Why did you decide to become an artist?
In 2012, while working as a carpenter and supervisor with Valley Home Improvement, I became enthralled with the poetry of Denmark’s national poet, Benny Andersen. I started translating his poems in my free time. When I wrote to him with a big pile of my samples, he invited me to visit, which turned into a lengthy collaboration and two bi-lingual poetry books of his work. After a career in construction, I began to see myself as a translator and poet, making great Danish literature available in English. I quit my carpentry job and have not looked back.
Tell us about some projects you have worked on. Which is your favorite and why?
In 2016, I translated a Danish poem for the UN about ‘breasts to heal the world,’ as part of a worldwide translation project. Currently I am translating To My Sister, a “Me Too” novel which won a 2019 national book award in Denmark. The project which affected me most deeply is my translation of Dependency by Tove Ditlevsen, which is a Penguin Classic. This heart-breaking memoir educated me about societal judgments and contradictions concerning addiction and it helped me examine my prejudices about drug use.
What other artists have been inspirational to you and why?
In 2014, while reading a used anthology from 1979, I came across three outstanding poems by Danish author Marianne Koluda Hansen. I translated these and sent them to her address. As it turned out, she was on her deathbed, and her husband read her my letter. She gave me permission to translate her poetry shortly before she died. Twenty translations became published individually, including two Pushcart nominations, and Average Neuroses, a bi-lingual book of her poems, was published in 2016. I love her touching and humorous poems, and this project gave new life to a forgotten poet.
What is the best advice you have been given?
Early on in my translation career a fellow translator/editor told me, “the more editors that say yes, the harder it is for other editors to say no.” This helped to remove some of my hesitancy about putting my work out there in public. If I was going to get my work and the work of my authors recognized, I needed to get it into as many hands as possible. Through lots of hard work and spreading my writing far and wide, I built up a resume little by little, yes by yes, which gives me self-confidence and credibility.
Where can we find your work?
My sixteen books are available through Penguin Books, Spuyten Duyvil Press and other booksellers, and I can provide signed copies through my website: https://hammerandhorn.net/. My next public reading is on July 7 for the Writers Night Out through Straw Dog Writers Guild. Also, I have been running Poetry Critique Meet-ups at the Northampton Center for the Arts since 2018. You can find more info and sign-up here: https://www.strawdogwriters.org/poetrycritique
I also have readings on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3YLmTYy7CBrt1m3j2JtLiw?view_as=subscriber