Merete Alfsen (born 14 February 1950) is a Norwegian

translator Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transla ...

Career

Alfsen started working as translator in 1981, and has translated more than ninety books into

Norwegian language Norwegian ( no, norsk, links=no ) is a North Germanic language spoken mainly in Norway, where it is an official language. Along with Swedish and Danish, Norwegian forms a dialect continuum of more or less mutually intelligible local and regi ...

. She has previously been

literary critic Literary criticism (or literary studies) is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of literature's goals and methods. Th ...

for the newspaper ''

Dagbladet ''Dagbladet'' (lit.: ''The Daily Magazine'') is one of Norway's largest newspapers and is published in the tabloid format. It has 1,400,000 daily readers on mobile, web and paper. Traditionally ''Dagbladet'' is considered the main liberal newspa ...

'', and freelancer host for the radio shows ' and '.

Personal life

Alfsen was born on 14 February 1950, a daughter of engineer Petter Alfsen and Torill Riise-Hansen. She was married to diplomat Terje Rød-Larsen from 1971 to 1982.

Awards

* 1992: Norwegian culture and church department's translator prize for child and youth literature for her translation of John Marsden's

So much to tell you ''So Much to Tell You'' is a young adult novel by Australian author John Marsden, first published in 1987. It was his debut book. It was instantly successful in Australia and the US and has since been translated into nine languages and awarded m ...

'Så mye å si deg' * 1994:

Bastian Prize The Bastian Prize ( no, Bastianprisen) is a prize awarded annually by the Norwegian Association of Literary Translators. The prize, established in 1951, is given for translating a published work into Norwegian language. The award is a statue made ...

in 1994, for her translation of

Virginia Woolf Adeline Virginia Woolf (; ; 25 January 1882 28 March 1941) was an English writer, considered one of the most important modernist 20th-century authors and a pioneer in the use of stream of consciousness as a narrative device. Woolf was born ...

's novel ''

Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures r ...

'' into Norwegian. * 1997: The Book Club's fiction translator prize okklubbenes skjønnlitterære oversetterpris* 2006:

for child and youth literature for her translation of William Nicholson's ''

The Wind Singer ''The Wind Singer'' is a young adult novel written by William Nicholson. It is the first book of the trilogy: Wind On Fire. It follows the quest of twins Kestrel and Bowman Hath, and their acquaintance Mumpo to restore the "Voice of the Wind Si ...

'' 'Vindsangeren' * 2011:

Norwegian Critics Prize for Literature The Norwegian Critics Prize for Literature (''Den norske Kritikerprisen for litteratur'' or ''Kritikerprisen'') is awarded by the Norwegian Literature Critics' Association (''Norsk Litteraturkritikerlag'') and has been awarded every year since 1950 ...

in 2011, for translation of A. S. Byatt's novel '' The Children's Book'' into Norwegian langue. * 2016:

Norwegian Academy Prize in memory of Thorleif Dahl The Norwegian Academy Prize in memory of Thorleif Dahl (''Det Norske Akademis Pris til minne om Thorleif Dahl'') is awarded annually by the Norwegian Academy for Language and Literature (''Det Norske Akademi for Sprog og Litteratur''). The prize is ...

References

1950 births Living people Norwegian translators Norwegian literary critics Norwegian women non-fiction writers Norwegian women literary critics {{Norway-academic-bio-stub