On Translating Your Own Novel *Back* Into Your Mother Tongue

Andreas Roman is the author of the newly released The Greatest Game of All (Flare Books), his first novel in English. A native speaker and writer of Swedish, Roman wrote The Greatest Game of All in English, then assisted its translation into Swedish for publication before revising the English version again for publication. Hannes Barnard is the author and translator of Halley’s Comet (Catalyst Press) and a forthcoming trilogy, the first book tentatively titled Nebulous (forthcoming from Catalyst Press in 2026). A native speaker of Afrikaans, Barnard originally wrote Halley’s Comet in English. He then translated it into Afrikaans for publication before revising the English version again for publication. I interviewed Andreas Roman and Hannes Barnard about writing novels in English, their second language, then working on the translation into their original mother tongues, then revising again back into English.

–Jessica Powers, publisher at Catalyst Press and Flare Books

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Jessica Powers: What made you decide to write a novel in a language that was not your mother tongue? (Just to be honest, it seems like a crazy choice to me!)

Andreas Roman: There was a certain level of insanity involved in it, for sure. Especially since I was doing quite well in my own native language. But there were two simple reasons for it.

First, I have been working professionally as a writer since 1999, and the vast majority of my work has been to the international market. So writing for an English-speaking audience is in itself well-explored ground for me. The only writing I hadn’t done in English was as a novelist, where I’d remain squarely within the Swedish realm up until I started writing The Greatest Game of All.

And second, the kind of stories I write tend to appeal more to people outside of Sweden. As much as I love our country and the people residing in it, as an audience, we stick to crime and romance. And usually of the vanilla kind. That’s not a bad thing, quite the contrary, but those are genres I would struggle to work in. So eventually, it was just time to try my skills as a novelist on people outside my country.

Jessica Powers: It seems to me that this would be very different for you, Hannes, since English is widely spoken in South Africa.

Hannes Barnard: It is very different in South Africa as English is not only widely spoken and an official language, and although not the biggest language in the country in terms of native speakers, it is the language used for business and as a common ground between people from different cultures. I was also fortunate to grow up in a culturally mixed area, and my school was a double medium school (Afrikaans and English). Therefore, even though it is a second language to me, it is almost like a second first language, and as it is used everywhere in South Africa, it does not feel foreign for the characters to speak it.

Jessica Powers: What was the biggest challenge writing in English and then working on the translation back into your mother tongue and then revising back into English?

Hannes Barnard: When I attempted my first novel, I still lived in the UK (I was there for 12.5 years). I wrote that experimental piece as a hard yards learning experience in English. When I started my second novel, Halley’s Comet, it felt natural to write in English. In all honesty, even though Afrikaans is my mother tongue, I was worried that my written Afrikaans might not be good enough after so many years abroad.

Translating the first English draft into Afrikaans was a bumpy ride. Fiction writing in the past tense in Afrikaans can come across as wordy and even clumsy. That is why the present tense is almost always used in Afrikaans fiction. This was my first challenge. The second was to immerse myself in the rich tapestry of Afrikaans, adopting a “less is more” approach as it is such a descriptive language.

Overall, the process strengthened the story and the characters. The voices became clearer and more authentic, helping me develop my writing. For me, the biggest challenge when I translated the published Afrikaans version back into English was not to lose the nuance I was able to create when playing with language. In this case, the slang use and mixing of Afrikaans and English. It took longer to translate Halley’s Comet back into English than the original draft took to write. Nevertheless, it was rewarding, and I made a few subtle enhancements along the way. If you get a second bite at the cherry, make it count.

Jessica Powers: Andreas, you didn’t actually translate your novel back into Swedish, but you did assist a Swedish translator. What was that process like? Did it change the writing? And then did you use that version to edit and rewrite the English version or did you just treat the English version like a different novel altogether?

Andreas Roman: I can relate to Hannes’ journey. While our travels are quite different, my emotional experience seems close to yours, Hannes. For me, the whole thing was a weird process for both me and the translator, though highly enjoyable. Since Hanna Axén (the translator) did the actual work, and I was only advisor for terms and titles specific for the video game industry, so as far as translations go, it worked like it always does. I was more involved, we talked almost every day over the course of a few weeks, but actually, I would’ve loved that for my other translations as well. I did not, however, look back to it when I updated the English version for publication. In terms of voice and style, the English version is the one most true to my vision.

Jessica Powers: Hannes, you have expressed considerable joy in discovering or rediscovering things about English and Afrikaans through this process. Can you talk about what you discovered?

Hannes Barnard: Perhaps we take the languages we converse, write, and work in for granted. That is why a deep dive exercise such as translating a novel is so amazing. It affords you the time to reflect, wonder, and marvel at what language can do. Listen, just because I say it gives me joy doesn’t mean it isn’t hard. I wrestled with the (seemingly) simplest of words and phrases. Each time, it represents a riddle or a puzzle needing to be solved. In such cases, there is no direct translation, meaning you must find another way. It is a bit like climbing a mountain. Afrikaans is like free climbing straight up the rock face. It’s direct in all senses of the word; it heightens all your senses. English is like trying to find another way up the mountain. It takes you through breathtaking scenery; it is not direct, but you get to the same place.

I think the best example from Afrikaans is the word “mos.” This word can mean a dozen different things and in informal speech can even be a sentence on its own. It is mostly used in a sentence to affirm something, like the person must know the stated fact. Perhaps I still have a long way to go as a translator, but I have not been able to translate this word effectively. Meaning, I have to find another way up the mountain while not losing the essence or the tempo of the passage. The other side of the coin are English words such as “cool” and “great.” Both sound and work better in English compared to their Afrikaans counterparts. Translation is a dance with words and phrases. Sometimes you miss a beat, and you have to start again. It’s fun, but it doesn’t come without effort.

Jessica Powers: Andreas, did you find that you discovered anything about Swedish or English that gave you joy or a headache during the process?

Andreas Roman: Nothing that I didn’t already know or expect. As in, it would be difficult to write this, no matter. And translating it would be equally painful. I would have to give up a lot of ideas, rethink a few and then just roll with acceptance. The title—The Greatest Game of All—does not work at all in Swedish. So the entire wordplay theme which runs through the book on that title had to be changed, revised, and rethought. I’d say, the translation itself was more headache than joy. The fact that it got translated at all and working with Hanna—all joy. She really respected the material, and she knew very little about the world in which the book is set.

Jessica Powers: My brother and his wife have hosted several foreign students over the years. They have noticed that when those students talk about their experiences in the United States, they inadvertently revert to speaking in English–even when talking to their parents who don’t speak English. And when they talk about “back home,” they will switch to their native language, without even noticing it. Andreas, did you find, as you wrote in English, any difficulty with place-dependent vocabulary? That is, was it a struggle to write about Sweden in English? Was it easier to write about Sweden when you switched to the Swedish translation?

Andreas Roman: Actually, the other way around. Since I was describing Sweden to an audience where I imagined most would not have been here, and mainly had an idea of what Sweden is like based on media outlets and interpretations in popular works of fiction, such as movies, TV shows and other books, I felt obligated to provide a closer and more intimate idea of our country. That somehow came fairly easy to me. When I worked on the Swedish edition, that was a lot harder, since I was now telling the story to an audience who would go “Yeah, I KNOW Sweden has this and that and it’s like that and this.” I much prefer describing Sweden to non-natives than trying to mesmerize the people already living here. Which was part of the point with the book all the time anyway.

Jessica Powers: Hannes, did you find any culturally-based context or concept that was hard to write about in English or vice versa in Afrikaans?

Hannes Barnard: There are two things that spring to mind: 1) In Halley’s Comet, especially when writing the English version, not to lose the feel of an Afrikaans household, how they talk, the respect, and decorum, and 2) I agree with Andreas, in Afrikaans there are certain things you do not need to say as you know your readers will know implicitly or experientially, but when you write for an international audience, such as translating the text into English, you need to step away from assuming the audience will know, and be more descriptive and give the spaces a backstory. I did that in both Halley’s Comet and Nebulous (working title of current translation). I am with Andreas on this one too, it is great describing the landscapes and things we are so used to for non-South Africans. It gives me a greater appreciation for South Africa.

Jessica Powers: Andreas, I’m curious, when you wrote in English, were you thinking about American English or British English?

Andreas Roman: American. Though I’ll admit, to know what’s most appropriate here was—and is—harder than not just sounding Swedish when I write. In the end, Americans have this casual yet elegant way of expressing even the simplest things with breathtaking beauty. British English is equally lovely, but you can really tell when a Brit goes into poetry mode. For Americans, this comes naturally in a way that makes it so much more mesmerizing, to my very Swedish ears.

Jessica Powers: Did it feel like any of your characters’ personalities shifted from one language to another? Did your characters take on non-native characteristics due to the language you were writing in?

Hannes Barnard: It is something I was very mindful of during the process. I didn’t want to lose the things I love about their personalities. I wanted their voices to remain authentic. That said, sometimes you just have to let them be. There are times when a phrase sounds more natural when you step away from the “local voice.” Reading it back, though, usually shows that in context, the voice is intact; it’s a lesson in trusting the language.

Another good thing when working in a South African context is that, through television, music, and social media, there is a lot of international influence, primarily American. That is why some of the dialogue can be fluid when it comes to language. South Africans, particularly Afrikaners, mix their language a lot, making the transition to English easier and thereby, to some extent, alleviating the potential impact of attributing non-native characteristics to characters when translating. This might be different if one translated the text into a non-South African language such as Spanish or German, but as English is a local language, the impact was minimal.

Andreas Roman: Oh, for sure. My characters are very non-Swedish. Throughout the writing, I couldn’t let go of the typical Stephen King/Stranger Things-kids in my head, as well as those suburban characters you just won’t find here. With a few exceptions—the coffee shop owner is a very Swedish character, with our stigma on our inability to integrate refugees into our society and the grief many of them bring, which we just can’t handle. The landlord, from which Calvin and Cornelia rent their house, is also a very typical Swedish character. But the main ones, they’re all very much fetched from an Americana kind of inspiration. Which is why the Swedish cover looked more like something set in Montana than on the Swedish west coast.

And the English cover is dead on the image of a Swedish coastal community. The irony :). One thing I did, and I don’t know if you meant this literally, Hannes, when you said “reading it back,” but I literally did that—I read the pages and lines out loud, and each of the characters had a voice which I tried to mimic to get the vibe right. I always do that with my screenplays and video game writing, and while it does make me look and sound insane for anyone who’s close, it’s a very efficient way to get the tone right—especially when you’re tampering with another language.

Jessica Powers: Did you regret anything that you wrote in English when you started translating it into your native language? Was there anything you wished you had written differently?

Andreas Roman: No, no when I was done and the book went into translation. But before that, oh yeah, many times. For the first year or two, I was like, “Why on earth am I doing this? I have a career here in Sweden. People like my stuff. No one’s gonna read this in Sweden. No publisher’s gonna pick it up.” And indeed, I went separate ways with my agent during the writing of this book (we’re still friends though, so it’s all good).

So yes and no. But there are parts in the book which just don’t translate to Swedish, including the title. I had to rework all parts which refer to the title, both the obvious and subtle ones. That was not easy.

Hannes Barnard: I agree with Andreas that to get to the final draft, there are multiple rewrites, so you love and loathe many things you put on paper. To answer the question, though, I’ll refer to Halley’s Comet: In the English version, there is an extra chapter and one perspective change in a chapter. I think that brings something different to the reader. I won’t say it necessarily makes the English version better than the Afrikaans version. What it does in the English version suits the English language better, and the Afrikaans version does the same for that language. Writing is such a self-critical job; there comes a point when you have to let go, so I try not to regret anything I have written when I get to that point.

Jessica Powers: Do you feel like this process caused you to grow as a writer–or simply grow in your linguistic abilities?

Hannes Barnard: Translation is a wonderful linguistic exercise. If you don’t do it as a day-to-day job, it is a bit like going to the gym for the first time in months. You exercise muscles you had forgotten you had. It hurts at first, but soon you get into a rhythm and the results follow. So, yes, the process really develops your linguistic abilities. But, a BIG but, I really believe the biggest advantage of the process is in my development as a writer. The process forces you to be creative in both a linear and lateral sense. It makes you think so much more about narrative voice, story, setting, and all the other elements of a book.

Andreas Roman: Both. This is my best work by far. To the point where I’m doubting I’ll ever be this good again. So as a storyteller, this is my magnum opus. As someone who adores and loves the English language, and painfully aware I’ll never be as great as the great ones, I still grew in style and linguistics when I wrote this book, to the point where it’s opened doors for me previously closed.