Blog Archives

The Last Witnesses

Posted on 20 November 2019 by Kate Sotejeff-Wilson — 1 Comment

Translation often comes with a delay, sometimes of decades. Many of these people’s stories are only being told in English after their death. Before that, it took decades for their voices to be heard in their native language. Last Witnesses:…

Tagged with: Belarus, books, history, Larissa Volokhonsky, Richard Pevear, Russian, Second World War, Soviet Union, Svetlana Alexievich, The Last Witnesses, Translation
Posted in books, Nobel Prize in Literature, translation

Finland 100: Unknown Soldiers

Posted on 8 November 2017 by Kate Sotejeff-Wilson — 2 Comments

This is one of those books you start reading because you feel you ought to, because everyone tells you you really should, which is actually rather annoying, and you’re pretty sure it’s not your thing, it’s the sort of thing…

Tagged with: Finland 100, Finnish, Liesl Yamaguchi, Second World War, Suomi100, Translation, Tuntematon sotilas, Unknown Soldiers, Väinö Linna
Posted in books, Finland 100, history, Suomi 100, translation

Finland 100: The midwife

Posted on 22 March 2017 by Kate Sotejeff-Wilson — Leave a comment

At the gate, I remembered the cover. My bookmark slid over it, obscuring the emblem behind the title text. I was about to board the plane to Berlin – and I had to finish this and put it in my bag before…

Tagged with: David Hackston, Finland 100, history, Katilö, Katja Kettu, Second World War, Suomi 100, The Midwife, Translation
Posted in books, film, history, Suomi 100, translation

Suspended Sentences: New translation of Modiano

Posted on 22 October 2014 by Kate Sotejeff-Wilson — Leave a comment

A new translation of 2014 Nobel Laureate Patrick Modiano’s stories, Suspended Sentences, comes out next month. The translator, Mark Polizotti, also happens to be publisher in chief of MoMa. These novellas are needed: Modiano in English and in print is very hard to…