ABSTRACT
This chapter highlights Zinaida Lindén’s experiences of being a bilingual author and self-translator. Lindén, who lives mostly in Finland, has written three novels and four collections of short stories. She works in Russian (her mother tongue) and Swedish, which is one of the two national languages of Finland and spoken by a 5 per cent minority, publishing in both languages. She considers herself to be somewhat of a bridge between cultures, crossing borders and bringing different people closer to each other. Lindén ponders how her short stories and novels are perceived in Finland as well as in Russia. While the same story can be interpreted differently depending on the audience, some things get “lost in translation”. Although both versions of her texts are to be considered as originals, Lindén emphasizes that they each create distinct effects and nuances.
