As told to Karoline Markholst, translated by Hazel Evans – upon announcement of the 2025 longlist

What does it mean to you that ON THE CALCULATION OF VOLUME is in the running for the International Booker Prize?

Solvej Balle, author: “Well, it’s great! And the book is in very good company. It’s always difficult to say which book is ‘the best’ or whether a book will stand the test of time, so prizes like this should only ever be seen as a reflection of what’s good right now. But of course it would be wonderful to win – especially because this prize also recognises the translator’s work.”

Barbara J. Haveland, translator: “It’s a great honour to be longlisted for this award, especially when one considers that these 13 titles were chosen from 154 translated works submitted for consideration. It also means a great deal because this nomination will introduce ON THE CALCULATION OF VOLUME – and hopefully Solvej’s other works – to a much wider readership.”

What do you particularly appreciate about the work of your co-nominee?

Solvej Balle: “A lot of things. For one, Barbara and I have a history together (ACCORDING TO THE LAW, 1993), and we had such a good working relationship then too. So, when I sent her the first book of ‘Calculation’, I was thrilled she liked it. It was clear she’d be the one to translate it, if it was ever translated. Barbara has done an amazing job – and has been very patient. She has an incredible sense of language, works closely with the text, and takes the time to engage with the author’s often peculiar thoughts.

Sometimes, she’d send four or five possible translations of a single sentence for us to discuss, and we might end up with a new sentence altogether. We spoke a lot about the main character (and narrator) Tara Selter’s language and how it should sound. Tara didn’t write her story in Danish, so the Danish book itself should be understood as a kind of translation. Since Tara grew up with an English mother, Barbara actually has a closer connection to Tara’s language – maybe Barbara’s version is the real original?
If anyone deserves to win the Booker Prize for her translation, it’s Barbara.”

Barbara J. Haveland: “Solvej Balle is an incredibly gifted and original writer and translating her work is a rare treat.

Her writing is an inspiration in itself. It is spare and taut. There’s nothing superfluous here, nothing random. Every word is weighed, every phrase and sentence finely honed.
The challenge for the translator is to produce a faithful and felicitous rendering in English of her distilled prose. The pleasure lies in working closely with the author to achieve this end – always a happy and fruitful collaboration.

Solvej is eager to be involved in the translation process, and for that I am grateful. Our discussions are invariably fruitful and enlightening and take us in all sorts of interesting directions!”

Why do you think ON THE CALCULATION OF VOLUME was nominated?

Solvej Balle: “I don’t really know – but at the very least, it requires a publisher who believes in it enough to submit it. Beyond that, I think it’s because it’s a good book and a good translation.”

Barbara J. Haveland: “One thing is that Tara Selter’s story is so original. Another is that Solvej’s language and style are so unique. Not only that, but in the novel there is often a certain quirkiness to Tara’s language and her thinking. The challenge for the translator is also to replicate this quirkiness, not to smooth it out. The novel is both a quite pragmatic account of a strange and disorienting experience and a deep philosophical meditation on existence in all its complexities. But there is also an intriguing mystery here, one which needs to be explored further. So at the end of Volume I of Balle’s septology, the reader is left asking: ‘What happens next?’”