K.E. Semmel is an American author, literary translator, and disability advocate. He is best known for his translations of contemporary Danish and Norwegian literature into English, including works by Jussi Adler-Olsen, Karin Fossum, Simon Fruelund, and Naja Marie Aidt. In 2024, he published his debut novel, The Book of Losman, which explores the intersection of translation and Tourette syndrome. A 2016 National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Translation Fellow, Semmel is also a prominent voice in the Tourette syndrome community through his writing and public speaking.
Semmel was raised in the United States and attended Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts. He later received a Master of Arts in English from Kansas State University.
Semmel has lived in Denmark, where for two years he was employed as a mailman for the Danish postal service, an experience that facilitated his fluency in the Danish language and provided the cultural immersion that informed his later career as a translator and a novelist.
Semmel is a prolific translator of contemporary Scandinavian literature. In 2016, he was awarded a National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Literature Fellowship for Translation.
In addition to translation, Semmel is a fiction writer and essayist. His debut novel, The Book of Losman, was published in 2024 by SFWP. The novel incorporates autobiographical details from Semmel's life, and the life of a translator living with Tourette syndrome. The book was recognized by Debutiful as a noteworthy debut of 2024.
Semmel resides in Scottsville, New York, near Rochester. Having lived with Tourette syndrome since childhood, he is an active advocate for the community. He was a keynote speaker at the 2025 TIC-CON (Tourette Association of America) Conference
Semmel's short stories and essays have appeared in The Southern Review, Huffington Post, The Washington Post, and World Literature Today. Notable pieces include: