After twenty years students in the Netherlands and Flanders can again follow an academic course in literary translation. The new master’s programme, launched last September, is an international joint programme of Utrecht University (the Netherlands) and the University of Leuven (Belgium). It is the first two-year programme at master’s level in Europe teaching literary translation combined with research into the subject. Utrecht University offers a two-year, full-time research master’s. Leuven University in Flanders has a one-year master’s course in Translation, followed by a postgraduate degree in Literary Translation. The staff of the new programme report high student interest.
The transnational programme provides for the exchange of both students and teaching staff. The translation profession is represented in the programme by a Translator-in-Residence and by other leading professional literary translators. Rokus Hofstede, renowned literary translator from French, will be the first Translator-in-Residence.
Although the programme’s present emphasis is on translating into Dutch (hence the participation of two universities from different parts of the language area), the intention is to expand the master’s scope and start co-operation with other European partners.
The programme was developed with financial support from the Dutch Language Union. The Literary Foundations of both countries are partners in the programme, funding annual talent bursaries for the top four students in the final year of the course, among other things.
More information about the Master’s programme in Utrecht and the two-year programme in Leuven can be found here (http://www NULL.masterliterairvertalen NULL.eu/).