2007 - Kymen Sanomat (English)

Kymen Sanomat, Johanna Harjula, "Tositarinoita kaksikielisesti" (authentic stories in two languages, Finnish original article)*, 11 May 2007

Authentic stories in two languages

An author who has her roots in Hamina would like to have her works, which are written in German and English, translated into Finnish.

Johanna Harjula

HAMINA.- About fifty kilograms, that means Sonja Goernitz counts with about 23 books. That is a lot of material that the motivated author has at her hands for new books. So far Goernitz has written and published two biographical diaries, partially in English and partially in German.

Sonja Goernitz, who is half Finnish and half German, lives in Australia. At present she visits Hamina where her mother Irma Koski comes from. An important reason for her journey is to see Helena Koski, Goernitz' sick grandmother, but Sonja Goernitz also has other plans.

"I would like to find a person, who can translate my books into Finnish. He/she should be good in Finnish, English and German and be very motivated to do the work. I cannot pay much money for the translation, but I offer to give half of my royalties to the translator. When the works become very popular only the sky is the limit," Goernitz grins.

Goernitz, who was born in Germany, visits Hamina with her mother every few years.

"Also I have worked as a journalist in media in various cities in Germany, in the USA and Australia. Now I am living in Sydney, where I work as a researcher for a reknowned Australian author. Since being at school I keep my diary and it has always been my dream to publish a book. This dream came true a few months ago when I self-published Tagebuch 1 and soon after Tagebuch 2."

In the first book Goernitz tells about her life in 1994, when she was 22 and lived in New York and fell in love with a rich American lawyer. In her second book she describes the events in the following year. These are authentic stories about what a young woman thinks, feels and does.

Goernitz rarely writes about Finland in her books.

"However, the Finnish is a part of me and I love this culture. In the future I am also planning to publish my books under the name Sonja Koski and it would be important for me, to translate my books into the language of my mother and my grandmother."

More information: sonja @ sonjasdiary.com , www.createspace.com [details updated]

The books by Goernitz are also available at the library of Hamina.

* translated into German by my mother and then into English by me