In this piece, Global Souths Hub Community Engagement Coordinator & Contributing Writer, Bethlehem Attfield records what took place at ‘Write the World: A Day of Translation’ which is an annual virtual panel discussion hosted by the American Literary Translators Association (ALTA).
“Language carries culture, and culture carries particularly through orature and literature, the entire body of values by which we come to perceive ourselves and our place in the world.”
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, Decolonising the Mind, 1986.
In recent decades, there has been a growing global appreciation for World Literature.Yet, literature written in English still appears to dominate. As a scholar in translation studies, I have spent the past few years examining how institutions are addressing this disparity. Translation helps to overcome linguistic barriers between different cultures, enabling readers to explore diverse narratives and broaden their perspectives. One organisation playing a significant role in diversifying literature through translation is the nonprofit literary translators’ membership association, the American Literary Translators Association (ALTA).
‘Write the World: A Day of Translation’ is an annual virtual panel discussion hosted by (ALTA). This year’s event took place on Tuesday the 27th of May. I first learned about the Write the World event when Vivek Narayanan, Associate Professor of Creative Writing at George Mason University, and a member of this year’s organising committee, invited me to participate in a session on Translation in Africa. This year’s panel is the third series. In previous years, the panel discussions have served to connect translators from around the globe. Moreover, the panel provides valuable professional insights into opportunities and the qualities that make translated work stand out. For example, panels from the last two years discussed ‘Translating into or from Non-Native Tongues’, ‘Partnering for Success: Translators & Agents in the Publishing Industry’, ‘Social Media Branding and Marketing for Literary Translators’, and ‘Publishing Translations: A Conversation Between Translators & Editors’.
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New Directions in African Literary Translation
I was one of the four writer-translator panellists discussing the opportunities and significant challenges facing African literary translation. I opened this session by highlighting important projects that have amplified African language writing and literature and bringing it to global attention.
Press play to listen to Tsitsi Ella Jaji‘s poetry rendition.
One notable project is the Jalada Africa translation project, which undertook the major task of translating the renowned advocate of indigenous writing, Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s Gikuyu short story The Upright Revolution: Or Why Humans Walk Upright into one hundred languages. This project played a significant role in celebrating and preserving African language literary traditions and expressions as well as promoting cross-cultural conversations.
Fellow panelist, the Nigerian writer and translator Kọ́lá Túbọ̀sún, emphasised the urgency of translating African books written in European languages back into African languages. The next speaker was Zimbabwean-American Poet and Academic Tsitsi Ella Jaji who delivered a powerful rendition of Shona praise poetry accompanied by a critical and reflective assessment of her own translation work and choices.
Finally, the panel facilitator, Ibrahim Fawzy, an Egyptian literary translator and scholar, emphasised how important The Africa Institute translation fellowships are. Both he and I are recipients of these fellowships, which financially support translators to finish translating works from Africa and its diaspora by providing essential funding and motivation.
Residencies and Retreats: How and Why to Apply
In this session, panellists discussed how residencies and retreats can create space, time and opportunities to work on translation projects. They shared their personal experiences of how the relaxing atmosphere — and freedom of not being interrupted by personal chores like shopping, cooking, and cleaning — helped them to fully immerse themselves and focus on their creativity.
The discussion also offered practical advice on how to find residences and retreats in various databases, with opportunities across Europe (see map on RECIT’s website, a network of European literary translation centres). When it comes to applying, considering the variety of services available, the panellists cautioned that it is important to know what you wish to gain from retreats and to read about their offerings to identify a good match. They also advised finding out about the specific requirements and tailoring your application accordingly.
Two Programmes Currently Open to New Applicants
This session highlighted the Art Omi residency based in Columbia County, New York, which is a non-profit art centre open to international artists. According to the website, Art Omi believes that ‘exposure to internationally diverse creative voices fosters acceptance and respect, raises awareness, inspires innovation, and ignites change.’ The residency hosts five programmes for different art practitioners, including one which is for authors and translators, held during the spring and fall. This fully funded residency includes accommodation, food, and local transport. The panellists emphasised that while the residency is highly competitive it offers a unique opportunity for writers and translators to collaborate.
ALTA also offers two fellowships for their members annually at Vermont Studio Centre in the US. One of these fellowships is offered to Black, Indigenous and People of Colour (BIPOC) translators who identify as queer/woman/non-binary/LGBTQ+.
From Writers to Readers: The Impact of Translation Awards
This session explored how literary awards impact different aspects of publishing, including their influence on writers, publishers, and booksellers, and how ultimately they help make more translated books discoverable for readers.
Awards, the panellists argued, don’t just celebrate excellence; they also inspire recipients to achieve higher goals. Michael Cooperson, who won the Sheikh Hamad Award (a Qatari literary award for translation from and to Arabic) in 2016, remarked, ‘Considering the amount of work that goes into translating a book and how little of it is visible to the end user, when someone acknowledges that you have done a good job, and you deserve a prize, it is unbelievably powerful.’ For Cooperson, such recognition inspired him and gave him the confidence to pursue more ambitious projects.
Spencer Rutchi, who is one of the founders of the Cercador Prize for Literature in Translation, emphasised that awards act as a trusted filter by simplifying the search for information about translated books, since the selection committee has already done the vetting. It helps streamline the discovery of high-quality translated works for readers.
Echoing this, Maya Solvej, Assistant Editor and Publicity Manager at the independent book publishing company New Directions, mentioned that books with awards from other countries immediately stand out among the hundreds of submissions she reviews.
Workshop Talk Shop
During this dynamic interactive session, experienced facilitators talked about the various formats that translation workshops can take. For example, some are online, while others are in person and often held as summer workshops in university campuses. Cecilia Rossi, a Professor of Literary Translation at the University of East Anglia, introduced their annual British Centre for Literary Translation Summer School which brings together diverse voices through multilingual literary workshops. The programme also offers creative writing for literary translators and training, aimed at sharing effective and innovative teaching or methodological practices.
The American Literary Translators Association (ALTA) was also highlighted for its multilingual literary workshops which continue to nurture and inspire translators around the world.
I commend ALTA for its commitment to bringing together diverse voices to discuss literature from around the globe. I also wish to honour the late Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, who sadly passed away a day after the virtual meeting. His bold initiatives challenged the prevalence of colonial languages in African literature. His poignant words resonate profoundly: ‘Language carries culture, and culture carries particularly through orature and literature, the entire body of values by which we come to perceive ourselves and our place in the world’ – Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, Decolonising the Mind, 1986.
Our colleagues at Routledge, Taylor & Francis journals have collated a list of free articles to honour author and academic Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, an inspiration in African literary production.
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