Translating Welsh literature for the Indian book market

30th November - 4th December
Ty Newydd National Writers Centre
Gwynedd, Wales

Ty Cyfieithu Cymru / Translators' House Wales holds its first residential course at the end of 2009. The five-day Literature and Translation workshop will be held at the Ty Newydd National Writers Centre for Wales and will focus on translating literature from Wales for the Indian publishing market and will be led by Sioned Puw Rowlands, Director of Wales Literature Exchange and Alexandra Büchler, Director of Literature Across Frontiers.

It follows on from the Writers' Chain project earlier in 2009 which brought together four poets from the UK and four poets from India. Writers' Chain was managed by Wales Literature Exchange on behalf of the British Council and Wales Arts International. Ty Cyfieithu Cymru / Translators House Wales is a new partnership between Ty Newydd and Wales Literature Exchange.

Ljubljana Book Launch

27 November 2009, at 8pm
Slovenska kinoteka, Ljubljana

Launch of Moral bi spet priti, Sodobna evropska gejevska poezija (Contemporary European Gay Poetry) anthology

The anthology of gay poetry in Slovenian translation, edited by Brane Mozetič and published by Lambda, is launched during the 25th Festival of Gay and Lesbian Film in Ljubljana. With Franco Buffoni (Italy), Mátyás Dunajcsik (Hungary), Niels Frank (Denmark), Markus Hediger (Switzerland), Gašper Malej (Slovenia), Michael Roes (Germany), Lawrence Schimel (Spain), Milan Šelj (Slovenia/UK) and Gregory Woods (UK). Moderated by Brane Mozetič, translation by Andrej Zavrl.

Poetry Translation Workshop, Latvia

23th – 28th November
Ventspils and Riga

A translation workshop with Xavier Farré (Catalonia), Bartosz Konstrat (Poland), Ingmāra Balode, Kārlis Vērdiņš (Latvia) and Donatas Petrošius, Artūras Valionis (Lithuania). The week will end with a reading at Satori Bookshop, (Lāčplēsa iela 31) on Saturday 28th November, 18:00 – 19:30.

The workshop is co-organised by Literature Across Frontiers and Latvian Literature Centre with financial support from the Culture programme of the European Union, the Latvian Cultural Foundation and Institut Ramon Llull.

Istanbul Book Fair

31th October – 3rd November
TUYAP
Istanbul

In the fourth year of a continuing partnership with the Istanbul Book Fair (TUYAP), LAF returns with a collective stand and a host of events including readings from the Word Express writers. This year LAF is working in partnership with Kalem Agency to launch the first Istanbul Tanpinar Literature Festival. See the festival programme here.

Word Express in Istanbul

30th Oct - 3rd November
Istanbul

Word Express is a groundbreaking project for literary exchange in South Eastern Europe. Writers and translators from across the region have been on three incredible journeys – they meet in Istanbul on the 30th of October. Hear stories and poetry from their travels as part of the Istanbul Book Fair and the inaugural Istanbul Tanpınar Literature Festival. Visit the new Word Express website to find out more: www.word-express.org

Poetry in Conflict Zones at the Sha'ar International Poetry Festival

29th - 31st October, Tel Aviv

Following the Poetry in Conflict Zones workshop, Neshe Yashin (Cyprus), Senadin Musabegovic (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Gearoid McLochlainn (Northern Ireland), Robert Minhinnick (Wales) and Naim Araidi, Tal Nitzan, Rafi Weichert and Marwan Makhoul (Israel) read their work and debate at the Sha'ar International Poetry Festival organised by Helicon.

With support from LAF and the Bi-Arts Programme of the British Council.

Poetry in Conflict Zones Workshop

24th - 28th October 2009
Beit Daniel, Zichron Yaakov, Israel

How do poets write in situations of conflict? Is there a poetics that expresses, reflects on and ultimately has the potential to heal social, political, lingustic and ethnic divisions? Poets from divided cities, countries and regions discuss and translate the poetry of conflict. With Neshe Yashin (Cyprus), Senadin Musabegovic (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Gearoid McLochlainn (Northern Ireland), Robert Minhinnick (Wales) and Naim Araidi, Tal Nitzan, Rafi Weichert and Marwan Makhoul (Israel).

Organised by LAF in cooperation with Helicon Society for the Advancement of Poetry in Israel with support from the Bi-Arts Programme of the British Council.

Frankfurt Book Fair 2009

The Literature Across Frontiers network will hold its annual meeting at the Frankfurt Book Fair, 2009. LAF is also proud to present its annual translation event:

India Translated
Translators’ Centre, Hall 5, Frankfurt Book Fair
Thursday, 15 October 2009, 12.30 – 13.30

India is known mainly for its literature written in English. But with a rich and multilingual literary tradition the subcontinent has far more to offer. In our age of global communication Indian publishers face the challenge of not only translating writing from around the world, but also of facilitating literary exchange among its own many literary communities. With Renuka Chatterjee (Westland), Ravi DC (DC Books) and Rakesh Kumar Khanna (Blaft Publications). Moderated by Akshay Pathak (German Book Office, New Delhi). Presented by Literature Across Frontiers.

Lots in Translation, Seminar for Indian Literary Translators

Taj Green Cove, Kovalam, Trivandrum
8th October, 4pm - 6pm

The German Book Office (GBO) and Literature Across Frontiers (LAF) organise a translation seminar, focusing on the various practical aspects of translation. With input from GBO, LAF and publisher Kannan Sundaram. Hosted by Akshay Pathak as part of the Kovalam Literary Festival.

www.kovalamlitfest.com
www.gbo-newdelhi.org

Translators' Meet, New Delhi

6th October, 3pm - 5pm
German Book Office,
3 Rajdoot Marg, 1st floor
Chanakyapuri, New Delhi-110021

This meeting will be a discussion, organised by LAF and the German Book Office, focussing on the status and working conditions of literary translators in Europe, giving examples of best practice in the relationship between translators and publishers, and of the infrastructures providing support for professional translators.

www.kovalamlitfest.com
www.gbo-newdelhi.org

Poetry Translation Workshop and Seminar in Algeria

Bejaia,
1st-9th October 

LAF continues its cooperation with the Algerian cultural association Cadmos following last year’s successful poetry translation workshop and readings in Algiers, dedicated to the late poet Djamal Amrani. This year’s seminar takes place in the coastal town of Bejaia and includes a debate at Bejaia University on the cultural consequences of the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.

With Rose-Marie François (Belgium), Krassimir Kavaldijev (Bulgaria/France), Lambert Schlecter (Luxembourg), Hélène Dorion (Québéc), Henri Deluy (France) and Algerian poets Miloud Hakim, Brahim Tazaghart, Samira Negrouche and academics Naget Khadda and Yamilé Haraoui Ghebalou.

Meeting for Welsh and Indian Publishers

28th September,
Aberystwyth, Wales

Publishers from Wales are being invited to meet a representative of the publishing industry from India in Wales this September. Urvashi Butalia of Zuban Books will discuss her work and publishing in India with Transcript Editor Francesca Rhydderch. The event is organised by Wales Literature Exchange and Literature Across Frontiers. "As independent publishers working within and alongside a mainstream language, Indian and Welsh publishers often share similar experiences," Sioned Puw Rowlands, Director of Wales Literature Exchange said. "We are very pleased that Urvashi Butalia has been able to come to Wales and we hope that publishers will be able to take advantage of this opportunity to build links with a key representative from India's book industry."

The meeting is the latest in a series of events linking Wales and India. Earlier this year, poet Mererid Hopwood was one of four writers from the UK who travelled to India as part of the Writers' Chain project.

Malta Festival of Mediterranean Literature

10th - 12th September,
MITP Courtyard, Old University, St. Christopher Street, Valletta,
from 8pm

Founded by Inizjamed and LAF in 2007, this year  the Malta Festival of Mediterranean Literature will see its third edition. It follows on from an annual translation workshop in which some of the featured authors will participate.

Workshop writers Fatena Alghorra (Gaza, Palestine), Norbert Bugeja (Malta), Mohammed El Amraoui (France), Mimmo Grasso (Italy), Valter Hugo Mãe (Portugal) and Alex Vella Gera (Malta) will be joined by two special guests at the festival, the distinguished Catalan writer, poet and critic Marta Pessarodona and the Maltese poet Daniel Massa.

An evening with Metropoetica

Sunday 6th September
Club Gajo, Ljubljana, 8pm

Metropoetica presents poems, translations, multilingual collaborations and visuals on the theme of the city. Join us for readings by Julia Fiedorczuk (Poland), Sigurbjörg Ţrastardóttir (Iceland), Ingmara Balode (Latvia), Sanna Karlström (Finland), Zoë Skoulding (Wales) and Ana Pepelnik (Slovenia).

To find out more about the project visit www.metropoetica.org.

Metropoetica: a Poetry Walk

Wednesday 2nd September, Ljubljana 

Ana Pepelnik, Sigurbjorg Thrastardottir, Ingmara Balode, Sanna Karlström, Julia Fiedorczuk and Zoë Skoulding have been writing and translating poetry in response to six different cities. They invite you to join them in a walk around Ljubljana, making a poetry map of the city. Discoveries and connections made on this walk will become part of their performance on Sunday 6th September in Club Gajo, 8pm.

Revolutionary Europe Poetry Translation Workshop in Scotland

 24th - 30th August, Crear and Edinburgh

This year marks the twentieth anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall, and its consequences for Europe, as well as the 250th anniversary of the birth of Robert Burns. Translated into many European languages, Burns’s poetry is cherished for its celebration of love, friendship and democracy: ‘Its comin yet for a’ that, /That Man to Man the warld o’er, / Shall brothers be for a’ that.’

With Burns in mind, and the revolutions of 1989, this translation workshop brings together poets from Scotland, Germany, Hungary and Poland to look at translations of Burns in their own languages, to update some of these, and to bring their own poems on Burns’s themes to exchange and translate. The particiants will give a reading at the Edinburgh Book Festival on Sunday 30th August at 4:30pm.

With Donny O’Rourke (Scotland), Michael Augustin and Sujata Bhatt (Germany), Wojciech Bonowicz (Poland), Ioana Ieronim (Romania).

Poetry Translation Workshop in Slovakia

16th - 23rd August 2009, Banská Štiavnica

The first LAF poetry translation workshop in Slovakia is held in the historic town of Banská Štiavnica in cooperation with the Centre for Information on Slovak Literature (LIC) and the 7th francophone festival Cap a l'Est. With Samira Negrouche (Algeria),  Nune Abrahamyan  (Armenia), Mária Ferenčuhová (Slovakia), Daniel Jonas (Portugal), Ibrahim Spahić (Bosnia) and Marcell Szabó (Hungary)

Public readings in Banská Štiavnica: 19 August , at 15:00 at Libresso Cafe and 20 August, at 17:00 at Art Cafe

The workshop is supported by LIC, LAF and DGLB (Directorate of Books and Libraries of the Portuguese Ministry of Culture. 

Asko Künnap at the Ledbury Poetry Festival

9.30pm – 11pm, 11th July.
Burgage Hall. £5

Literature Across Frontiers is bringing the multi-talented Estonian poet, designer and illustrator Asko Künnap to the Ledbury Poetry festival. He will be hosting an open mic with Daljit Nagra and Jo Bell. (Bring your own drinks, corkscrews and glasses provided).

Polish Poets at the Ledbury Poetry Festival

2nd – 5th July
Dublin, Ledbury, London

LAF is taking three of the Six Polish Poets published by Arc Publications on tour. Anna Piwkowska, Darius Suska and Maciej Wozniak will be reading at the EU House in Dublin on the 2nd of July. They will then be appearing at the Ledbury Poetry Festival on Sunday 5th of July. The tour is organised by Literature Across Frontiers in cooperation with the Polish Book Institute, the Ledbury Poetry Festival, the Polish Cultural Institute in London and the Polish Embassy in Dublin.

Poetry Unlimited at Poesiefestival Berlin

1st – 5th July
Berlin

LAF partners up with Literaturwerkstatt to kick off the project Poetry Unlimited, an itinerant festival of experimental poetry. The festival pays homage to the key experimental poetry directions of the past while taking poetry into new realms of interaction with other art forms and new technology. Poetry Unlimited is produced in partnership with the Latvian Literature Centre, Literatturwerkstatt and Propost. More information will be available on the Literaturwerkstatt website ww.literaturwerkstatt.org.

LAF partners visit the Bucharest Book Fair

18th – 21st June
Bucharest

The institutional partners of the LAF platform will hold their next meeting in Bucharest on the invitation of the National Book Centre of Romania. Representatives of the partner organisations will also meet with Romanian publishers of literature in translation and promote their activities at the Bucharest Book Fair.

Women's Translation Workshop, Slovenia

7th – 14th June
Dane, Ljubljana

In cooperation with the Center for Slovenian Literature and the Living Literature Festival in Ljubljana, LAF is holding a translation workshop with some of Europe’s most interesting and exciting female writers: poet Anna T. Szabó (Hungary), poet Ioana Ieronim (Romania), poet Mirela Sula (Strugaj) (Albania), poet Monica Pavani (Italy), short story writer Suzana Tratnik (Slovenia) and poet Thórunn Valdimarsdóttir (Iceland).

The workshop is facilitated by Suzana Tratnik and Brane Mozetič from the Center for Slovenian Literature. This meeting of minds, languages and voices will take place in the village of Dane in Western Slovenia, where on Thursday the 11th June at 6pm there will be a reading at Reading at Sežana Library (www.sez.sik.si). And on Friday the 12th and Saturday the 13th of June at 8pm the writers will read at the Living Literature Festival in Ljubljana (www.skuc.org).

Cunda International Workshop for Translators of Turkish Literature

1st – 11th June
Cunda Island, Turkey

Bogazici University and the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Turkey in partnership with Literature Across Frontiers develop the Cunda Workshop for translators of Turkish Literature. Twenty participants mainly translating into English discuss and translate during this intensive encounter between translators and authors.

Festival of the European Short Story

1st - 3rd June - Zagreb, Croatia
4th - 6th June - Zadar, Croatia

At this year's festival, Literature Across Frontiers continues its focus on writing and conflict with a debate between two writers who believe in peace and dialogue: Alex Epstein (Israel) and Samir El-Youssef (Lebanon/UK). On Monday 1st June at 6pm, at the Booksa, Martićeva 14 D, in Zagreb.

The Welsh author Rachel Trezise will also be appearing at the festival with LAF support. A full programme will be available online in May. 

Athens International Literary Festival

29th – 31st May
Dasein philosophy cafe
Solomou 12, Exarheia

This is the second year of this growing literary festival in Athens and LAF is delighted to be a partner. The programme includes readings and events focussing on literature in relation to science, cinema, history, art and biography.

Thessaloniki International Book Fair

28th - 31st May
Helexpo, Hall 13, Ritsos Room

This year LAF will be holding a collective stand representing organisations from the Basque Country, Catalonia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia and Wales. On Thursday 28th of May LAF will be holding three events celebrating the collaborative and imaginative diversity of European writing: The Double Dream Of Writing: two acts between poetry and fiction, with Christos Chryssopoulos and Haris Vlavianos, 1989 – 2009 Twenty Years Since the Fall of the Berlin Wall with With Nora Ikstena (Latvia), Svetislav Basara (Serbia), Gustav Murin (Slovakia) and Dan Lungu (Romania) and Stories of Something Former: Literature of the Past Tense at the Underground Entefktirio.

Estonian-German Translators’ Workshop

25th – 30th May
Visby, Estonia

LAF continues its commitment to developing translation skills and fostering young translators working in less-widely spoken languages. This workshop, hosted by the Baltic Centre for Writers and Translators in Visby, will enable eight talented participants to independently translate Estonian texts into German. In partnership with the Estonian Literature Centre, the programme includes workshops with an emphasis on practical translation skills, alongside lectures on literary translation, the publishing business, the Estonian language and literature.

Bookworld International Prague Book Fair / Svět knihy 2009

14th – 17th May
Industrial Palace, Prague

Partner organisations from the following countries will be represented at the LAF collective stand S204: The Basque Country, Catalonia, Estonia, Finland, Galicia, Flanders-Belgium, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Portugal, Slovenia, Turkey and Wales.

At this year's fair LAF is co-organising the programme 27 from 27 / Europe in Literature - Literature in Europe which has been granted the status of Official Event of the Czech Presidency of the Council of the European Union. In a series of events which also look back at the twenty years since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, writers from EU member and candidate countries will be presenting their work and taking part in discussions on life in a united Europe, questions of identity and diversity in European literatures, and recent trends on the European literary scenes. Among the authors attending the fair are Nicolas Ancion, Saskia de Coster, Georgi Gospodinov, Arnon Grunberg, Ingo Schultze and Elif Shafak.

Read more about the book fair programme at www.bookworld.cz or click below for LAF events 

London International Book Fair

20th – 22nd April
Earls Court 

Visit the LAF collective stand (V405) with participation from the Hungarian Book Foundation, Latvian Literature Centre and Directorate of Books and Libraries, Portugal.

Passa Porta Festival

26th - 29th March
Brussels
www.passaporta.be

Find a radical and imaginative response to global issues at this year’s Passa Porta Festival. LAF is cooperating on Remapping the World – a multi-genre experience featuring ten authors (including Nawal el Sadawi, Elif Shafak and Joseph O’Neil) and promoting  European Constitution in Verse presented by The Brussels Poetry Collective and over 40 writers, at the Prague Book World book fair in May.

Abu Dhabi Book Fair

17th – 22nd March
Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Company

Over the past two years, LAF has established contacts outside Europe in order to facilitate literary exchange and mutual promotion of literature between the countries of its European partners and countries in the region of the Southern Mediterranean and the Middle East. This will be LAF’s third visit to the Abu Dhabi Book Fair where we will meet with Arab publishers and promote the translation subsidies offered by our partners.

Twenty EU countries with their translation subsidy schemes will be represented at the LAF stand.

LAF Director Alexandra Büchler speaks in the seminar “Spotlight on Rights” on 18th March.

Abu Dhabi Book Fair

17th – 22nd March
Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Grounds
Stand 9D01

Over the past three years, LAF has established contacts outside Europe in order to facilitate literary exchange and mutual promotion of literature between the countries of its European partners and countries in the region of the Southern Mediterranean and the Middle East. This will be LAF’s fourth visit to the Abu Dhabi Book Fair where we will meet with Arab publishers and promote the translation subsidies offered by our partners from fifteen European countries.

Czech Poets Tour

11th March 1pm, Manchester Central Library, Manchester
11th March 7pm, Blue Sky Café, Bangor
12th March 7pm, Foyles Bookshop, London

Arc Publications’ New Voices from Europe and Beyond series presents Six Czech Poets, the third volume in the series of bilingual anthologies brings the work of contemporary poets from Europe and beyond to a wider English-language readership. The series aims to keep a finger on the 'here and now' of international contemporary poetry. Viola Fischerová, Petr Halmay and Pavel Kolmačka will be in Manchester, Bangor and London to present work from the book.

Bards in Brussels

3rd March 8pm
19.15pm for a drinks reception
Passaporta International House of Literature,
Brussels
www.passaporta.be

Poets from Wales, Scotland, England and Ireland will be gathering on St. David’s Day eve for a special celebration of literature at the Passa Porta International Literature Centre in Brussels.

Poets will be performing their work through the medium of English, Gaelic and Welsh (with translations on-screen where available and appropriate). The guests will discuss identity and belonging, living and writing through so-called minority languages and the plurality of literary traditions and practices in different cultures and tongues.

The evening will be chaired by Robyn Marsack, Director of the Scottish Poetry Library and the visiting poets will be Ifor Ap Glyn (Wales) Aonghas Macneacail (Scotland) Antony Dunn (England) and Damian Gorman (Northern Ireland).

The event is being organised by the Welsh Assembly Government, the Scottish Government, the British Council and the Scottish Poetry Library. LAF is pleased to be a partner in this exciting event.

Art & Conflict Workshop

23rd – 28th February
Manchester, United Kingdom

The Art & Conflict workshop will bring together a group of artists from the Middle East, Turkey, Morocco and different European countries to address the role of art and culture in conflict situations through discussion and collaborative work. Among the workshop participants are Isa Andreu (Spain/Catalonia), Mariane Cosserat (France/Norway), Saïd Ait El Moumen (Morocco), Secil Yaylali (Turkey), Rotem Ritov (Israel), and the Manchster-based artists Kate Feld, Heidi Schaefer and Jo Richardson.

Invited to join them for a one-day round-table discussion are practitioners who have experience with conflict-zone projects: Samir El-Youssef, writer and co-author with Etgar Keret of the highly acclaimed book Gaza Blues; Aisling O’Beirn, artist (Northern Ireland); Claudia Eipeldauer, Wochenklauser (Vienna), and Toyah Hunting from the Ask Sarajevo project.

Stories From the Heart of Europe - Launch

28th – 30th January,
Cairo and Alexandria

LAF continues its project - European Literature Today - with an event organised in cooperation with the Centre for Information on Slovak Literature. We help celebrate the launch of a new anthology of fiction in Arabic translation Stories from the Heart of Europe, edited by Ina Martinova and published by the Sphinx Agency.

The book is a project of the Centre and Ministries and includes contributions from Jan Balabán and  Stanislav Beran (Czech Republic), Margit Halász  and  Szilárd Podmanitzky (Hungary), Pawel Huelle  and  Daniel Odija (Poland), Karol Horváth  and  Ursula Kovalyk (Slovakia). It is edited by Pál Békés and Ina Martinová (chief editors), with Ivory Rodriguez and Piotr Marciszuk. The authors and editors will visit Cairo and Alexandria to launch this landmark anthology of short stories.

Writers’ Chain Project – India

14th - 24th January
Neemrana and Jaipur

LAF is facilitating literary creativity and cultural exchange in India this January, bringing together Indian and British writers at the Jaipur Literature Festival, 2009 as part of he Writers’ Chain Project. Indian writers Sampurna Chattarji, Kynpham Sing Nongkynrih, Sivasankari and Udaya Narayana Singh will meet four UK poets Meg Bateman, Matthew Hollis, Mererid Hopwood and Gearóid Mac Lochlainn for a week at the Neemrana Fort-Palace Hotel to discover and explore each other’s work through translation. The workshop is facilitated by Alexandra Büchler who will also present the authors at the festival on 21st January 5-6pm, (Baithak).
The Writers' Chain Project is managed by Wales Literature Exchange in association with Siyahi Agency on behalf of Wales Arts International.