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 ''trans ...

Career

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

Norwegian language Norwegian ( ) is a North Germanic language from the Indo-European language family 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 intelli ...

. She has previously been

literary critic A genre of arts criticism, 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 analysis of literature' ...

for the newspaper ''

Dagbladet () is one of Norway's largest newspapers and is published in the Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid format. It has 1,400,000 daily readers on mobile, web and paper. Traditionally it was considered the main liberal newspaper of Norway, with a ...

'', and

freelancer ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...

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 Terje Rød-Larsen (born 22 November 1947) is a Norwegian diplomat, politician, and sociologist. Rød-Larsen came to wide international prominence as a key figure in the 1990s negotiations that led to the Oslo Accords—the first-ever agreements ...

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 () 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 by Ørnulf Bast, ...

in 1994, for her translation of

Virginia Woolf Adeline Virginia Woolf (; ; 25 January 1882 28 March 1941) was an English writer and one of the most influential 20th-century modernist authors. She helped to pioneer the use of stream of consciousness narration as a literary device. Vir ...

's novel ''

Orlando Orlando commonly refers to: * Orlando, Florida, a city in the United States Orlando may also refer to: People * Orlando (given name), a masculine name, includes a list of people with the name * Orlando (surname), includes a list of people wit ...

'' 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 Wind on Fire trilogy. 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 Dame Antonia Susan Duffy (; 24 August 1936 – 16 November 2023), known professionally by her former married name, A.S. Byatt ( ), was an English critic, novelist, poet and short-story writer. Her books have been translated into more than thirt ...

's novel ''

The Children's Book ''The Children's Book'' is a 2009 novel by British writer A. S. Byatt. It follows the adventures of several inter-related families, adults and children, from 1895 through World War I. Loosely based upon the life of children's writer E. Nesbit ...

'' 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 20th-century Norwegian translators Norwegian literary critics Norwegian women non-fiction writers Norwegian women literary critics 21st-century Norwegian translators {{Norway-academic-bio-stub