Jaana Kapari-Jatta

Jaana Marjatta Kapari-Jatta (born 19 May 1955, in Turku) is a Finnish translator of fiction,^[1] best known for her Finnish-language renderings of the Harry Potter novels and supplementary books by J. K. Rowling, including Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. In her translations of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and Quidditch Through the Ages, she used the pseudonym “Kurvaa Aka (Whoss Gue)”.

Kapari-Jatta has also translated several other English-language authors, like Edgar Allan Poe, Oscar Wilde, and Roald Dahl, into Finnish. Among the awards she has received are the Astrid Lindgren Prize of the International Federation of Translators in 2002 and the Finnish State Prize for Children's Culture in 2007.^[1] In 2014 she received the J. A. Hollo Prize for her translation of Virginia Woolf’s book The Death of the Moth and Other Essays.^[1] In 2022, she received a honoris causa doctorate from the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Helsinki.^[2]

In 2008, she published a fact book, Pollomuhku ja Posityyhtynen, where she discusses translating the Harry Potter novels.

Kapari-Jatta is married and has three children and also grandchildren. She resides in Loviisa, Finland, and in Serekunda, Gambia.^[3]

Translated books

Harry Potter books by J. K. Rowling

Other books (selection)

The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More by Roald Dahl
Nancy Drew series by Carolyn Keene
Collected Stories by Edgar Allan Poe
Ottoline and the Yellow Cat by Chris Riddell
Holes by Louis Sachar
Diana: The Last Year by Donald Spoto
Mr Gum series by Andy Stanton
Mary Poppins by P. L. Travers
The Happy Prince and Other Stories by Oscar Wilde

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Paavilainen, Ulla, ed. (2014). Kuka kukin on: Henkilötietoja nykypolven suomalaisista 2015 [Who’s Who in Finland, 2015] (in Finnish). Helsinki: Otava. p. 314. ISBN 978-951-1-28228-0.
^ Suomentaja Jaana Kapari-Jatta Helsingin yliopiston kunniatohtoriksi. Suomen kääntäjien ja tulkkien liitto 15 March 2022. (In Finnish.)
^ Kerttula, Suvi: Ilman Jaanaa suomen kielessä ei olisi Tylypahkaa eikä ankeuttajia. Ilta-Sanomat, 29 October 2016. (in Finnish)

[KKO-1] Paavilainen, Ulla, ed. (2014). Kuka kukin on: Henkilötietoja nykypolven suomalaisista 2015 [Who’s Who in Finland, 2015] (in Finnish). Helsinki: Otava. p. 314. ISBN 978-951-1-28228-0.

[2] Suomentaja Jaana Kapari-Jatta Helsingin yliopiston kunniatohtoriksi. Suomen kääntäjien ja tulkkien liitto 15 March 2022. (In Finnish.)

[3] Kerttula, Suvi: Ilman Jaanaa suomen kielessä ei olisi Tylypahkaa eikä ankeuttajia. Ilta-Sanomat, 29 October 2016. (in Finnish)

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