In Lithuania, almost simultaneously, the novels “Katanankhe” by Sofia Andrukhovych, “I See You’re Interested in Darkness” by Illarion Pavliuk, and Arthur Dron’s short-prose collection “Hemingway Knows Nothing” have been published. All three editions were translated into Lithuanian by Donata Rinkevičienė. This was reported by Chytomo, citing information received from the translator.
“Katanankhe” was published by Hieronymos, “I See You’re Interested in Darkness” by Alma Littera, and “Hemingway Knows Nothing” by Rašytojų sąjungos leidykla (the Lithuanian Writers’ Union publishing house). All three books have already reached Lithuanian bookshops.
“It’s a complete coincidence, but an extremely pleasant one. I’ll add that Yuliia Iliukha’s YA book “Zero” (“Visiškas nulis”, published by “Terra Publica”) has also just come out. And last year, Lithuania saw the publication of her book “My Women” (“Mano moterys”, published by “Slinktys”) as well,” Chytomo quotes the translator as saying.
Rinkevičienė spent the most time working on Illarion Pavliuk’s novel “I See You’re Interested in Darkness”. She began the translation back in 2023, but repeatedly had to put the work on hold because of other projects.
The translator noted that she usually proposes to Lithuanian publishers Ukrainian works she would like to translate. To do so, she prepares a short presentation of the book and translates a few pages, sometimes longer excerpts. She then approaches the publisher and waits for a decision on publication.
One of the difficulties in translating Ukrainian works, she said, is cultural contexts that may be unclear to Lithuanian readers.
“For example, when I translated Arthur Dron’s book “Hemingway Knows Nothing” (published by “Rašytojų sąjungos leidykla”), I added notes about Dzidzio, about ‘barbershop warriors’, about the ‘Talan’ shoe factory, about Podervianskyi, about the ‘Slovo’ building, and so on. In my view, it’s not only important but also very interesting,” Rinkevičienė noted.