ALTA46: The Place of Translation

ALTA46: The Place of Translation

November 8-11, 2023
Tucson Marriott University Park Hotel, Tucson, AZ

logo for ALTA46We are excited to welcome you to the return of ALTA's full in-person conference this fall! The theme for ALTA's 46th conference is "The Place of Translation." Please read on to find out how you can get involved and submit a proposal, and we also invite you to find all the information you need on our separate web pages for Registration, About Tucson, Hotel and Travel, and Accessibility (in the menu to the left).

ALTA's virtual events are now listed on a separate page. Read more here.

get involved

ALTA46 schedule-at-a-glance

view the ALTA46 Program Book

ALTA46 Roundtable Participants and program Errata

Theme and Call for Proposals - ALTA46: The Place of Translation

What is the translator’s place within a body of literature, and how do we, as translators, navigate our place? How do translators share space with authors, editors, and audiences? Place is not only static, but dynamic: just as languages do not remain fixed in place, the place of translation is also constantly shifting and evolving. How does translation sit within and move across visible boundaries and invisible barriers? In what ways are we as translators grounded and supported, and in what ways are we trying to break free from what is deemed to be our place?

The ALTA46 theme “The Place of Translation” provides an opportunity to explore questions of placement, replacement, displacement, positioning, transnationalism, in-betweenness, out-of-placeness, and representation, as well as the place and irreplaceability of translation and translators in the literary world and culture at large.

We welcome panels, readings, and roundtables that approach the theme “The Place of Translation,” broadly defined. Proposals might address anything from translating place to how translators find our place in the process of getting our work published, to how we place our work and emphasize its importance to those unfamiliar with the culture. Proposals might consider how the world of literary translation, and the literary world as a whole, can become a more inclusive space, or how to break the existing constraints of space or observe translation’s place from outside of the translation world.

Some possible areas to explore include:

  • Translating the specificities of place;
  • The intersections between language and place;
  • Translating marginalized literature;
  • Translating from a place of multiple belongings;
  • The place of translation and translators in the world;
  • Places prioritized and underrepresented in translation;
  • The placement, displacement, replacement, and misplacement of texts, languages, translation, and translators;
  • Navigating and negotiating the role of translators, the landscape and place of translation, and ways to place or acknowledge our work in the publishing world;
  • The place of organizations, collectives, and other support communities for translators;
  • Breaking the constrained space imposed on translators and works in translation;
  • Creating a more inclusive space for the production and reception of translation.

Special Thanks to our ALTA46 Partners

A composite image of the ALTA46 sponsor logos

PEN America

Key Dates in 2023

  • March 14: The call for session proposals opens, conference registration rates announced, bilingual reading signups open
  • June 20: Panel/roundtable proposal deadline
  • July 25: Registration opens
  • July 31: Bilingual Reading Signup deadline
  • September 30: Early bird registration closes
  • October 23: Online registration closes
  • November 8-11: ALTA46