TUCSON, Arizona (March 24, 2025) – After six years of fruitful partnership, the American Literary Translators Association (ALTA) and the College of Humanities (CoH) at the University of Arizona have decided to end our affiliation agreement. This decision, reached amicably and after careful consideration, will take effect at the end of the current academic year. 

For most ALTA members and CoH faculty and staff, the changes will be minimal. While ALTA’s offices will relocate off the University of Arizona campus, the 2025 conference will still be held in Tucson as planned this November 5–8. We also intend for collaborations between our two institutions to continue, albeit under new auspices.

In 2018, the CoH and ALTA signed a four-year affiliation agreement. As part of this agreement, the CoH provided office space, staffing support, administrative support, and funding; and ALTA agreed to hold its annual conference in Tucson on alternate years, and to work to turn Tucson into a hub for international literature in translation. After the disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic, the agreement was extended for a further two years. 

ALTA and the CoH are deeply grateful to one another for these years of partnership. The affiliation brought the United States’ largest gathering of literary translators to Tucson on three occasions, in 2021, 2022 and 2023. We also boasted numerous successes, such as public events at the Tucson Humanities Festival, standing-room-only public readings at the Poetry Center, and classroom visits by eminent translators. Multiple U of A Graduate Assistants and undergraduate social media interns have helped to bring ALTA’s news and programming to our community, while gaining experience working for a nonprofit arts organization. We have built deep relationships between our two institutions and throughout Tucson that are certain to last.

Now we feel we have outgrown the structures of the original affiliation agreement, and that partnering as independent institutions will allow us more flexibility and creativity in the future. We hope that by moving into a new phase of collaboration, we can build on the achievements of the last six years. 

Today we celebrate our accomplishments together and move into this new stage as friends and collaborators. We look forward to continuing our work to raise the profile of world-class literature in translation here in Tucson and around the world.

Questions? Members are invited to join the 2025 Membership Meeting for additional updates on ALTA’s plans.

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The American Literary Translators Association is a nonprofit arts membership association that provides programs and professional affiliation to the literary translation community: individual translators, academic institutions, presses, and others working in literary translation. The annual ALTA conference and year-round events are structured around the creation of high-quality art. ALTA also administers awards to recognize excellence in translation and provides fellowships and mentorships to support emerging translators. 

The College of Humanities at the University of Arizona is home to fourteen academic programs, ten centers and institutes, and one transdisciplinary hub. A common thread linking the many departments and programs in the College of Humanities is the contributions they make to our understanding of human societies. By developing innovative strategies for teaching that employ digital-age as well as traditional technologies, and by supporting cutting-edge research, the College offers a context and a location for the vibrant conversations that create intellectual community. In this way, COH continues to contribute economically, culturally, and socially to Arizona, the nation, and to international, multilingual, and transcultural understanding.