NIELS BRUNSE, DENMARK – PRIZE WINNER 2005

The Danish translator and author NIELS BRUNSE, Copenhagen, Denmark, received the Übersetzerpreis 2005 der Kunststiftung NRW - the Translator Prize of the Foundation for Art and Culture NRW 2005, endowed with € 25 000. The Kunststiftung NRW - the Foundation for Art and Culture NRW - awards the prize every two years [since 2007 every year] in cooperation with the Europäisches Übersetzer-Kollegium in Straelen. The prize acknowledges an outstanding literary translation and at the same time the oeuvre of the translator.

JURY STATEMENT

Niels Bruns receives the prize for his translation of "Die Buddenbrooks" by Thomas Mann. At the same time it honours his comprehensive translation oeuvre, which includes classical modern German, Russian and Anglo-American authors and fifteen translations of works by Shakespeare. With his translation of Die Buddenbrooks, Niels Bruns successfully rendered the polyphony of Thomas Mann's masterpiece into Danish with sensitive musicality and great verbal imagination, without relinquishing its philological precision. The entire diversity of the novel received a convincing and virtuous verbal form in Danish, which is equal to this German classic in every respect.

THE AWARD CEREMONY

The prize was awarded at the Europäisches Übersetzer-Kollegium in Straelen on 1 June 2005 by the secretary-general of the Foundation Regina Wyrwoll and Deputy Minister President of the Land NRW Michael Vesper.

THE MEMBERS OF THE JURY

Birgitta Kicherer (Germany); Henning Vangsgaard (Denmark); Jukka Koskelainen (Finland); Ole Michael Selberg (Norway); and Svante Weyler (Sweden)

FURTHER INFORMATION

In cooperation with the EUK Straelen the