Winter 2024 Multi-Language Literary Translation Workshop

- From January 21st to February 25th, 2023 -

 ( 5 ATA CEU Credits Pending)

Open to translators working from any language into English

(or from English into Spanish)

Are you interested in literary translation? Could you use extra support or feedback to develop a project or to finally start (or finish!) that literary translation you’ve always dreamed of doing?  Are you on the verge of submitting a literary translation for publication, but unsure where to send it?

Join Allison deFreese and literary translators from around the world for this fun, collaborative, interactive winter workshop!

This virtual workshop uses Google Docs and is held in Canvas, an online platform accessible only to event participants. It does not require scheduled meetings or login times (though participants have the opportunity to meet, optionally, via Zoom every other Friday at 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time**, if they choose, including on January 26th and February 9th ... days may change according to participants' needs).

**Click here for your time zone.

The workshop, open to both emerging and established literary translators, will provide you with the opportunity to workshop your choice of 1 of the following in each of the 3 workshopping sessions that happen every other week (for example, you may submit poetry in 1 of the workshopping sessions and prose in another):

• Up to 7-8 pages of poetry, short fiction, a script, or nonfiction in progress (typed, double-spaced in 12-point font, maximum 24 pages total for the workshop);

• OR Revise and receive feedback on a single longer piece as your focus for the course (up to 24  pages total, typed and double-spaced in 12-point font).

• For the winter workshop, we'll be reading and discussing Jhumpa Lahiri's In Other Words (order it now!), participating in online discussions about literary translation and best practices, and critiquing of work in progress through Google Docs.

• FORMAT: Weekly online discussions through an online discussion board in Canvas, 3 optional, biweekly group live sessions (via Zoom), virtual workshops of work in progress, reading of work in progress, revisions, and readings in translation theory.

• FEEDBACK: Online workshop collaboration and feedback from workshop facilitator and peers 

• Questions? Please email Allison at alasverdestranslationnw [at] gmail . com      
• Have you previously attended this translation workshop? Please email alasverdestranslationnw [at] gmail . com  about workshop discounts.

Crédito de foto, Fotografía Ávila - 2024

Workshop Facilitators: Allison A. deFreese is a poet, literary translator, and NEA Literature Translation Fellow. Her work appears in Asymptote, Copper Nickel, Gulf Coast, Harvard Review, New England Review, and Waxwing. Her recent translations (books) include María Negroni’s Elegy for Joseph Cornell (Dalkey Archive Press, 2020); José Moreno Hernández’s Soaring to New Heights: The Memoir of a Child Migrant Farmworker Who Became a NASA Astronaut (Renuevo, 2020, José Moreno Hernández’s story is now a major motion picture, A Million Miles Away); Verónica González Arredondo’s Green Fires of the Spirits (the Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla's University Press, Libros BUAP, 2022); Carolina Esses' Winter Season (Entre Ríos Books, 2023), and Karla Marrufo's Flame Trees in May (Deep Vellum Publishing, 2023). Her books of verse include Nurdles and Other Poems (2022) and The Night with James Dean and Other Prose Poems (2022). Jordan Landsman was born in New York City. After graduating from Binghamton University, he spent several years living in Buenos Aires, where he co-created the BA Comedy Lab. His translation of The Novices of Lerna by Ángel Bonomini is forthcoming from Transit Books.

Comments from previous workshops:

"Whether you are considering just trying to translate a literary work for the first time or have lots of experience, OSTI's literary translation workshop is a welcoming place where you will find colleagues, ideas and support. Allison is a splendid support, full of ideas and encouragement, and the people and works you encounter are priceless."

                      Rebecca, Spanish into English

"I was very impressed and amazed by Allison's level of dedication to reviewing the texts - especially given that the source language was not one of her "official" languages. Her feedback was thorough and supportive, and I look forward to working with Allison again in the future."
                        Literary Translator, E.U.

"I am so glad I took the time to participate in this workshop. Translation is a passion for me, but since I have a full time job I cannot attend a formal translation school.  This online workshop was the perfect fit. I got comments on my translation project every week from amazing translators, both professional and amateur. The feedback was very thoughtful; it made me think about what I was writing in a different way and opened my eyes to issues I had never considered before. I learned so much!"

               Julie, Spanish to English literary translator, Chile

"Allison deFreese encompasses everything I could have hoped for in a workshop instructor. She is thoroughly professional in the feedback she provides---in terms of both editing (she has eagle eyes!) and conceptual suggestions. Further, she offers guidance toward publishing and helpful articles, both theoretical and practical. As a novice literary translator, I thoroughly appreciated Allison’s ability to deliver professional skills and insights in a caring, sharing, and personable manner, and I have already registered for her next OSTI workshop."
                C. Strauss Sotiropoulos, professor emerita, Northern Michigan  University

"This workshop is great in various ways: It provides me with the opportunity to meet interesting translators, get exposure to their work and learn from their practice, edit their texts and receive meaningful and helpful feedback on my own work as well. I also get to learn from Allison, receive her super helpful feedback, and meet and chat with everyone during the Zoom meetings. Also by having to share my work on a weekly basis, I am incentivized to work regularly on my translation."
             Literary Translator, U.K.

The OSTI Literary Translation Workshop came at the perfect time for me! As a translator of children's literature, I thought the group might be too high-brow, but they all jumped in with both feet and gave me the feedback I needed to move ahead. I have two pieces ready to submit to publishers, thanks to the insight of Allison and the amazing international group.

               Karla, Translator of Children's Literature, Austin, TX