November 2022
Tanja Howarth

My name is Tanja Howarth, and I am a literary agent based here in the UK. I have spent my working life promoting a dynamic range of German language books for translation into English. I have helped to shepherd some 250 titles by German-language authors onto the bookshelves of English-language readers. 

In 1996 a few of us put our heads together to ponder what we could do about the woeful number of German language titles making it into English. Readers in English were missing out on superb books from various genres - literary fiction, nonfiction, crime, and thriller. The chance was missed to build literary bridges between German and English-speaking countries. 

The number of translations from German had actually been going down. We were determined to reverse this. But there were few editors who could read and recommend German books to their colleagues and sales teams. 

The German Embassy in London gathered us together: Regine Friederici from the Goethe-Institut in London, Rosemary Smith and Gordon Fielden of the Translators’ Association, Terry Hale from the British Centre for Literary Translation, and me. We were asked to come up with a concept for a magazine that would promote German-language literature to English-speaking audiences. Swiss, Austrian, and German embassies and cultural organisations all pledged their support. The New Books in German project was born, and I am proud to say I am still involved with it to this day. Without the Goethe-Institut London, I would not have felt the catalysing moral and financial support needed to get New Books in German off the ground.

In 2037 (the year of the 75th anniversary of the Goethe-Institut London), New Books in German would just have turned 41. Life begins at 40, they say. In 2037 I’d love to see a huge celebration of the books that the Goethe-Institut and others have supported on their journeys into English. A book project like New Books in German, is, like books themselves, all about the people. Those who read, write, translate, sell, publish and publicise them. New Books in German has brought a fantastic community of people together over the years, and it would be great to come together to celebrate.

There are so many wonderful and enriching aspects of British-German cultural exchange, but it won’t surprise you that the area closest to my heart is books. Two books that can be described as my career’s highlights are Perfume by Patrick Suskind and The Panama Papers by Bastian Obermayer and Frederik Obermaier.

The first arrived as a manuscript in 1985 and after reading 10 pages I knew that this was unique. I read all night and my excitement was boundless. The international publishing world recognised its significance and a fierce bidding war broke out. Hamish Hamilton and Penguin Books won the auction and Perfume was published to unanimous success.

Perfume is a long-lasting international success story: Originally published in 1985 and translated into over 50 languages, the book has sold over 20 million copies worldwide. In Germany, the book spent 9 years on the Spiegel bestseller list. The movie adaptation of 2006 was one of the 15 most successful in German cinema history, with 5.6 million box office viewers in Germany alone.

Perfume has had six cover changes and is still being read and loved by new readers worldwide. In October 2016, I received The Panama Papers as an email, marked TOP SECRET. Again, I spent all night reading the most electrifying disclosures of worldwide corruption and money laundering. The London Book Fair opened its doors the following day and I was handed the very first copy of the German original publication by Kiepenheuer & Witsch.

I was convinced that all major publishing houses would want to acquire the rights, but none of them was interested and believed in the authenticity of it. One independent publisher - Oneworld heard of it, believed in it and made an offer. Their commitment was unparalleled. Four translators were hired simultaneously and the English Panama Papers was published in the same year as its original. Both these books are still being enjoyed by many readers and I hope stay in print for a long time to come.