good untranslated books and authors.”

Also the publisher of Tamme’s Finnish literature Päivi Koivisto-Alanko bet that the books of the recent Nobel laureate are familiar in the translation book departments of all domestic publishing houses, even if they have not been translated into Finnish.

“There are many good untranslated books and authors. There is no clear reason for Fosse’s inability to speak Finnish,” says Koivisto-Alanko.

According to him, the fact that Fosse’s main work may be of some significance Septologists is such a vast work. The three-volume work has about 800 pages and is written in one sentence. It is contemplative in tone and deals with existential questions such as the relationship with God.

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“He doesn’t really care about punctuation, but there’s something cool and really great about his narration.”

“Fosse’s works are not the easiest to read, and they need an excellent Finnish translator,” says Balme.

“He doesn’t really care about punctuation, but there’s something cool and really great about his narration.”

Otavan cost director Antti Kasper reminds that Finland is a small market area compared to many larger language areas. Compared to that, Finland has a wide supply of translated fiction – even if Fosse’s works are missing from the shelves of stores and libraries in Finland.

“The world is full of great literature, and domestic publishers have to make choices,” says Kasper.

Translation projects of works by writers like Fosse demand a lot from the translator and are big investments for the publisher, he says, but he is happy that the award will raise Fosse’s esteem.

Nobel-price will change the situation soon: it is more than likely that soon Finnish-speaking readers will also get to know Fosse.

“If the Nobel laureate’s books have not been translated into Finnish before, they will have been translated at the latest after the award,” says Balme.

So far, no domestic publishing house has had time to announce that they have taken Fosse into their stable.