In the field of literature, translators not only transfer texts from one language to another, they are also cultural mediators and often act as literary scouts. Translators are arguably the most important interface between the book markets of the source and target languages, which is particularly true for "smaller" languages, such as Finnish. They promote authors and books that would otherwise never find their way abroad. But getting a title across can be a rocky road that requires a lot of effort and offers little reward, not to mention that many promising projects remain in the drawer. There are many ways to promote a book, but not all of them are equally successful. 

Sebastian Guggolz (S. Fischer/Guggolz Verlag), Urtė Liepuoniūtė (Helsinki Literary Agency) and Tanja Küddelsmann (freelance translator from Finnish into German) will discuss what good cooperation with publishers, agencies and other institutions can look like and how the promotion of Finnish literature has changed since Finland's appearance as the guest of honour at the Frankfurt Book Fair 2014. The panel discussion will be moderated by Maximilian Murmann (translator from Finnish, Estonian and English into German).

Sebastian Guggolz, born 1982 near Lake Constance in South Germany, studied Art History and German Literature in Hamburg. After working as an editor for Matthes & Seitz Berlin he founded Guggolz Verlag, where he publishes »forgotten and overlooked« classical authors from Northern and Eastern Europe in new German translations. Since founding his publishing house in 2014, he has received several awards for his work. Additionaly he is working as an editor for classics and contemporary literature for S. Fischer Verlag since 2022.

Tanja Küddelsmann, born 1968, bilingual family German/Finnish, MA in German and English literature, translator of Finnish literature since 2013.

Urtė Liepuoniūtė is a literary agent and an awarded literary translator, with a Master's Degree in Finnish language and culture. She works primarily in selling foreign rights of authors from Finland. She is also a passionate advocate of promoting Lithuanian and Baltic literature in general abroad.

Maximilian Murmann, born 1987 near Nuremberg, studied Finno-Ugric languages in Munich, Budapest, and Helsinki and successfully defended his doctoral dissertation in 2018. He translates literary fiction, non-fiction, comics, and children’s literature from Finnish, Estonian and English into German. He has given seminars on translation at several German universities and is actively promoting literature from Finland and Estonia.