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Europe celebrates International Translation Day
Europe celebrates International Translation Day
30 Sep, 2019

As every year, CEATL has the pleasure of inviting you to the following events all throughout Europe.

Come and celebrate with us!

 

BASQUE COUNTRY (EIZIE)

This year, EIZIE (https://eizie NULL.eus/en) will celebrate International Translation Day by organising a press conference in San Sebastian. They will use this opportunity to announce the publication of the 50th issue of their magazine, SENEZ (https://eizie NULL.eus/en/publications/senez). At the press conference, EIZIE’s director Itziar Diez de Ultzurrun and SENEZ magazine director Karlos del Olmo will talk about the importance of having an academic magazine in Basque, written by and for translators; the importance of this publication transcends the field of translation, as it is a great tool for language normalization, and a useful platform for research in Basque.

 

BULGARIA (BTU)

Following an established tradition, the Bulgarian Translators’ Union (http://www NULL.bgtranslators NULL.org/) will celebrate International Translation Day by presenting its annual awards in various categories: Literary Translation, Scientific and Technical Translation, Legal Translation, Interpreting and in the field of Translation Theory, History and Criticism. The event will take place on Monday, September 30, at Sofia University.

 

CATALONIA, BALEARIC ISLANDS, AND VALENCIA (AELC (http://www NULL.escriptors NULL.cat/)

Majorca – 30th September
Talks by translators discussing their translations will be a special feature on a radio programme on Balearic Isles Radio (IB3) throughout the day.

Eivissa – 30th SeptemberThe association Associació d’escriptors en llengua catalana will organise an homage to Marià Villangómez and his translations from French into Catalan with some authors from Eivissa and Formentera.

Alacant – 3rd October
Conference by the translator and specialist in Catalan literature Marina Abràmova on Tirant Lo Blanc in the University of Alacant in the evening.

Barcelona – 4th October

In cooperation with the Institute for Catalan Literature and the Institute for Catalan Studies, the association Associació d’escriptors en llengua catalana will organize an homage to the translator and specialist in Catalan literature Marina Abràmova. There will be an introduction of Miquel Cabal (AELC and CEATL board member) and a contribution by Marina Abràmova about the past, present and future of catalanistics in Russia.

Some other global actions taking place are:

  • Online campaign on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Mailchimp with some of AELC’s materials to highlight translators and their work
  • «Traductor a la vista»: A slogan used when a translator’s name doesn’t appear in books, articles, news, etc…
  • Photos of the past 27 translation seminars organized by AELC in Catalonia.

 

DENMARK (DOF)

International Translation Day 2019 will be celebrated in Copenhagen on September 30th, under the heading “Women in Translation”, with talks, workshops, food and drink. The afternoon conference (https://hieronymusdagen NULL.ku NULL.dk/) is a collaboration between the Danish Translators’ Association (https://danskforfatterforening NULL.dk/dof/om-gruppen/), the Audiovisual Translators, University of Copenhagen and the Union of Communication and Language Professionals. The event is free of charge and open to all, and usually attracts around 130 people: literary translators, subtitlers, interpreters, students and researchers of translation. We will hear talks on the need for specific awareness of gendered language when translating literature, of the peculiarities of different languages with relation to gender, and a session on translation of the classics and the choices faced by the translator when dealing with thousand-year-old texts such as the Odyssey, the Bible or the Icelandic sagas – this year with a guest speaker from Norway. Lastly, we’ll hear how gender has played a role historically in different fields of the translation business.

 

FINLAND (SKTL)

© Hanna Oksanen / Turun yliopiston viestintä

The Finnish Association of Translators and Interpreters (http://www NULL.sktl NULL.fi/) (SKTL) is organizing an International Translation Day (ITD) event annually together with their partner organization Language Experts, on Friday 27 September. ITD is one of the main events of the year for both organizations, which means that they will be devoting their full attention to the event and its magnificent programme!

This year’s ITD, held at the University of Turku, is hosting almost 200 translators, interpreters and language experts, offering them a full day of interesting and inspirational lectures. In accordance with the UN’s International Year of Indigenous Languages, they have paid special attention to indigenous and minority languages in this year’s programme. There are, for example, two lectures on how translation maintains and supports the vitality of minority languages, especially the Sami languages in Finland. There will also be a lecture titled “Finnish language – from minority to majority”, and a half-signed, half-spoken language lecture on interpreting operas into Finnish sign language.

After the seminar all participants will be invited to a toast (or malja in Finnish, skål in Swedish), an ideal opportunity for the participants to catch up with old colleagues and make new acquaintances.

 

FRANCE (ATLF)

To celebrate International Translation Day, ATLF (Association des traducteurs littéraires de France (https://www NULL.atlf NULL.org/)) teamed up this year with the Parisian delegation of SFT (the union of technical translators), ATAA (association of audiovisual translators) and the language institute Inalco for the 2nd installment of «Traducto’Folies (http://www NULL.inalco NULL.fr/actualite/journee-mondiale-traduction-traducto-folies-inalco-28-septembre)», which took place on Saturday the 28th. This unprecedented festival, with both playful and educational overtones, aimed to create links between the French translators associations and all the trades related to  translation. The event included meetups with experts and professionals, panels and conferences, workshops, book signings and even a clown show ! It was followed by cocktails on a barge on the Seine.

 

ICELAND (THOT)

In Iceland a symposium is always held on International Translation Day, which also happens to be the 15th anniversary of the Icelandic Asssociation of Translators and Interpreters (http://www NULL.thot NULL.is/thot NULL.is/index NULL.html) – this year they turn 15!

Here is the Facebook event (https://www NULL.facebook NULL.com/events/502912137212016/) of the symposium, that is dedicated to drama translation this year.

 

POLAND (STL)

For the last 11 years EUNIC Warszawa and Polish Literary Translators Association (http://www NULL.stl NULL.org NULL.pl/) (Stowarzyszenie Tłumaczy Literatury) have celebrated International Translation Day together. The project always consists of two parts: lessons for Warsaw high school students led by literary translators and an evening event followed by a banquet. As this year is not only a celebration of ITD but is also the 10th anniversary of the Polish Literary Translators’ Association, they devised a more ambitious, diversified and – hopefully – interesting project. The main event takes place in the Centre for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle on Saturday, September 28th, from 12 am to 10 pm, and consists of the following events: a translation slam: one text, two translators explaining their choices in front of the public; round table discussions moderated by translators, linguists, philosophers, publishers, poets, literary critics, teachers and editors: Great Conversation about Translation; screening of 10 short films about translators; evening anniversary gala: 10 year retrospective of the association, awards for bloggers, vlogger, literary critics and organizations supporting and appreciating translators; “Grupa Studnia O. Storytellers” with a performance about Dragomans: translators mediating Eastern and Western Europe; a banquet; Travelling Book Exhibition: “Red Riding Hood” in 30 languages. The usual lessons for high school students take place on Monday, September 30th. The complete programme is here (http://stl NULL.org NULL.pl/mdt2019).

 

ROMANIA (ARTLIT)

This year, ARTLIT (http://www NULL.artlit NULL.ro/) is celebrating Translator’s Day with an informal meeting in Bucharest, so that members can get to relax, get to know each other better and enjoy the community. There will also be a book exchange called The Translator’s Copy, where members are invited to bring a copy of their work and swap with a book translated by a colleague.

Also, on 5th october, in Iași, ARTLIT will participate for the first time (yeah!) in the International Festival of Literature and Translation FILIT. This is the 6th edition of this well-known Romanian festival and this year will host the Association’s presentation on activities and advantages. The presentation is called Counterpoint: The Romanian Association of Literary Translators – ARTLIT, and will count on the participation of some of their members: Mariana Bărbulescu, Mihaela Buruiană, Bogdan Ghiu, Iulia Gorzo, Simina Răchițeanu, Ioana-Miruna Voiculescu.

 

SPAIN (ACE Traductores)

As in previous years, ACE Traductores (http://www NULL.ace-traductores NULL.org/) has organized different activities throughout Spain to celebrate International Translation Day on September 30th.

In Barcelona, translators Ana Alcaina and Patricia Antón de Vez, moderated by Helena Aguilà Ruzola, will explain what happens when a book ends up on the screen under the title “From the novel to the TV series: the literary translator’s perspective on TV fiction (https://ace-traductores NULL.org/actividad/dia-internacional-de-la-traduccion-2019-barcelona/)”.

Jaime Zulaika, Mónica Rubio and Ricardo Pochtar, moderated by Coralia Pose, will gather in Gijón to tell you about “All you always wanted to know about translation and no one ever told you (https://ace-traductores NULL.org/actividad/dia-internacional-de-la-traduccion-2019-gijon/)”.

The third round of the special live translation event will take place in Madrid. Sara Cano Fernández and José Luis Ajá Sánchez will show us that “Translation is not a child’s game (https://ace-traductores NULL.org/actividad/dia-internacional-de-la-traduccion-2019-madrid/)”.

Readers and translators in Málaga will have the opportunity to listen to Dolors Udina, presented by Vicente Fernández González, talking about some of her favourite female writers: “Translating for reading and reading for translating. A walk around the work of five female authors (https://ace-traductores NULL.org/actividad/dia-internacional-de-la-traduccion-2019-malaga/)”.

Reading translations is a way to approach lesser known cultures. That is why Elena Borrás, presented by Claudia Toda, will tackle such an interesting topic: “The translation of minority languages: translators and their role as cultural discoverers and promoters (https://ace-traductores NULL.org/actividad/dia-internacional-de-la-traduccion-2019-salamanca/)”.

And last but not least, also to celebrate ITD, the 50th issue of ACEtt’s magazine, Vasos Comunicantes (https://vasoscomunicantes NULL.ace-traductores NULL.org/), will be published for the first time in a brand new and electronic format.

 

SWEDEN

The Institute for Interpreting and Translation Studies at Stockholm University will invite the public to an event to the honour of St Jerome (https://www NULL.tolk NULL.su NULL.se/om-oss/evenemang/v%C3%A4lkommen-att-fira-hieronymusdagen-med-oss-1 NULL.452296#program) on Monday Sept 30.The celebration includes a presentation of the newly published book “Svensk språkflora” (eng: Swedish Language Flora), a manual for a multilingual society written by Morena Azbel Schmidt and Sofia Malmgård, and a lecture by the very well-known Kajsa Öberg Lindsten, Honorary Doctor and translator from Russian, with many awards for her translation of works by Andrej Platonov.

 

TURKEY (ÇEVBİR)

On 29 September the Turkish Association of Translators (https://cevbir NULL.org NULL.tr/) ÇEVBİR is organising an afternoon programme including public interviews with translators of fantasy fiction, philosophical texts and young adult literature. The event starts at 1.30 pm and takes place in Nâzım Hikmet Culture Centre in Istanbul.

The same day ÇEVBİR members will also organise a meeting in Nâzım Hikmet Cultural Centre in Ankara, starting at 5 pm.

For more information: https://twitter.com/Cevbir (https://twitter NULL.com/Cevbir)

 

 

 

UNITED KINGDOM (SoA TA)

To mark ITD 2019, English PEN will be hosting an event at Free Word in London exploring ‘Translating Today (https://www NULL.englishpen NULL.org/translation/international-translation-day-2019-translating-today/)’ – what it means to be a translator working in this moment, and what it means to attempt to translate it. This evening event will be preceded by daytime Translation Clinics, where translators can come with specific challenges (small or large) to discuss with experienced practitioners. The evening programme will start with a panel discussion, ‘Translating Today’, exploring practical and theoretical questions around contemporary translation, with a focus on the politics of translation. This will be followed by ‘Pitching Today’, in which three translators will pitch ideas pre-selected by publishers and editors. Finally, the evening will close with a translation party, where translators can network and meet with colleagues and editors.

In Edinburgh, there will be an event on ‘Celebrating Translation – The Many Hats Translators Wear (https://www NULL.eventbrite NULL.co NULL.uk/e/celebrating-translation-in-scotland-international-translation-day-tickets-71361775993)’. As translators, we all wear many hats, in and outside of translation, or as we move between different ‘genres’ of translation (technical, medical, commercial, literary, scientific, legal), not to mention the multiplicity of language combinations. A panel of speakers will have an informal discussion, with time for questions from the audience, followed by networking with refreshments generously sponsored by the Saltire Society.

 

 

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