Eva Apelqvist spent the first 25 years of her life in Sweden. She learned English in school and now works as a writer and translator. Her most recent work Mörker Över Skateparken (which translates to English as Darkness Over the Skate Park) won the Spårhunden award for best Swedish mystery book for children and young adults. "That was out of nowhere," says Apelqvist. "They have a big award ceremony in a small town about two hours away from Stockholm... people come from all over Sweden."
When not working on her own projects, Apelqvist works with other authors to translate their works. Most recently, she translated Fire From the Sky by Sami author Moa Backe Åstot. Apelqvist's English language translation is due out in September. For Apelqvist, the process for translating a book is more than running a manuscript through a computer. "You can translate something directly like an AI would, or you could go beyond and go a little bit deeper and see what did the Swedish writer really mean by this and how would we best convey this in English," says Apelqvist. "It is absolutely a challenge."
Apelqvist's works can be found online. "All of my books are available on Amazon... although if you have an independent bookstore near you I would use that."
Minnesota Reads is produced at The North 103.3 with funding provided in part by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.
