Reykjavík Grapevine - feb. 2020, Blaðsíða 32

Reykjavík Grapevine - feb. 2020, Blaðsíða 32
32The Reykjavík Grapevine Issue 02— 2020 A Winnin! Heart Larissa Kyzer wins award for her translation of Kristín Eiríksdóttir’s 'A Fist in the Heart' Words: a rawlings Book Larissa Kyzer wins American- Scandinavian Award for Translation. “It was a real honour to work on 'A Fist in the Heart,'” beams Larissa Kyzer, English-language transla- tor of Kristín Eiríksdóttir’s nov- el. For Larissa’s translation, she won an American-Scandinavian Foundation Award announced last month. “It was exciting for me personally because it's nice to see my work being appreciated and validated. It's also exciting because it was for this particular book.” An emerging translator of Ice- landic to English, Larissa focuses on bringing contemporary fiction and poetry to English readers. In Fall 2019, Larissa was translator in residence at Princeton Univer- sity. She’ll return in Fall 2020 to teach a formal translation work- shop. In addition to her academic adventures, Larissa is currently translating short stories by Frí!a Ísberg as well as poetry and fic- tion by Kári Tulinius. On winning the translation award, Larissa shares, “It's very gratifying because it's something that I put a lot of myself into. I spe- cifically applied this time around because it was a project that I cared so much about. I wouldn't have applied if I didn't think it was a fantastic translation of a book. It is such a fabulous book.” Intimate with Icelandic Larissa arrived in Iceland in 2012 to study via a Fulbright scholar- ship for one year. She extended her stay for an additional four years, which afforded her the op- portunity to study a Masters in Translation at the University of Iceland. Though she has returned to the United States, Larissa still works with written Icelandic ev- ery day. She confides, “I email in Icelandic. I translate it. The more I do it, the faster I get and the better off my vocabulary is.” While her work as a transla- tor brings her an intimacy with written Icelandic, she jokes about the different relationship she has with spoken Icelandic. “If I went to the countryside and there was no English speaker, I could get by, though I would sound like a deranged child. I sometimes say I speak skrítlensku,” she explains, playfully blending the Icelandic word for “weird” (skríti!) and “Íslensku” (“Icelandic”... in Icelan- dic). Living inside lit Larissa’s passion for contempo- rary literature gives her a dis- tinct insight into the life of a text. “Translation brings together all of the things I love: writing, reading, increasing engagement with text,” she explains. “It's creative; you get to live inside the literature.” The idea to pursue translation first occurred to Larissa in college during literature classes. She sub- sequently sought out world litera- ture, and was gifted a short-story collection by Icelandic authors. “I loved it. I read about this country that had such a strong literary his- tory, that valued literature in this beautiful and active way. There were not as many people translat- ing Icelandic then so I found that there was a niche there.” Translating A Fist Larissa shares how she landed the translation of Kristín’s book. “I was doing samples for Forlagi!,” Larissa explains, “which the pub- lisher takes to literary festivals to try and sell foreign rights. I was asked to sample A Fist in the Heart. There was a bidding war over the book, which was exciting. Amazon Crossing was really nice because they let me continue as the translator.” Kristín’s writing first crossed Larissa’s desk when she was a stu- dent at the University of Iceland. “I loved her first novel 'Hvítfeld.' There’s a short story—"Evelyn Hates Her Name"—from Kristín’s short story collection ‘Doris Deyr’ that I tried to translate before I was capable. It was too hard; I maxed out. I wasn’t far enough along in my language acquisition studies.” During Larissa’s translation work for A Fist in the Heart, she re- turned to “Evelyn Hates Her Name.” “I had the opportunity to go back to that story and publish it in an on- line journal,” Larissa recalls. “I'm all in with Kristín’s work,” Larissa raves. “She is an incred- ible writer. I love how her writ- ing slices to the heart of observa- tions. She has amazing rhythms and trains of thought that split into grotesque streams. Fresh and unique.” Books Whiskey Cocktails, Whiskey Fligths, Whiskey Shots, Whiskey School, Happy Hour, Draft Beer & Exterior Patio

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