I just loved teaching in the Translator’s Conference at Bread Loaf in 2015, spending a week in hilly Vermont in conversation with other translators and writers. Here’s my summary of the experience:
Lovely surroundings (hiking trails everywhere), delicious, wholesome food, Robert Frost’s cabin just down the road, convivial atmosphere. As a bonus, the Orion Environmental Writers’ Conference takes place at the same time, so you get to interact with the writers who came up the mountain for that program – there are joint readings, too, and all meals are at communal tables, so there are lots of opportunities to meet and chat (and yes, you can also just sit by yourself in a corner if that’s what you prefer).
This year the Bread Loaf Translators’ Conference will be taking place for the third time from June 3 – 9, 2017, with a new faculty to provide new insights for returning attendees, including Maureen Freely, Jennifer Grotz, Suzanne Jill Levine, Christopher Merrill, and Idra Novey. They’ll be joined by a number of publishing-world guests with whom participants can book consultations. This year’s guests haven’t been announced yet (keep an eye on the website), but to give you an idea, here’s the roster from 2016: Katie Dublinski, Associate Publisher, Graywolf Press; Susan Harris, Editorial Director, Words Without Borders; Tynan Kogane, Editor, New Directions; Carolyn Kuebler, Editor, New England Review; and Kaija Straumanis, Editorial Director, Open Letter.
Participants are sorted into workshops of various levels from novice to expert and by genre. In the translation manuscript workshops, you can get critiqued on a translation of up to 4000 words.
More good news this year: there are increased possibilities for fellowship support.
To apply, and for information on fees and scholarship aid, visit the Bread Loaf website.
The deadline for applications this year is March 15, 2017.