1. How and why did you learn Danish?

When I was seventeen, I traveled to Denmark with a cultural summer exchange program and fell in love with a Danish girl. We stayed in touch by writing letters, and two years later, after visiting her in Denmark again, she helped me get a summer job on a farm. To help me win over her father, I taught myself Danish by reading a Danish translation of Catcher in the Rye with a dictionary. We have been married for 30 years.

2. Congratulations on all the accolades associated with Dependency and The Copenhagen Trilogy. How did you come to translate this book that was published in Denmark fifty years ago?

Thank you, it was a thrill to see my work on the front page of the NYT Book Review. At the author, Tove Ditlevsen’s centennial, some of her books were reissued in Denmark. I have read classic Danish authors including Ditlevsen since I first learned Danish, and I saw a couple of her reissued books in the airport store. As I was leaving Denmark, I picked up a copy of her memoir GIFT without knowing what it was. After reading it, I remember placing it down on my desk and saying to myself, I think I just read a masterpiece. I was surprised to find that it had not been translated into Danish, so I immediately requested permission, applied for a grant, and off I went.

3. I see you have translated 17 books and written eight original poetry collections. What came first, your poetry or translation?

I have been an occasional poetry writer since I was very little. But it was a hobby and I didn’t take it seriously until I began translating. I have been repeatedly deeply moved by Danish authors, and feel grateful to have to chance to bring them beyond the relatively small borders of Danish into a larger language. As a translator, I have to take on many voices. Eventually, I returned to my own poetry and, in a way, translated my own voices.

4. What will readers find in your poetry or your translations?

For me artistic expression is all about emotion. My job as a writer is to find the emotional center of a Danish text, or my own writing, and deliver it as cleanly and powerfully as possible. When readers delve into my work, I think they will be reminded of heartbreak and joy, grit and grace, what happens in between the moments of our lives that we often try to avoid. Sometimes I imagine they will put down the page and reflect, or sometimes just savor a great story, and want to share it.

5. What is your writing process like?

Whether it is translation or poetry or something else, I write every day. Once I have the text or idea that I plan to pursue, I meditate on the idea or phrase until I feel it centered emotionally in my heart. Then I try to allow the voice, the words to arise from that place. All communication is translation, whether it is from my own life, or from another language. It is not always totally smooth, but that is what revision is for. I have a mentor and an editor I work with to help me refine my revisions and eventually select work for a collection.

6. What do you teach?

My main field is poetry, though I have also taught translation and I taught Danish conversation for six years.I have been leading bi-monthly poetry workshops for six years. The gist of what I teach is close reading and finding the emotional center of a text. When the form and content of a work line up with its emotional message, then a piece of text becomes especially powerful. This is what I cultivate with the writers in my workshops. I also work as an editor for a small press and as a consultant for individual writers.

7. What motivates you and keeps you going?

Writing every day helps me keep my emotional door ajar. I hope that by sharing my writing with readers, they may feel more connected to the humanity in themselves and with their fellow humans. Translation connects cultures, and great writing has a way of breaking down the shells around our hearts, letting us feel more compassion for ourselves, and for the world. Sometimes a poem is what we need to feel uplifted or understood at a time of difficulty. Some of my greatest joys have been performing my poetry and live music during book events. I feel the connection of humanity in the room, and I feel grateful to bring people together in that kind of space. Having the chance to connect with people through poetry keeps me going.