I am a writer, editor, and literary translator working between English and Swedish. The recipient of grants from the PEN/Heim Translation Fund, the Swedish Arts Council, and others, I have a particular interest in writing that lifts voices and perspectives outside the mainstream. I write regularly on US issues in the Swedish press, often with a view to questions of community. Born in Stockholm, Sweden, I have lived in Helsinki, Paris, and Montréal; New York City has been my home for the past decade.
I serve on the editorial board for Glänta, a Swedish magazine of arts and politics, and am an active member of SELTA, ALTA, and STINA. I am always interested in new projects. Get in touch! kira [.] josefsson [a] gmail [.] com
translations
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O by Judith Kiros
Judith Kiros’s “alternative production of Othello” is forthcoming from World Poetry Books, 2024.
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The Details by Ia Genberg
“Genberg’s marvelous prose is also a kind of fever, mesmerizing and hot to the touch.” -The New York Times Book Review. Out from Wildfire (UK/Commonwealth) and HarperVia (US).
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Shade and Breeze by Quynh Tran
Quynh Tran’s prize-winning debut, forthcoming from Lolli Editions, 2024.
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Antiquity by Hanna Johansson
“What Hanna Johansson offers in her electric, unsettling debut refuses all protection and dares the reader to do the same. Kira Josefsson’s translation is its own marvel, the language brimming with just-kept chaos until the keeping’s no longer possible. I won’t forget this book.” —Anna Moschovakis, author of Participation. Forthcoming from Catapult, 2024.
original writing
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USA:s Aktivister och gräsrötter kommer fortsätta hjälpa gravida i nöd
“Utan egna budskap är det osannolikt att Demokraterna behåller sin majoritet i Washington efter valet i november. Men hur det än går kommer landets aktivister att fortsätta hjälpa gravida i nöd – också om rättvisans och politikens förmenta institutioner har vänt dem ryggen.” Dagens Nyheter, juni 2022.
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“What’s So Hard About Crediting Translators?”
“Beyond credit where credit is due, acknowledging the translator points at the cracks in the apparently smooth surface of how a story is told. Isn’t that where it gets even more interesting?” Vulture, December 2021.
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“11 september-museet är en skräckens teater”
“Denna allt överskuggande känsla av förlust och harm hänger löst i ett historiskt vakuum. Och varje år reser sig två spöktorn mot New Yorks himmel.” Göteborgs-Posten, 2021.
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“Rättvisa utan fängelse och polis”
“Aldrig tidigare hade så många öppet ifrågasatt det fängelseindustriella komplexet – ett system som kommit att definiera USA.” Lång essä i Glänta om protesterna sommaren 2020 och en anrik aktivistisk tradition som rekonstruera hur vi ser på själva rättvisebegreppet. Skriven med stöd av Västra Götalandsregionens essäfond, publicerad våren 2021.
editing / collaborations
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Åke Hodell’s The Marathon Poet, Translated by Fia Backström
I edited Fia Backström’s translation of Swedish avant-garde poet Åke Hodell’s The Marathon Poet, published by Ugly Duckling Presse in 2020.
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Ghost Life – Hauntings in the Society of Spectres by Göran Dahlberg
I edited Göran Dahlberg’s chapbook essay “Ghost Life – Hauntings in the Society of Spectres”, published by Multimedijalni institut, Zagreb, as part of their 2020 Vectors of Collective Imaginations series.
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It Was Over When You Said What
Twelve writers furrow the texture of the months, days, and heartbeats when they realized it was over––and the swirl of contradictory emotions that come after the break. Do you believe in life after love? Edited with Rider Alsop and designed by Sara Duell. Published by Topos Press in 2017.
news
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Reading of Ia Genberg’s The Details
Reading from Ia Genberg’s The Details, forthcoming from HarperVia on August 8, 2023, as part of Sant Jordi USA.
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2023 ALTA Mentor
Mentor to Helga Edström who will be translating Kristian Lundberg Yarden? in the ALTA Emerging Translator Mentorship, 2023.
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Reading of Pooneh Rohi’s Husk
Reading from Pooneh Rohi’s acclaimed second novel, for Translators Aloud, 2022. The book is seeking a publisher.
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Conversation with Hanna Johansson and Quynh Tran
An in-depth discussion of the award-winning debuts by Hanna Johansson and Quynh TranHosted by Swedish Book Review, May 2022.