Translating Haruki Murakami

This blog is meant as an open forum where translators of Haruki Murakami can share ideas and discuss solutions to problems encountered in the process of translating his works. It was launched by two translators of Murakami into Norwegian and Polish, Ika Kaminka and Anna Zielinska-Elliott. Some of us have collaborated in the past, and many of us are in touch regularly by e-mail, but the publication of the new novel in 2013 served as a catalyst for the creation of an online translation blog.

Thursday, September 21, 2017

First European Translations of Killing Commendatore To Appear In a Few Months

Following the incredibly fast Korean translation, European publishers are beginning to announce the publication dates of Haruki Murakami’s newest novel, Killing Commendatore. The Dutch publisher of Murakami, Atlas Contact, announced on their page that Volume I will appear on 1 December 2017. Volume II will be published on 12 January 2018 (Haruki Murakami’s 69th birthday). The book will be translated by Elbrich Fennema (who was one of the translators of Men Without Women) and Luk Van Haute. Here are pictures of the covers:

The German publication dates have also just been announced. Dumont, Murakami’s German publisher, will issue Volume I on 22 January, and Volume II on 16 April 2018. Ursula Gräfe is working on both volumes. Here are the covers: