Translation Centers

There’s never a lack of interesting panels at ALTA, but “The Role of Translation Centers” was one of the best that I’ve ever attended. This panel brought together representatives from a number of different programs/centers to talk about the different things they’re doing, and the roles these Centers could play in the study and promotion of literary translation.

So, in order of the speakers, here are some details:

• University of Texas at Dallas Center for Translation Studies: UTD was the host for this ALTA conference, and the home of ALTA, so this was a perfect opportunity to highlight what they do.

The UTD Center was founded in 1978 with the mission “to develop new ideas related to the art and craft of translation to bring about change in curriculum.” It’s part of the School of Art and Humanities (which just got a beautiful new building) and offers and MA and Ph.D. degrees in translation studies and creative translation projects. It also houses two publications: Translation Review and Annotated Books Received.

Looking toward the future, one plan is to design a website for the purpose of teaching translation workshops. This new website would include guidelines, exercises, and other resources, which will be incredibly useful to professors everywhere.

• Denis Scheck talked about a library/meeting place near Koln that was founded in the early 70s as a meeting place for editors, translators, and authors to come together. (My handwriting is illegible, so if anyone out there knows the name of this Center, please e-mail it to me.)

The main aspect of this Center is its library, and the fact that it’s remote—a great place to stay for a time to work and interact with others involved in similar activities. In Scheck’s own words, it’s like “An ALTA Conference going on forever!” But with more wine . . .

• The Center for Literary Translation at Columbia University has recently been revived by Esther Allen and Michael Scammell through agreements with Circumference, Words Without Borders, the PEN Translation Fund, and the Writing Department at Columbia.

The Center offers translation classes and workshops, but currently functions much more as a place where people can connect. The website has a number of lists ranging from translators to publishers interested in translations, to various awards to other translation programs.

In March 2008, the Center for Literary Translation will be hosting the Graduate Student Translation Conference a biannual conference bringing together established and emerging translators to share information and experiences.

• Banff International Literary Translation Centre is a three-week residency program in the Canadian Rockies for translators.

This program started five years ago and is similar to Ledig House, but is for translators instead of international authors. Each summer, 15 professional translators and 3 graduate students are awarded residencies. They also bring in 6-7 authors each year to work one-on-one with their translators.

Most of the time is spent working on projects that already have a publisher and a deadline, although three times a week there are group meetings to exchange thoughts on a variety of subjects. Supposedly, this place is absolutely beautiful . . .

• Marilyn Gaddis-Rose also spoke about the Program in Translation Research at SUNY-Binghamton. She’s revitalizing this, and as soon as there’s more info about the International Advisory Council and other activities, I’ll post them here.

There was a “Panel 2.0” moment during this event in which Esther asked me to explain what’s going on at Rochester, giving me an opportunity to talk about the establishment of Open Letter and the developing literary translation programs at UR. (I’m a big fan of panels that ask questions of their audience.) In contrast to the Centers mentioned above, our program offer students not only an academic background, but also an opportunity to work with the press and learn the business of publishing translations, including how books are acquired, marketed, promoted, and supported.

Marilyn Booth from the University of Illinois also talked briefly about the establishment of their Center, and the way they’re trying to work with the Worldwide Universities Network.

Echoing a theme from the Translation Marketplace, one of the things that came up during this discussion was the need to collaborate and keep in touch. Olivia Sears of the Center for Art in Translation and Two Lines is determined to help make it easier for all of the different centers to collaborate and exchange information. Which would be fantastic, since all the centers complement one another nicely, overlapping in various ways that present the possibility for unique opportunities to work together. In this day and age, it’s of utmost importance that we all share information and resources, and by establishing such a network, I truly believe that everyone will benefit.