By Rob Myatt
For literary translators working from and into English, the month of March can mean only one thing – London Book Fair. In its final year at the iconic Olympia in west London, this year’s fair was, as ever, a hive of meetings, networking, industry conversations and long overdue catch-ups with colleagues and friends.
The literary translators began their fair a day early, as always, with the Assembly of Literary Translators. Panellists included Paul Russell Garrett, former DELT chair and ambassador extraordinaire of all things Danish, who spoke about how translators write and talk about themselves, their work and their process.
Then on Tuesday, it was time for the fair proper. Housed for the second year in its own room, away from the hustle and bustle, the Literary Translation Centre again put on panels on a wide range of industry hot topics. The programme kicked off with a panel entitled ‘When Has a Translator Emerged?’, featuring Antonella Lettieri, Dr Alex Mepham and fellow DELTer and 2023 Emerging Translator mentee, Hazel Evans. The panel concluded that there is no one-size-fits-all answer to the question of emerging and that each chrysalis is unique – adding, however, that prizes and grants go a long way to accelerating the process, supporting translators both professionally and financially.
This was followed by a lively discussion to celebrate five years of the #TranslatorsOnTheCover campaign. While the consensus was that the labour of translators is still often overlooked or relegated to the margins, there is a growing body of evidence that changes are slowly happening and that the industry is also beginning to realise the benefits of including translators in their publicity efforts.
After a long first day of LBFing, several DELTers headed to a local watering hole to enjoy a Nordic Translators Dinner, an opportunity to cross the Øresund, Skaggerak and North Sea and mix it up with other northerly colleagues.
Wednesday morning called for a bit of respite from the mad rush of London Book Fair. DELTers met up outside the Literary Translation Centre for a coffee and kanelstang, a wonderful chance to catch up with members from far and wide, and to meet a few new (and prospective!) members.
From there, it was on to a panel on The Translator as an Asset, an event so popular it was standing room only. Dr Kotryna Garanasvili spoke to writer–translator Jeremy Tiang and publisher at Tilted Axis Press, Kristen Vida Alfaro, about the unpaid labour that translators often undertake – from researching and pitching new works, to acting as interpreter and intermediary between publisher and author. More enlightening, however, was Kristen Vida Alfaro’s explanation of the unpaid labour that goes into writing grant applications to fund translations. The conversation showed how important it is for both publishers and translators to be more open and transparent with one another around the entire process of producing a literary translation.
The last day of the fair was a chance to attend any final meetings, have one last coffee with friends and colleagues, and reflect on another fair well done, before heading to the pub for some well-deserved refreshment. It was certainly a send-off befitting the majesty of Olympia – it will be interesting to see if that same atmosphere can be recreated all the way across town at the Excel Centre next year.
”The conversation showed how important it is for both publishers and translators to be more open and transparent with one another around the entire process of producing a literary translation.
