New in Azerbaijan
Jógvan Isaksen’s 2011 crime novel Deydningar dansa á sandi has been translated into Azerbaijani by Anar Rahimov and published by Alatoran under the title Gəzən ölülər.
The novel begins with the discovery of a corpse on the beach, the body of a man who has been shackled to rocks and left to drown. As the journalist Hannis Martinsson investigates, he comes across evidence of more deaths that have been caused in the same way, and he starts to realise that they are all linked to a local revolt several decades earlier, which tore a community apart. The repercussions have continued to the present day, and Hannis’ inquiries soon put his own life in danger.
The English translation of the novel by Marita Thomen won the 2024 Petrona Award for Best Scandinavian Crime Novel. Isaksen has authored over a dozen crime novels, some of which were the basis for the TV series Trom that premiered in 2022. His crime fiction has been translated to several languages, including Danish, English, German, Icelandic and Norwegian.
Anar Rahimov is a senior lecturer at Azerbaijan University of Languages and literary translator with years of experience translating mainly Scandinavian literature into Azerbaijani.
Anar Rahimov, translator, and Jógvan Isaksen, author, at a meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark, earlier this week.
