The Biannual Graduate Student Translation conference is a splendid tradition dreamed up by Michael Henry Heim and launched in 2004 at UCLA; additional iterations of the conference (generally staged more than two years apart, alas) have since taken place at Columbia University, the University of Iowa and, most recently, the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (in 2010, with Translationista as keynote speaker). Now the 5th Biannual
Graduate Student Translation Conference has been announced, to be held May 8-9, 2015, once again at the University of Michigan, with the brilliant Sean Cotter giving the keynote.
At the heart of the conference are the thematically-organized six-member workshops for graduate students translating into English from any language. Participants read and critique each others’ translations. Spots in the workshop are competitive, and applications are due soon, so please get ready to submit your work by February 1, 2015. Applications include 5-10 translated poems or 5-10 pages of prose, a scan of the original, a one-page statement on “your motivations for translating the text and specific challenges it presents the translator” and a CV. All applications to be submitted by email here. Submit any questions to that address as well.
The conference will also feature several roundtables with an emphasis on translation practice, staffed with professionals in the field. I hear publisher/editor Chad Post of Open Letter Books is already confirmed as a speaker.
The conference organizers are prepared to help graduate students visiting for the conference find local accommodations. There is also the possibility of limited financial assistance to applicants unable to secure travel funding from their home institutions. Inquire here.
I’m thrilled that this excellent tradition is being continued; let’s do what we can to make the biannual conference biannual again.