Continents: A Love Story came out in English in 2019. The book was translated into Czech in 2007 by Viola Capkova, who was fascinated by Anja Snellman’s creative and poetic language.

How did you decide to translate Continents: A Love Story?

I was contacted and offered the assignment. I had previously translated Anja Snellman’s Skin into Czech and had discussed the book in a study, so I accepted immediately, without even reading the book. Continents is a timeless and universal book: relationships are always relevant.

What convinced you to translate the book without even reading it first?

I have always liked Snellman’s style of writing and her way of using language. She uses long, rich sentences, playing with metaphors, repetition, rhythm, and tempo. In her prose, wonderfully flowing, complex sentences intertwine with concise expression—sometimes a single word is enough to convey deep, insightful meaning.

Translating such prose is very challenging, but also fascinating and rewarding. Personally, I prefer rich and creative language to a laconic, minimalist style. 

What was the translation process like?

Anja Snellman’s creative language translates naturally into Czech. Unlike Sonia O. Was Here, Continents does not contain slang, which would have been more challenging to translate. However, there were other challenges.

Snellman uses allusions that the translator must research carefully, and she creates entirely new words, often compound nouns. The Czech language has fewer compound nouns than Finnish, so their translation calls for creativity.

I have translated a great deal of poetry, and working on Anja’s prose is very close to translating poetry. Anja also frequently uses irony, for which Czechs have a particular fondness as a way of expression.

 Viola Capkova