networking
Providing opportunities for networking and creation of new contacts is one of our main objectives. The LAF network brings together a range of partners based in Europe and beyond, including a core network of key national institutions and organisations engaged in the international promotion of literature, books and translation. Complementing this core network are partners such as literary festivals, book fairs, literary magazines and publishers committed to the advancement of international literary exchange and the promotion of literature in translation. The LAF network of national institutions meets at least twice a year to discuss common aims and policy issues, and to plan joint activities.

debates, seminars and conferences
LAF organises public debates, seminars and conferences on subjects related to the production and publishing of literature in translation, the training and status of literary translators, international cooperation in the field of books and literature, and relevant cultural policy and financing.

research, documentation & information
LAF is active in the field of European policy development and is represented in several key networks and bodies such as the advocacy organisation Culture Action Europe, the Anna Lindh Foundation Network where LAF contributes to the development of a translation strategy for the Euro-Mediterranean cultural space, and on the Translation Working Group of the EU Multilingualism Platform. Our research work includes collection and analysis of data on the publishing of literary translations, and the monitoring of European, national and regional literature and translation policies and relevant financing. The resulting comparative study Making Literature Travel: support for literary exchange and translation in Europe and other documents can be found on the LAF website.

international literary and book events
LAF cooperates with a number of literature festivals and participates in international book fairs with collective stands and displays, making it possible for partner organisations to increase their visibility, present their activities and promote their support schemes to publishers and translators. We aim to raise awareness of lesser-known literatures and issues related to their translation and publishing by organising readings and round table debates at international events with writers, translators, editors of literary magazines and websites, literary promoters and publishers.

translation skills development
LAF contributes to translation skills development, fostering cross-cultural literary collaboration and creation of new writing and translations through short-term projects involving writers and translators in residential workshop situations. Developing models for recruitment and training of literary translators working from the less-widely used languages of Europe is another initiative of the LAF programme.

writing and translation workshops
LAF poetry translation workshops bring together poets from a variety of linguistic backgrounds to explore each other’s work through translation via a bridge language. Every year, we organise some six poetry translation workshops in different countries. The workshops have so far generated several thousand poetry translations which have been published in magazines and online. In addition to translation workshops, we also organise cross-cultural writing workshops.

projects
Apart from its regular activities, LAF initiates and manages large, longer-term projects: the Sealines project connected European port cities through writers’ residencies; Metropoetica is a project focusing on women’s poetry inspired by urban spaces; Word Express took young writers from South-East Europe on a train journey through the Balkans to Istanbul, the Cross Border Art project explored the role of culture in conflict situations, and Poetry Unlimited is a travelling festival showcasing experimental approaches to producing and performing poetry.

publications
LAF cooperates with other organisations, literary magazines and publishers on the publication of literature in translation into the languages of Europe, as well as Arabic, Turkish and some Asian languages. One of its on-going projects is the contemporary poetry series in English translation, New Voices from Europe and Beyond, from Arc Publications.

www.transcript-review.org
Transcript: Europe’s Online Review of International Writing, published by LAF, is a tri-lingual internet magazine featuring fiction, poetry, essays, articles, interviews, reviews and reports on literary and book events translated into English, French and German. Discovering new voices in translation, exploring and interconnecting literary scenes, Transcript brings exciting new international writing to its readers, wherever they are.