Manchester in Translation Line-up Announced

Comma Press present a series of free, online workshops and panels offering advice and insight in literary translation as a professional practice. Over three days emerging translators - or those with a passion for working between languages - will be invited to engage in current debates and topics surrounding literary translation, as well as take part in eye-opening translation workshops.

Join us for morning talks and panels, streamed on the Comma Press Youtube Channel at 11.00 AM. Each afternoon we will host a series of workshops in specifically-chosen community languages. The workshops will be delivered online via Zoom and are limited to 15 spaces. All events are entirely free, but you have to sign up.

Comma will also be hosting four 2.5-hour-long translation workshops each afternoon of the conference designed to give people a taste of the translation process. This year's workshops will cover translating Italian, Hindi, and Kurmanjî into English.

Groups will work on collaborative translations of texts across different genres, guided by experienced translators. This is a great opportunity to take your translating to the next level, hone your creative writing skills and meet like-minded people.

All workshops translate into English, therefore all participants must have proficiency in the source language (reading proficiency not just spoken) and have a high proficiency in English. Groups will be limited to 15 people to allow for individual attention, and applicants will be asked to answer a few quick questions when booking to determine their suitability for the workshop. This information won't be shared with anyone but the workshop facilitator.

DAY ONE

Keynote Speech with Tiffany Tsao

Monday 20th February 2023 | 11:00 am (UK Time) | Tickets here

Writer and translator Tiffany Tsao will deliver the opening keynote. Tsao has translated five books from Indonesian to English. Her translation of Erikson Pasaribu’s Happy Stories, Mostly won the 2022 Republic of Consciousness Prize and was longlisted for the International Booker Prize.

This speech will be streamed live to the Comma Press YouTube channel. You will be able to follow a link to the YouTube event from this Eventbrite page, or from the Comma Press website, social media pages (@commapress).

Monday 20th February 2-4.30 PM | Italian to English Translation with Ruth Clarke | Tickets here

DAY TWO

Panel: Queering Translation

Tuesday 21st February 2023 | 11:00 am (UK Time) | Tickets here

A panel discussion looking beyond issues of representation to ask what strategies might inform a translator's practice with regard to both contemporary and historic queer literature and the ethical implications of doing so.

This panel will be streamed live to the Comma Press YouTube channel. You will be able to follow a link to the YouTube event from this Eventbrite page, or from the Comma Press website, social media pages (@commapress).

Tuesday 21st February 2-4.30 PM | Hindi to English Translation with Mohini Gupta | Tickets here

DAY THREE
Panel: Keeping Underrepresented Literature Alive through Translation

Wednesday 22nd February 2023 | 11:00 am (UK Time) | Tickets here

Translators from languages underrepresented in English translation will discuss what role translators, editors, publishers and authors play in keeping the literature of those languages alive.

Wednesday 22nd February 2-4.30PM | Kurmanjî Translation | Tickets here