Literary translator, Norwegian to English.
Dubuque, IA
Joined December 2020
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David M. Smith retweeted
Reading this in the evenings the past couple days. Striking that it was originally published in 1999, but still feels pretty fresh theguardian.com/books/2026/o…
David M. Smith retweeted
We were thrilled to see David M. Smith’s (@smithigans_wake) translation of Thure Erik Lund’s THE MYSTERY OF WHAT BEFELL IN THE DITCH reviewed by Sukhdev Sandhu in the @guardian at the weekend.
‘A universal story of modernity and its discontents’
theguardian.com/books/2026/o…
David M. Smith retweeted
David M. Smith's jaw-dropping translation of Thure Erik Lund's THE MYSTERY OF WHAT BEFELL IN THE DITCH publishes today across the UK, Europe and North America.
'Thure Erik Lund is Norway's greatest contemporary writer'
Karl Ove Knausgård
andotherstories.org/the-myst…
David M. Smith retweeted
Finished. 🤯🤯🤯
I did not know what to expect.
But what I least expected was to discover that Thomas Bernhard and Laszlo Krasznahorkai and Martin Heidegger made a Norwegian baby who grew up to write one of the most insane, weird novels I've ever had the pleasure to read.
David M. Smith retweeted
Honored to be interviewed by @Vagant_red about my translation work. In which we discuss Tor Ulven, Leander Djønne, Pete Buttigieg?? Dua Lipa??? @mountain_goats ????
David M. Smith retweeted
THE RUINS and THE CALF have been longlisted for 2026 National Translation Awards!
David M. Smith retweeted
Every fact I try to trace turns out to be a lie. In a 1987 study of Laurel and Hardy, the author claims Stan Laurel cross-bred potatoes and onions, producing a noxious vegetable he couldn't convince anyone to eat. The claim appears in several later biographies. But ... 🧵
David M. Smith retweeted
Dear book reviewers,
If you are reading a book in translation, please remember that every single word you are reading was chosen by the translator. Every. Single. Word. Sometimes even agonized over for hours, or days. There are two authors of a translated book, not one.
David M. Smith retweeted
Dear @Chris_Byrd , thank you for that long and interesting article on the work of Mathias Énard in the NYRB. Some mention of the translations themselves would have been welcome. The work of Énard is also the work of Mandell and Wynne.
David M. Smith retweeted
Yáng Shuāng-zǐ and Lin King have won this year’s International Booker Prize with TAIWAN TRAVELOGUE!
This marks our second International Booker win in a row (!!!), following the success of Deepa Bhasthi’s translation of Banu Mushtaq’s HEART LAMP in 2025.
David M. Smith retweeted
very funny misreading of that solstad book which is completely hilarious and intentionally silly. the teacher character in question is also egregiously hungover while lecturing to bored hs students and trying to stave off a panic attack lol
David M. Smith retweeted
They said nobody could do it, but we’re pleased to announce that we will be publishing David M. Smith’s translation of Thure Erik Lund’s THE MYSTERY OF WHAT BEFELL IN THE DITCH, a novel often spoken of as untranslatable. Publishes 20 October
Preorder now
andotherstories.org/the-myst…
David M. Smith retweeted
writing a novel is a fundamentally silly thing: spending hundreds of hours and sometimes years of your life dedicated to a make believe scenario you treat with as much seriousness as your tax returns or human relationships. freud wrote about it
David M. Smith retweeted
Hello world! I’m traveling and I’ve got several readings coming up. I’ll be in Oslo 17th-21st, then NYC til’ the 27th, then PHILLY for the foreseeable future.
David M. Smith retweeted
30 years ago today, Principal Skinner purchased fast food to disguise as his own cooking at an unforgettable luncheon with Superintendent Chalmers.
#TheSimpsons episode “22 Short Films About Springfield” first aired April 14, 1996. @thatbilloakley @Joshstrangehill
