During an interview, Damian was praised for his exceptional project, with the journalist commending the quality of the drawings and stories.
The legendary Folk Tales series is back in both digital and traditional libraries, offering renditions of its stories in English.
Damian Marin is an 18-year-old student who has channeled his passion for foreign languages and creation into a brand new editorial project, which consists of the translation and rewriting of international Folk Tales in English and Spanish.
The first book of the series, Ukrainian Folk Tales, is already available on Amazon, in both digital and printed forms. Given it is a project with immense potential, we took the opportunity to take an interview from the man himself.
Journalist: Damian, your project is a superb one indeed. The drawings and stories are top-notch. Well done! Where did
this idea come from?
Damian: It came from a person close to me, who, given they knew of my passion for writing and foreign languages, suggested me not only to translate the stories at hand, but also to rewrite them, so that they would resonate better with the readers. It’s safe to say that I had a blast translating them, as not only are they captivating, but they also happen to carry values that were shaped through centuries of hardship, such as kindness and wisdom of a high degree, which definitely make them stand out from the modern tales.
Journalist: How great! In which ways will it be different to the series from the 80’s, though?
Damian: As I have mentioned before, I am very fond of the values that these stories promote, thus the only changes being made will consist of modernising the design and rephrasing parts of the text. Most old tales do not resonate well with modern-day children, mostly due to the repetitive drawings and the rather peculiar language used. We wanted them to be as familiar as possible to the children of today, and I think that we’ve done a good job at that.
Journalist: The old words were a hassle to translate to English, weren’t they?
Damian: Well, it was challenging indeed. It definitely took some effort to pull off.
Journalist: I see you’ve kicked off with the Ukrainian Folk Tales. Why was it them specifically and what’s next?
Damian: The first two books are Ukrainian and Moldovan Folk Tales respectively. We’ve decided to publish the Ukrainian ones first for obvious reasons, I believe.
The first reason is the respect we have for the Ukrainian people, who are going through insurmountably tough times.
The second one is our will to show the values of the Ukrainians, who created the core of their brave nation. We want to show the roots of their culture, the ones that gave birth to the courage that made them face their enemy head-on, one that was seemingly unbeatable not long ago.
It is rather similar to David engaging in battle with Goliath and defeating him – just like in the stories, where Good always defeats Evil, regardless of how strong it is. That, therefore, is what bravery and belief in oneself look like, traits that must be instilled into every nation in the world.
Journalist: I understand and respect that. Will there be a Romanian rendition as well?
Damian: Of course. We will do our best to provide the Romanian version to our readers. By the way, one of the easiest ways to learn a language is to read two versions of the same book, one in a language that you know and one in the language that you wish to learn. That being said, you will soon be able to find both the English version on Amazon and the Romanian one in libraries.
Journalist: Oh, so that’s how you’ve learned so many languages? How many do you
know?
Damian: (laughs) close enough. I know about 7, but I can understand about 15 as far as the basics are concerned.
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Journalist: Where is all of this meant to take you, provided you also engage in writing poetry?
Damian: I do engage in it indeed, although I don’t publish anything. I’m going to follow a PR and Communications course.
Journalist: Fair enough. Good luck to you! I hope you won’t forget about us when the other books come out!
Damian: Sure thing. Thank you a lot!
Journalist: You’re most welcome! Likewise.