David M. Smith
@smithigans_wake
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Literary translator, Norwegian to English. Ihuga nynorskbrukar.
Joined December 2020
Dag Solstad’s Maoism-influenced novels remain untranslated—leaving a major gap in how we see one of Norway’s greatest writers. I write in @LAReviewofBooks on why these strange, funny, vital works matter, and why it’s past time they reached English readers. https://t.co/yuioG4vQHK
lareviewofbooks.org
David M. Smith examines the career of the great Norwegian novelist Dag Solstad, and the gaps in English translation of his work.
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Jordan Barger isn't just one of the most talented translators of experimental, groundbreaking literature, he's also one of its youngest champions, supporting other translators as they grow and prosper. If Jordan publishes anything, you make sure to read it, and soon!
Ooooo! My interview with Pirkko Saisio’s translator Mia Spangenberg is live on @clereviewbooks ! I went all the way to Finland for this! If you ain’t read The Helsinki Trilogy yet, you better get on that before it’s too late to say you read it before it was cool. @TwoLinesPress
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Great to be on this list together with @kathleenmaris!
75 Notable Translations of 2025, per @worldlittoday
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He said it, not me :)
this is going to be the book of the year in 2026 & it won’t be close.
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Brand new episode with Leif Høghaug, @smithigans_wake and @nordicnovellas discussing THE CALF. Get the book from @FumdEstampa and listen here or as you question the wisdom of pleasure cruising from Venezuela to the US.
open.spotify.com
Beyond The Zero · Episode
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just finished reading "the calf" by leif høghaug. book release of the year for me. a stunning achievement. the centrepiece of the 2025 ambitious literary translation triptych beside attila & schattenfroh.
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Wow, thanks!!
Finished. 🤯 Perhaps the most impressive feat of translation I’ve ever read. A deranged, twisting work, written in a rural Norwegian dialect, and rendered it into wildly compelling Appalachian English. There’s a piecing together of worlds in this novel that begs rereading.
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THE CALF by Leif Høghaug is a book that must be read to be believed. Luckily for you, our friends over at Literary Hub have you covered with an exclusive excerpt from David M. Smith’s heroic feat of translation: https://t.co/hCKhnJZpLp
lithub.com
These past few days I been thankin an’ thankin bout a late summer night I tried a long time to fergit. I’s a-settin here a-thankin an’ a-writin an’ soon enuff you like’ta realize that everthang I’s…
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Have you met the new kids on the block? Lønningspils is a new site with a focus on Scandinavian literature, and as a part of their launch they have a review of Leif Høghaug’s bonkers novel THE CALF, and an interview with the book’s translator David M. Smith!
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I am so happy to share the launch of Lønningspils, a website covering nordic literature.
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Celebrating the translators of this incredible author. Once again, celebrating the planet that gave us @caringerel and George Szirtes, among others. ❤️
BREAKING NEWS The 2025 #NobelPrize in Literature is awarded to the Hungarian author László Krasznahorkai “for his compelling and visionary oeuvre that, in the midst of apocalyptic terror, reaffirms the power of art.”
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“Lutefisk Western” might be the best description I’ve ever seen of THE CALF. Huge thanks to @cloglover69 for her wonderful review of my translation! https://t.co/tBc1zhLFDF
lonningspils.ca
Review by Ursula CarrollThe Calf by Leif Høghaug, translated by David M. SmithOut Nov.11 on Fum D’Estampa, via Deep Vellum94/100I’s a-settin here a-thankin an’ a-writin an’ soon enuff you like’ta r…
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there’s about enough time to read six books seriously in one’s life
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The wait is over. The Fum d’Estampa catalog has landed, and all of these remarkable books will be shipping soon
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Dag Solstad on McCormac [sic] McCarthy aka 'the guy with all the horses'.
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We need more novels with titles like this: Gymnaslærer Pedersens beretning om den store politiske vekkelsen som har hjemsøkt vårt land (“High School Teacher Pedersen’s Account of the Great Political Awakening That Has Haunted Our Country”)
Dag Solstad’s Maoism-influenced novels remain untranslated—leaving a major gap in how we see one of Norway’s greatest writers. I write in @LAReviewofBooks on why these strange, funny, vital works matter, and why it’s past time they reached English readers. https://t.co/yuioG4vQHK
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Review copies of AUROVILLE (@open_letter) THE CALF, WHAT REMAINS, and THE RUINS are all shipping now.
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"Prior to Karl Ove Knausgaard, perhaps no other writer set the postwar literary agenda in Norway more than Dag Solstad." @smithigans_wake examines the career of the great Norwegian novelist, Dag Solstad and the gaps in English translation of his work.
lareviewofbooks.org
David M. Smith examines the career of the great Norwegian novelist Dag Solstad, and the gaps in English translation of his work.
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The Calf by Leif Høghaug is a fascinating literary object. Translated from rural Norwegian into Appalachian English. Written in a fevered, short-circuiting narration that’s equally engaging and challenging. As if Blue Lard and Moderan walked into a bar in rural Appalachia.
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