Nadia Christensen

Born in Minneapolis to parents of Norwegian and Danish descent, Christensen grew up in a home where the family’s Nordic heritage was deeply valued. She graduated magna cum laude from Augsburg College in 1959 and went on to earn graduate degrees in comparative literature at the University of Minnesota (MA, 1964) and the University of Washington (Ph.D., 1972) where she specialized in Scandinavian Languages and Literature. In the early years of her professional career, Dr. Christensen taught in Scandinavian departments at the University of Minnesota, the University of Washington, and Pacific Lutheran University. Later she served as the director of publications for the American-Scandinavian Foundation in New York and Editor-in-Chief of Scandinavian Review. While there, she established the ASF Translation Prize, the first annual award in the United States for English translations of Nordic literature. Christensen has published approximately 400 translations of fiction, poetry and drama, of which 19 are book-length works, including two winners of the prestigious Pegasus Prize. In 1996, His Majesty King Harald V of Norway awarded her the Knight’s Cross, First Class, of the Royal Norwegian Order of Merit in honor of her work as translator and dedication to furthering relations between the United States and Norway.