ALTA isn’t quite like any other conference. If you’ve never been, please take a look at our Guide for First-Time ALTA Conference Attendees. 

Each year, around 500 ALTA members, literary translators, writers, students, readers, teachers, publishers, and other professionals from all regions of the United States and abroad gather for a vibrant three days in continually changing venues across the country, and, occasionally, in Canada and Mexico. For over forty years, the ALTA conference has provided the largest gathering dedicated exclusively to the work of literary translation. We hope to see you at the next conference!

The wide range of activities that attendees can participate in includes:

• Panels and roundtables on all aspects of literary translation
• The Annual Alexis Levitin Bilingual Reading Series, which includes recently published translations and translations-in-progress
• Individual consultations with editors
• Workshops that focus on translation strategies and techniques for specific languages and genres, e.g., Spanish poetry
• An exhibit of books featuring recently published translations of literature from around the world

Additionally, conference attendees are invited to attend the keynote speaker presentation(s); the ALTA Awards reception where the NTA, Stryk, IPTA, and SUFTA award winners are announced; the ALTA Travel Fellows reading; the ALTA Emerging Translator Mentorship presentations; and other events. Attendees take advantage of the many opportunities to network and get to know each other, including at the much-beloved Declamación, a night of performance featuring the recitation of literary translations from memory (more or less!).

In short, the ALTA Annual Conference remains a refreshingly collegial gathering of amateurs and professionals alike, both within the profession and outside it, all wholeheartedly committed to fostering, furthering, and supporting the practice of literary translation.

Upcoming Conferences

• ALTA46: November 8-11, 2023, Tucson, AZ
• ALTA47: TBC
• ALTA48: November 5-8, 2025, Tucson, AZ

Past Conferences

Archives of past conference materials can be found in the Conference Archive. 

Attendee Terms & Conditions

Please click here to view the ALTA conference Attendee Terms & Conditions.