Der neue Bereich unseres Portals macht es sich zum Anliegen, die internationalen Literaturszenen Berlins zu kartographieren, die handelnden Personen und ihre Schauplätze sichtbar und zugänglich zu machen. 
Die Entstehung der Rubrik wurde durch eine Förderung des Hauptstadtkulturfonds ermöglicht. 

Anne Mäkelä

Translator

© privat

Profile

Born: 26.3.1981
Birthplace: Lammi
Country of birth: Finland
Lives in: Berlin, Kreuzberg


Source language: German
Target language: Finish

Vita

Anne Mäkelä was born in 1981 in Lammi (Finland). She studied i.a. translation and literature at the university Tampere and, for two semesters, at the TU Berlin. After having finished her studies in 2008, she returned to Berlin for a traineeship at the Finland Institute. The same year she signed her first translation contract and has been translating German literature into Finish ever since. During this period she attended many translation workshops and meet-ups, e.g. the 2011 international translator meet-up at the LCB, in 2012 and 2013 the master classes for literary translators in Finland and in 2015 the German-Finnish translator workshop ViceVersa at the EÜK Straelen. Since 2011 she has been mainly working as a freelance translator. She also teaches children at the Finnish language school in Berlin and moderates and interprets at various literary events. In 2017 she took up a postgraduate course in reading & literature education.   

6 Questions

What brought you to Berlin? Love? World politics? Or was it a coincidence?

A traineeship. I have to admit, I only wanted to stay for one year. Now several years have passed and I am still here… 


What do you love about Berlin?

The (positively) strange, yet uncomplicated and free atmosphere.


What do you miss in Berlin?

Nordic lights, especially the bright summer nights (the dark winter days not so much). Frage4 (deutsch)Meine „Lesebank“ am Landwehrkanal zwischen Brachvogel und Altem Zollhaus in Kreuzberg.


What is your favorite spot in Berlin?

My "reading bench" at the Landwehrkanal, between Brachvogel and Altes Zollhaus in Kreuzberg.


Would you say you are a different person in Berlin? A different translator? And if yes, in what way?

I’m sure I am a slightly different person in Berlin than I used to be in Finland. But this is not only because of Berlin, but simply due to the fact that most people change over time.  

Awards

2013 Fellowship of the Robert Bosch-Stiftung in EÜK Straelen for Kürzere Tage by Anna Katharina Hahn.  

Work

Translated publications

Jonas Lüscher, Frühling der Barbaren (Barbaarien kevät))

Lurra Editions/Helsinki, 2016 Novella

Ursula Poznanski, Blinde Vögel (Sokeat linnut)

Atena Kustannus/Jyväskylä, 2014 Thriller

Hans-Ludwig Kröber, Mord (Murha)

Atena Kustannus/Jyväskylä, 2013

Günther Höhne, DDR-design (Produktkult(ur) - Das DDR-Designbuch

Minerva Kustannus/Helsinki, 2010 Nonfiction

Ursula Poznanski, Stimmen (Äänet)

Atena Kustannus/Jyväskylä, 2016 Thriller

Anna Katharina Hahn, Kürzere Tage (Lyhyehköjä päiviä)

Lurra Editions/Helsinki, 2013 Ficition

Ursula Poznanski, Fünf, (Viisi)

Atena Kustannus/Jyväskylä, 2013 Thriller

Katharina Hagena, Der Geschmack von Apfelkernen (Omenansiementen maku)

Minerva Kustannus/Helsinki, 2009 Fiction