Prize-winning literary translations and many technical topics too!

Phone: 505 856-2550 Address: PO Box 14630 87191 Albuquerque, NM United States Add opinion »

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Languages

Expertise

Additional work areas: Engineering: Energy / Power Generation • Engineering: Petroleum • Materials (Plastics, ) / Metallurgy

Experience

32 years' experience as a professional translator, both technical and literary. I translate into either US or UK English.

Steven T. Murray
P.O. Box 14630, Albuquerque, NM  87191  USA
tel (505) 856-2550 / fax (505) 856-6855
osobooks@earthlink.net

Literary & Technical Translator, Editor, Writer

Foreign Languages
Source languages:    Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, German, Dutch, Spanish
Target language:    English
Fluent in Danish; speak German, Swedish, Norwegian, Spanish
Reading knowledge of technical Dutch, Portuguese, Italian, French

Experience

Editor-in-Chief & Publisher
Fjord Press, Seattle, WA and Berkeley, CA  (1981–2001)
Oso Books, Albuquerque, NM  (2002 to present)
Have published 41 literary titles.  Responsible for all editorial functions; acquisitions; contracts with authors, translators, and foreign publishers; coordination of promotion and finances; maintenance of databases; book, catalog, and ad design and typography; cover art direction; production coordination and print buying; translation from Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, and German.

Literary & Technical Translator & Editor (Freelance)  (since 1974)
Translate and edit book-length fiction and nonfiction.  Translate and edit technical, scientific, industrial, and business documents.  Topics have included computer software, nuclear engineering, chemical engineering, patents (mechanical engineering), electronics, organic chemistry, pollution control, fertilizers, biocides, pulp & paper, food processing, agriculture, experimental botany, fisheries, medicine, pharmacology, wind power, meteorology, geology, petroleum, mining, smelting, metallurgy, crystallography, corrosion, construction, shipping, commerce, criminology, advertising, publishing, genealogy, archaeology, history, art, adult fiction, juvenile fiction.
Publishing clients have included Atlantic Books, London; Canongate Books, Edinburgh; The Harvill Press/Random House, London; Alfred A. Knopf, NY; Soho Press, NY; The New Press, NY; Farrar, Straus & Giroux, NY; Atheneum Publishers, NY; University of Washington Press, Seattle; University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln; Gyldendal Norsk Forlag, Oslo; Norstedts Förlag, Stockholm; Ordfront Förlag, Stockholm; Per Kofods Forlag, Helsingør.

Technical Editor (Independent Contractor)  (July 1992 to February 1995)
Business Systems Division, Training, Microsoft, Redmond, WA
Visual C++ Application Framework Documentation (AFXDOX), Microsoft, Redmond, WA
Microsoft Press, Redmond, WA

Education
M.A. program:  Scandinavian Literature, University of California, Berkeley, CA (1981-1982)
B.A.:  English (Creative Writing), California State University, Hayward, CA  (1972)
Stanford University, Stanford, CA (1961-1964, 1968)
    Major: English (Creative Writing) / Minor: German
    Stanford-in-Germany, Beutelsbach, Germany (1963)
Herning Højskole, Herning, Denmark (1966-1967)
    (also taught English conversation and American literature)
Scandinavian Seminar, Krogerup Højskole, Humlebæk, Denmark (1964-1965)

Professional Associations
PEN USA, Los Angeles, CA
SouthWest Writers, Albuquerque, NM
American Literary Translators Association, Dallas, TX

Grants & Awards
Winner, Macallan Gold Dagger Award for Best Crime Novel of the Year published in the UK, for translation     of Sidetracked by Henning Mankell (2001)
PEN USA Translation Prize, shortlisted for Sidetracked by Henning Mankell (1999)
Jens Peter Jacobsen Prize from the Limfjord Region Literary Society, Thisted, Denmark, for editing
    new translations of two works by Jens Peter Jacobsen (1994)
Danish Ministry of Cultural Affairs, translation grants:
    For War by Klaus Rifbjerg (1995)
    For Pelle the Conqueror, Vol. 2: Apprenticeship by Martin Andersen Nexø (1991)
    For Another Metamorphosis and Other Fictions by Villy Sørensen (1989)
    For Witness to the Future by Klaus Rifbjerg (1987)
    For The Sardine Deception by Leif Davidsen (1985)
National Endowment for the Arts:  Fellowship in Translation for Lykke-Per by Henrik Pontoppidan, from Danish (1990)
    Grant for production of four books translated from Danish & Norwegian (1990)
    Grant for production of three books translated from Danish (1989)
Columbia Translation Center award for Witness to the Future by Klaus Rifbjerg (1985)
General Motors National Scholarship, Stanford University (1961–1964)

Published Translations
Millennium 1-3, a thriller trilogy by Stieg Larsson, from Swedish (available from Norstedts/Pan Agency,             Stockholm; in production by Yellow Bird Films, Ystad, Sweden)
Shame by Karin Alvtegen, from Swedish (Edinburgh: Canongate Books, 2006).
Anacaona: Ten Sisters of Rhythm by Alicia Castro, as told to Ingrid Kummels & Manfred Schäfer, from                German and Spanish (London: Atlantic Books, 2007).
Betrayal by Karin Alvtegen, from Swedish (Edinburgh: Canongate Books, 2005).
Son of the Wind by Henning Mankell, from Swedish (London: Harvill Secker/Random House, forthcoming).
The Leopard’s Eye by Henning Mankell, from Swedish (London: Harvill Secker/Random House,                          forthcoming).
A Wealth of Tradition: Jøtul, 1853–2003, from Norwegian (Oslo: Jøtul, 2003).
Detective Inspector Huss by Helene Tursten, from Swedish (New York: Soho Press, 2002).
Like Thunder, A Play by Niels Fredrik Dahl, from Norwegian (produced 2001). Best Play, Edinburgh Festival     2001, Scotland.
The Fifth Woman by Henning Mankell, from Swedish (New York: New Press, 2000; London: Harvill, 2001).
Sidetracked by Henning Mankell, from Swedish (New York: New Press, 1999; London: Harvill, 2000).                Macallan Gold Dagger, Best Crime Novel published in UK, 2001.
Faceless Killers by Henning Mankell, from Swedish (New York: New Press, 1997; London: Harvill, 1999).
War by Klaus Rifbjerg, from Danish with Tiina Nunnally (Seattle: Fjord Press, 1995).
Enemy’s Enemy by Jan Guillou, from Swedish with Tiina Nunnally [under pseudonym Thomas Keeland]             (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1992).
Pelle the Conqueror, Vol. 2: Apprenticeship by Martin Andersen Nexø, from Danish with Tiina Nunnally                (Seattle: Fjord Press, 1991).
Making Swedish Country Furniture & Household Things by Hans Keijser, Lars Sjöberg & R. Willick, from             Swedish (Vancouver, B.C.: Hartley & Marks Publishers, 1990)
Another Metamorphosis & Other Fictions by Villy Sørensen, from Danish with Tiina Nunnally (Seattle: Fjord        Press, 1990).
Pelle the Conqueror, Vol. 1: Childhood by Martin Andersen Nexø, from Danish (Seattle: Fjord Press, 1989).         One of Publishers Weekly’s Best Books of 1989.
Witness to the Future by Klaus Rifbjerg, from Danish (Seattle: Fjord Press, 1987).
The Sardine Deception by Leif Davidsen, from Danish with Tiina Nunnally (Seattle: Fjord Press, 1986). One     of Publishers Weekly’s Best Books of 1986.

Juveniles
Louie by Barbro Lindgren, from Swedish (New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux/R&S Books, 1994).
To Pluto and Back: A Voyage in the Milky Way by Gunilla Ingves, from Swedish (New York: Farrar, Straus &        Giroux/R&S Books, 1992).
The Story of the Little Old Man by Barbro Lindgren, from Swedish (New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux/R&S         Books, 1991).
In the Bears’ Forest by Bertil Pettersson, from Swedish (New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux/R&S Books,             1991). An Outstanding Nature Book for Children, John Burroughs Association, 1991.
The Abduction by Mette Newth, from Norwegian with Tiina Nunnally (New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux,         1989). One of School Library Journal’s Best Books of 1989.

Selected Books & Translations Edited
Chronicler of the Winds by Henning Mankell, tr. from Swedish by Tiina Nunnally (London: Harvill                         Secker/Random House, 2006. New York: The New Press, 2006).
Fate of Ravens by Tiina Nunnally (Seattle: Fjord Press, 1998).
Love Like Gumbo by Nancy Rawles (Seattle: Fjord Press, 1997). American Book Award, 1998.
Plenty Good Room by Teresa McClain-Watson (Seattle: Fjord Press, 1997).
Runemaker by Tiina Nunnally (Seattle: Fjord Press, 1996).
Maija by Tiina Nunnally (Seattle: Fjord Press, 1995).
Mogens and Other Stories by Jens Peter Jacobsen, tr. from Danish by Tiina Nunnally (Seattle: Fjord Press,         1994).
Night Roamers and Other Stories by Knut Hamsun, tr. from Norwegian by Tiina Nunnally (Seattle: Fjord             Press, 1992).
Love & Solitude: Selected Poems, 1916-1923 (Third Bilingual Edition) by Edith Södergran, tr. from                     Finland-Swedish by Stina Katchadourian (Seattle: Fjord Press, 1981, 1985, 1992).  A Writer’s                     Choice/NEA selection in 1985. Poems from this collection have been widely anthologized.
Brewed in the Pacific Northwest: A History of Beer-Making in Oregon and Washington by Gary & Gloria                 Meier (Seattle: Fjord Press, 1991).
Idealists by Hans Scherfig, tr. from Danish by Frank Hugus (Seattle: Fjord Press, 1991).
The Faces by Tove Ditlevsen, tr. from Danish by Tiina Nunnally (Seattle: Fjord Press, 1991).
Katinka by Herman Bang, tr. from Danish by Tiina Nunnally (Seattle: Fjord Press, 1990).
Niels Lyhne by Jens Peter Jacobsen, tr. from Danish by Tiina Nunnally (Seattle: Fjord Press, 1990; New         York: Penguin Classics, 2006). Winner of 1991 Elinor D. Randall Translation Award from PEN Center USA     West; Jens Peter Jacobsen Prize, 1994, from Limfjord Region Literary Society, Thisted, Denmark.
The Impostor by Peter Seeberg, tr. from Danish by Anni Whissen (Lincoln: Univ. of Nebraska Press, 1990).
Peasants and Masters by Theodor Kallifatides, tr. from Swedish by Thomas Teal (Seattle: Fjord Press,             1990).
Woodsmen of the West by Martin Allerdale Grainger (Seattle: Fjord Press, 1988).
The Missing Bureaucrat by Hans Scherfig, tr. from Danish by Frank Hugus (Seattle: Fjord Press, 1988).
Time Without Bells by Horst Bienek, tr. from German by Ralph Read (New York: Atheneum, 1988). Also             translated a chapter missing from the late translator’s MS.
Riding the High Country by Patrick T. Tucker (Seattle: Fjord Press, 1987).
Laterna Magica by William Heinesen, tr. from Danish by Tiina Nunnally (Seattle: Fjord Press, 1987).
September Light by Horst Bienek, tr. from German by Ralph Read (New York: Atheneum, 1987).
The Dear Dance of Eros by Mary Mackey (Seattle: Fjord Press, 1987).
Stolen Spring by Hans Scherfig, tr. from Danish by Frank Hugus (Seattle: Fjord Press, 1986).  One of                Publishers Weekly’s Best Books of 1986.
Early Spring by Tove Ditlevsen, tr. from Danish by Tiina Nunnally (Seattle: Seal Press, 1985; London: The         Women’s Press, 1986).  A Writer’s Choice/NEA selection.  Finalist in the Boston Globe Literary Press             Competition, 1987.
The First Polka by Horst Bienek, tr. from German by Ralph Read (Berkeley: Fjord Press, 1984). Restored to     American English from UK version and checked against the German.
Poff the Cat by Hartmut von Hentig, tr. from German by Joel Agee (Berkeley: Fjord Press, 1984).
Evening Light by Stephan Hermlin, tr. from German by Paul Dvorak (Berkeley: Fjord Press, 1983).
Fitzcarraldo: The Original Story by Werner Herzog, tr. from German by Martje Herzog (Berkeley: Fjord Press,     1982).

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