A the European Parliament building in Strasbourg. Image – Getty: Horkins
By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson
A Three-Day Program on Translation
On Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday (October 2, 3, and 4), CEATL, the Conseil Européen des Associations de Traducteurs Littéraires (the European Council of Literary Translators’ Associations) is producing an inaugural European conference on literary translation in Strasbourg, currently the UNESCO World Book Capital.
Expected to host 350 interested parties involved in translation, the event will be set physically in multiple venues in Strasbourg and in the European Parliament complex there. The program is also to be streamed, with French, German, and English accommodation. Registration for the stream is free of charge and available here.
The overall focus of the event is on “the circulation of translated works in Europe and beyond,” with a program of some 80 participants from a reported 30 countries. Formats of events are to include panels and round-table sessions, examining “the challenges we face: the defense of linguistic and editorial diversity, artificial intelligence, attacks on freedom of expression, and so on.
The opening evening event is planned as a commendation to the 2023 International Booker Prize winner Georgi Gospodinov (for Time Shelter, with Angela Rodel, one of his translators from Bulgarian).
Speakers include Frankfurter Buchmesse (October 16 to 20) president and CEO Juergen Boos; Bologna Children’s Book Fair (March 31 to April 3) director Elena Pasoli; European and International Booksellers Federation (EIBF) director Julie Belgrado.
Bologna Children’s Book Fair in Strasbourg
For her part, Bologna’s Pasoli will be speaking in the CEATL program on Thursday (September 3), in a 16:15 CEST panel with Boos titled, Putting Literary Translation and Translated Literature in the Spotlight.
Bologna, as Publishing Perspectives readers know, supports translation initiatives including the database called the World Directory of Children’s Translators; the annual Altre Parole prize, which is awarded to a translation of a text; the two-day Translation Forum; an award given to translators of the winning works in the Strega Prize Ragazze e Ragazzi; translation rights trading centers during the fair; and many chances for translators to meet key players in the business.
A panel discussion from the 2024 Bologna Children’s Book Fair in the trade show’s Translators Café. Image: BCBF
More information on the Strasbourg conference from CEATL can be found here. Registrations for in-person attendance in Strasbourg has closed.
More from Publishing Perspectives on translation and translators is here, more on the UNESCO World Book Capital program is here, and more on the European Union is here.
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