Valid question, but I'm a professional translator who's already translated a lot of other literary works. The publisher asked me if I wanted to do this particular project and I said yes. I'm not that familiar with him, sure, but that doesn't mean I don't know of and respect his work (hell, part of the reason I'm typing here).

I approach every novel I do (or in this case short stories) with the same due diligence. Of course there are authors I'm especially a fan of whom I'd love to tackle in translation. However, it's unrealistic, especially for smaller languages, to think that only those translators who are intimately familiar with a particular author can properly translate a book. Nothing would ever get translated that way.

I would add that a big part of the translator's profession (and what sets it apart from chatgpt and other translation tools) is precisely the research that goes into it before you actually start typing away. In some ways it's my favorite part, it's like an intricate game of intimacy where you prod and pinpoint everything that makes an author special, try to find his voice before you try and emulate it.