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THIS WEEK LITERATURE maltatoday | SUNDAY • 5 MAY 2019 4 The Maltese-Norwegian publisher, translator and journalist Kristina Quintano speaks to TEODOR RELJIC about the exciting and challenging road of bringing Maltese literature to Norwegian readers, fresh off a visit by Trevor Zahra to the 'Translated Days' literary festival in Oslo last month How important is the Translated Days festival in Norway, and what kind of role does it play in the country's overall literary ecology? The Norwegian literary festival Trans- lated Days, Oversatte Dager, is one of many literary festivals and they all play an important role in the Norwegian lit- erary ecosystem. The aim of Translated Days is to highlight and spread enthusi- asm around the advanced linguistic art of translating. This was the fourth time Translated Days was organised and it is held every three years. In many ways it is quite similar to the Malta Mediterranean Literature Festival in August. The main event we had with Maltese author Trevor Zahra and myself and our talk on how we have worked closely to- gether in the translation of his book Il- Ħajja Sigrieta tan-Nanna Ġenoveffa, was almost full. In the audience there was a large group of Maltese readers who live and work in Norway. Many of them had never thought about the idea, or the need for translations between Maltese and Norwegian, or about ever being a market for this work. If we can recruit new read- ers that might become, or create new generations of translators, then we have succeeded. Having Trevor Zahra invited to Trans- lated Days was an acknowledgement from the festival committee that they had noticed and were curious about Mal- tese literature, and it was a great chance to collaborate further with The National Book Council Malta and Mark Camilleri who also came to Norway for the festival to meet with local publishers in further promoting Maltese literature. What were some of the main factors that helped Maltese writers finally gain recognition within this sphere, and what kind of challenges did you face when trying to make that possible? The main factor is undoubtedly the Norwegian Arts Council and their differ- ent funding and distribution programs. Proper distribution and ensuring a sale before printing, is very important when it comes to taking chances in publishing new, unknown, translated fiction. Getting any title into the "mass market" is as difficult in Norway as it is in Malta. Arts Council Norway has a unique distribution system that Norwegian publishers can apply for, especially for books not translated from English or the Scandinavian languages. If it's granted, the Arts Council buys 542 copies of a translation, including 40 licences for e- publication. The books are distributed to all Norwegian libraries and provides the financial security a publishing house needs in order to take the chance on an unknown writer. Without this support and the financial security it provides the publishing house, I don't think it would be done. The main challenges in promoting the literature from Malta in Norway in general has always been that I have to start from scratch every time. Norwe- gian readers or publishers don't know a lot about Malta so I always have to start by explaining the two-language practice and the Arabic influence before I even start talking about the Maltese literary scene. The same week that we launched Tre- vor Zahra in Norway, I brought 10 Nor- wegian travel and culture journalists, and a Norwegian literary agent, over to Malta for one week and invited them to The Book Festival and to meet Trevor Zahra. This has already resulted in Merlin Pub- lishers' plans of publishing the first chil- dren's book ever translated from Norwe- gian into Maltese and all the journalists went back home and wrote long travel articles from Malta in some of Norway's most important publications. This press trip was in cooperation with MTA (Mal- ta Tourism Authority) and was a part of my idea that promoting Maltese litera- ture also has to do with promoting the culture, the food, the wine, the language and all the sides of the island that we are proud of. We cannot simply introduce Maltese books to a Norwegian audience and expect them to be interested. The way I see it, it's a spiral, and it is all con- nected. You have translated Trevor Zahra's Il- Hajja Sigrieta tan-Nanna Genoveffa into Norwegian yourself. How did you first get Teodor Reljic "Short stories and poetry are very difficult to sell even for Norwegian authors, and if they are translated it is almost impossible: we need more well written, well edited, Maltese novels" Translating Trevor