UND Norwegian Instructor Finney honored for translation by American-Scandinavian Foundation
UND Norwegian instructor Steve Finney has won the 2010 American-Scandinavian Foundation’s (ASF) 2010 Translation Prize, awarded to the best translation of poetry, fiction, drama or literary prose written by a Scandinavian author born after 1800.
Finney was honored for his translation of a short story by Norwegian author Ingvar Ambjørnsen, entitled “Into the Mountain.” The winner receives a $2,000 honorarium and a commemorative bronze medallion.
“This is truly a feather in Steve’s hat,” said Melissa Gjellstad, assistant professor of Norwegian in the UND Department of Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures. “It is a well-respected translation prize in our field, and he joins an impressive list of past winners.”
Finney started teaching introductory Norwegian at UND in January 2005. He served as interim coordinator for the Norwegian program from August 2006 through July 2008. He also coordinates the languages department’s foreign language placement and credit testing and works for the UND Writing Center.
The ASF has a 30-year history of recognizing outstanding translators of Nordic languages to American English. An excerpt of Finney’s text will be published in an upcoming edition of Scandinavian Review, the journal published by the American-Scandinavian Foundation.
ASF is the leading cultural and educational link between the U.S. and Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. An American non-profit organization, the ASF works to build international understanding with an extensive program of fellowships, grants, intern/trainee sponsorship, publishing and membership offerings.
The ASF is headquartered in New York City at Scandinavian House, a public forum presenting a wide range of exhibitions, films, concerts, lectures, symposia and family programs.
For more information, contact Melissa Gjellstad, assistant professor, Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures, at 777-0487 or melissa.gjellstad@und.edu.
— Patrick Miller, writer/editor, University Relations, 777-2412, patrick.miller@und.edu.
