Posts filed under 'BCLT'

April 2025: Upcoming Opportunities in Translation

April 13, 2025  |  in News  |  by Kathryn Raver

From translation workshops to potential grants, we bring you the latest of this month's opportunities in translation.

EDUCATION

BRISTOL TRANSLATES

It’s that time of year again – applications are now open for the 2025 Bristol Translates Summer School!

Bristol Translates participants will have the opportunity to engage in translation workshops from a variety of languages into English, as well as a few for those working out of English. This year’s session will also include a brand-new set of workshops for translators working out of Urdu and Swedish. Another new offering this year includes the option to attend the school’s professional development sessions, even if you aren’t attending the language workshops themselves. The Summer School is aimed at translators of every level, as well as those who are simply passionate about literary translation.

Comma Press will also be presenting their 2025 Emerging Translator Award. The award is open to Bristol Translates participants working on Chinese, Urdu, and Japanese. The winning translator will be considered for publication in a future Comma Press anthology.

The sessions will take place from July 7th-11th, 2025. You can find more information on how to apply to both the workshops and the professional sessions on the Bristol Translates website. The application closes May 7th.

 

BCLT RESEARCH SEMINAR: PARATEXTS AS POLITICAL PRACTICE IN THE REVOLUTIONARY ERA

Europe’s tides of revolution in the 18th and 19th century gave birth to new, radical translation practices—translators sought to integrate ideas of equality and freedom into new contexts within the fast-paced world of revolution, and reimagined the relationship between source and target cultures in the fight for universal rights. What emerged from these new ideas was an image of translators as agents of political and social change who actively worked to change the shape of history.

At this research seminar hosted by the British Centre of Literary Translation, Rosa Mucignat, a Reader in Comparative Literature at King’s College London and co-editor of Comparative Critical Studies, will present her research on radical translators. She is the author of  Realism and Space in the Novel, 1795-1869: Imagined Geographies and co-editor of Landscapes of Realism: Rethinking Literary Realism in Comparative Perspectives. Her work on the project ‘Radical Translations: The Transfer of Revolutionary Culture Between Britain, France and Italy, 1789-1815’ led to a co-edited special issue of the journal History of European Ideas. The co-edited volume Radical Voices and Revolutionary Discourses of Translation is forthcoming from Routledge.

The seminar will take place Wednesday, April 30th at 4p.m. BST, and can be attended in-person or online. Register here.

READ MORE…

May 2024: Upcoming Opportunities in Translation

May 12, 2024  |  in News  |  by Kathryn Raver

From poetry readings to translation workshops—check out our compilation of some of this summer's latest opportunities in world literature.

SUBMISSIONS

THE VIEW FROM GAZA

The Massachusetts Review is calling for submissions for a special issue, The View From Gaza. Palestinian writers are encouraged to send their work—whether it be poetry, prose, essays, or art—for this special issue, which will commemorate those who have been lost in the genocide and celebrate the ongoing resistance and resilience in Gaza.

As Israel’s violence against Gaza continues, the Review “hope[s] to amplify the work of Palestinian writers that contributes to the theory and critique of Empire and settler colonialism.” Submissions in English, Arabic, and other languages are all eligible.

The deadline for submissions is June 15th. Submissions should be sent to themassreview@gmail.com.

EVENTS

2024 GRIFFIN POETRY PRIZE READINGS

On June 5th, 2024, the Griffin Poetry Prize invites you to join them for an evening of poetry and translation!

Awarded annually, the Griffin Poetry Prize is the world’s largest international prize for a book of poetry written (or translated into) English. At this celebratory event, this year’s shortlisted poets will read from their works at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto before this year’s winner is revealed. Readings will also be performed by the Lifetime Recognition Award recipient and the 2024 Canadian First Book Prize winner.

Tune in to the the Griffin Poetry Prize’s Youtube channel to watch a livestream of the readings on June 5th at 7pm ET.

GRANTS & FUNDING

GLOBAL AFRICA TRANSLATION FELLOWSHIP

The Africa Institute is welcoming applications for their fourth annual Global Africa Translation Fellowship!

This fellowship aims to celebrate works from the African continent, as well as from the African diaspora. Translators from across the Global South can submit their works-in-progress or potential projects to be considered for a grant of up to $5,000. Translations of previously untranslated poetry, prose, and critical theory works, as well as retranslations of older texts, are eligible. Submissions should be translated into English or Arabic, although translations into some other languages may also be considered.

The deadline for applications is June 1st, 2024. Find more information on eligibility and how to apply here.

RESIDENCIES & WORKSHOPS

BCLT ADVANCED TRANSLATION WORKSHOPS

Since 2021, the British Centre for Literary Translation has run annual advanced translation workshops to support the craft of literary translators and to bring together those with common language pairs. This year’s workshop will center on translators of Taiwanese literature.

Workshop participants will have the opportunity to work with other attendees to hone a sample translation for their chosen project. By the end of the program, participants will have a polished sample, as well as a pitch, that is ready to send off to potential publishers. Accepted applicants will need to choose a book from the Taiwan Literature Awards for Books longlists and obtain permission to translate the work.

The deadline for applications is June 2nd, 2024, while the event itself will run online during the 7th, 22nd, and 23rd of November. Read more here.

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Our mission here at Asymptote is to elevate the incredible work that translators do to to share literature from around the world. Our “Upcoming Opportunities” initiative aims to provide those translators with the opportunity to improve their craft and share the projects they’ve put their hearts into. Have an opportunity that you’d like us to share in this monthly column? Check out our rates here, then drop us a line.

We’re working hard on our upcoming 52nd issue. If you’ve enjoyed the work we do—from our social media channels and blog to our newsletters and, of course, our quarterly issues—please consider supporting us as we continue to celebrate world literature and those that bring it to life. Any and all donations to support us on our mission are greatly appreciated. Thank you!

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DISPATCH: International Translation Day, London, 30th September 2013

October 19, 2013  |  in News  |  by Nashwa Gowanlock

Asymptote Editor-at-Large Nashwa Gowanlock reports from ITD 2013

If there’s any sure sign of dedication to a cause, then it’s a group of UK-based translators voluntarily heading towards a day-long symposium indoors on an unseasonably warm late-September day in London. As I exited the labyrinth that is Kings Cross station to be blinded by the unexpected sunshine and made my way to the British Library, I noticed the clock on the tower of the St Pancras station. I was running late. The lack of tell-tale signs of a nearby conference about to start—no small clusters of strangers wearing identical badges, cradling coffees or cigarettes while studiously ignoring each other—confirmed it: I was late for the opening session. READ MORE…