Translator training - a winning formula

2011 saw a new initiative at Birkbeck in training Anglophone translators and editors, “Use your Language, Use your English”, a joint project organised by the Translators Association of the Society of Authors and the Universities of London and Westminster, supported by funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council.

After a successful Taster Event in April, the first Summer School was held in July, with leading translators from seven languages tutoring the students, mainly postgraduates. Several publishers dropped in during the week or participated as speakers. Jane Aitken of Gallic Books contributed an untranslated novel by Pascal Garnier for the French group to tackle during the workshop sessions. She then held a competition, offering a publishing contract for the winning translation. Nine of the students entered, and we are delighted to announce that the prize has just been awarded to Melanie Florence, who produced an outstanding translation of the selected extract.

New opportunities for translators and publishers

Winner Melanie France states: 'I can't recommend the summer school highly enough. It was easily the most worthwhile and intellectually stimulating week I have spent in a very long time. To have been chosen to translate Garnier’s A26 at this point goes far beyond anything I had hoped for, and I am delighted and very thankful to have been given this opportunity.'

Naomi Segal, one of the two academic organisers, comments: 'Spurred by the success of the first Summer School, we are holding another this year, 9-13 July. The project also includes free online training, and exams and a database are being set up this spring.'

For 2012, we invite publishers to ‘take a leaf out of Jane’s book’ and contribute novels written in some of the eight other languages (Arabic, Chinese, German, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish). Another way for publishers to be involved is to offer a bursary or to give a talk at the Summer School.