Found in translation | Salone Internazionale del Libro di Torino

"I’m currently working on L’Anniversario by Andrea Bajani (Italian publisher: Feltrinelli) which will be called Het jubileum in Dutch.

Andrea Bajani (1975) is by now one of the best known authors in Italy. He debuted in 2005, won various prizes and his previous book, Il libro delle case, was shortlisted for the Premio Strega. He also writes articles and for theatre, and has worked as a translator himself. He is currently writer in residence at Rice University in Houston, Texas.

Bajani’s work does receive a lot of praise in the Netherlands and (Flemish) Belgium, although he is not yet very widely read. He is not a writer for the masses, but luckily there is a growing number of reeders who appreciate his literary style.

Bajani’s style is not easy, but like I said, it’s very rewarding for people who do enjoy his writing that can be very complex and poetic. He can give a highly original twist to a sentence and use unexpected words, which sometimes make the reader smile in surprise.

For me as a translator the writing style has always been more important than the story, so I really love to translate his work, even though it’s quite a puzzle sometimes. I would never try to make it easier for the Dutch reader, that would be a shame. It’s a great feeling when you finally manage to solve that puzzle. And then on to the next sentence!

The book was published in Italy in January 2025; the Dutch translation will appear in June 2025.

Il libro delle case (Het boek van de huizen) was the first book of his that I translated, after his decision to change publishing house and translator in every country. Before that there had already been published four of his novels in Dutch, since 2010."