A group of participants in one of the first two iterations of the Connecting Emerging Literary Artists program. Image: CELA, Gaby Jongenelen
By Jarosław Adamowksi | @JaroslawAdamows
A Third Iteration Starts in January
The pan-European project Connecting Emerging Literary Artists, referred to as CELA, is intended to bring together emerging writers and translators in support of translations and to promote literary work across the continent.
Organizers say the program makes a point of promoting diversity in European literature, offering various languages a bigger presence in the publishing industry despite uneven access to funds and literary infrastructure in various markets.
CELA recently selected the first participants of its third edition.
The project accommodates emerging writers and translators from 11 European countries for mentoring and support during a four-year period. After completing two editions since 2017, CELA is now running its third iteration for the years 2024 to 2028, benefiting from the financial support of the European Union’s Creative Europe program.
In January, the selected participants of the third edition are to have their first meeting in Torino.
Connecting Emerging Literary Artists launched its call in March, searching for writers and translators to participate in the project’s third edition between this month and December 2025. The initiative’s coordinators say they’ll call for more professionals to participate in the autumn of 2025. Each partner feeding potential candidates to the program handles its own selection process through open calls, selection committees, and expert groups, as well as international networks, according to organizers.
From each of the 11 participating markets, six writers—66 in total—are selected per edition. Among translators, CELA chooses one translator per market from every language combination, for a total of 99 translators.
‘All Emerging Artists’
At a program in the Connecting Emerging Literary Artists project for translators and writers in Europe. Image: CELA, Gaby Jongenelen
Kim van Kaam is responsible for the project’s artistic coordination at the Netherlands-based Wintertuin, CELA’s lead partner and creator. She tells Publishing Perspectives that the initiative was designed as a talent development project for emerging translators and writers in small-language markets in Europe.
“We provide our participants with masterclasses and workshops on professional topics,” van Kaam says, including “network events, stage experience, and peer-to-peer contact in an international context. Participants are offered several traveling opportunities, speaking opportunities at literary festivals across Europe, and industry connections.”
Through this support, CELA aims to provide the project’s participants with support that can help them reach European audiences across market borders.
“Additionally,” van Kaam says, “we translate sample texts of each participating writer’s work into all participating languages, giving the artists, the industry, and the public access to the voices of the next generation of Europe’s literary stars.”
Asked about the challenges faced by industry professionals from the continent, van Kaam says that access to funding opportunities, scholarships, grants, industry events, and other opportunities for writers and translators “differ very much across Europe. This affects how to deal with topics such as greening, inclusivity, and fair pay.”
“Moreover, the participants are all emerging artists, which can put them into a vulnerable position. CELA tries to empower them through training and experiences, and it give access to a professional network of peers, professionals, institutions and, eventually, friends.”
CELA offers masterclasses, those sample translations that van Kaam talks about, mentorship, presentations, and live meetings. Some of the benefits include project-wide work weeks in Torino and Brussels, visits to literary festivals in one of the participating countries, paid translation assignments, and varied networking and training opportunities.
In each participating country, CELA is present with at least one literary partner organization. The participating partners include:
For translators and writers interested, more is at the program’s site.
More from Publishing Perspectives on translation and translators is here, more on Creative Europe in relation to various funding projects is here, and more on the international publishing market and Europe is here.
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