Collectives of Literary Translators Affiliated with ALTA

Collectives of Literary Translators Affiliated with ALTA

The collectives of ALTA-affiliated literary translators which have organized themselves in the United States and abroad have chosen several different organizational models: some organize translation events, others workshop or serve as an agency (see ‘Description’). Some welcome new members, others prefer to remain as they are. Several of the collectives interviewed each other for the ALTA blog in 2019, and the interviews are linked below.

Do you have a collective of literary translators you would like to add to this list? Please contact info@literarytranslators.org.

Interested in starting a literary translators’ collective where you live? Find out which ALTA members live near you by navigating to our Member Database and searching by City or State.

Learn More About Collectives of Literary Translators Affiliated with ALTA:

Collective: Austin LitSIG
Description: AATIA's Literary Special Interest Group, around since the 1990s, meets bimonthly at a local bookstore to workshop translations and proposals, explore general topics related to literary translation, and share member news. We welcome and support aspiring and established translators from all languages and anyone interested in or curious about literary translation. We also host readings and events and co-host an annual International Translation Day event with AATIA.
Location: Austin, Texas
Contact: Kristin Siracusa Fisher (kristin@ksftranslation.com)
Website: https://aatia.org/
New members: yes

Collective: Boston-Area Literary Translators
Description: We meet every 1–2 months at a different member's home where, over a pot-luck lunch or dinner, we read and discuss selections from our translations, talk about translation matters in general, ask for and give advice, share information and experiences, make announcements, and celebrate each other's accomplishments.
Location: Boston area
Contact: Mark Schafer (BelBagay@gmail.com)
Website: none
New members: yes
Read more about Boston-Area Literary Translators on the ALTA Blog

Collective: Cedilla & Co.
Description: The members of Cedilla & Co. pool our knowledge and resources in support of translations and translators. We provide top-quality literary translations and market intelligence across the world’s languages and literatures. Our innovative model offers unprecedented access to the most urgent voices from around the world.
Location: New York City
Contact: info@cedilla.company
Website: http://www.cedilla.company/about/
New members: no
Read more about Cedilla & Co. on the ALTA Blog

Collective: DC-ALT
Description: Our mission is to foster a community of literary translators and to promote the art of literary translation in the greater Washington, DC, area. We hold monthly meetings and events, and co-sponsor the annual Confluences translation conference with Montgomery College.
Location: Washington, DC
Contact: Yvette Neisser (yvette.neisser@gmail.com), Carol Volk (carolvolk@rocketmail.com)
Website: https://dc-alt.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/DC.ALT
Join Our Listserv: https://tinyletter.com/dc-alt
New members: yes
Read more about DC-ALT on the ALTA Blog

Collective: Emergent Translators Collective
Description: We’re a micro press / workshop / writing collective that supports translators as they put out limited-edition prints, chapbooks, broadsides, and ephemera.
Location: Ann Arbor, Michigan
Contact: Megan Berkobien (mmberkobien@gmail.com)
Website: https://translatorscollective.org/
New members: yes
Read more about Emergent Translators Collective on the ALTA Blog

Collective: Northwest Literary Translators
Description: The Northwest Literary Translators are a plucky troop of aspiring and established literary translators living in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. We have a loosely organized core membership of about ten people, but we’ve been known to gather sixty people at a time for our most popular events. We like to think of ourselves as a support group for literary translators, with both a social and an educational mission, providing each other with information and inspiration. We share our experiences and discuss both the business and the craft of literary translation, give each other advice, and cheer each other’s successes.
Location: Seattle, Washington 
Contact: Shelley Fairweather-Vega (translation@fairvega.com)
Website: click here for website
New members: yes
Read more about Northwest Literary Translators on the ALTA Blog

Collective: Paper Republic
Description: Paper Republic began as a meetup for Chinese-to-English translators in Beijing, and launched as a website in 2007. The site provides a database of Chinese literature and its translation, as well as free-to-read translations of short stories, essays, and poetry. Our offline events include translator training, author events, and reading clubs.
Location: UK and US
Contact: Eric Abrahamsen (info@paper-republic.org)
Website: https://paper-republic.org/
New members: yes

Collective: Plüb
Description: A workshopping group that sprang from the MALTS program at the University of Rochester.
Location: Rochester, New York
Contact: Kaija Straumanis (kaija.straumanis@gmail.com)
Website: none
New members: yes
Read more about Plüb on the ALTA Blog

Collective: The Starling Bureau
Description: Combining knowledge, experience and skills across six languages, we pitch books we love to English-language publishers, as well as offer consultancy services and information about funding and promotional opportunities. Founded in 2017, the Starling Bureau (Zoë Perry, Roland Glasser, Paul Russell Garrett, Ruth Clarke) collaborate to find the world’s best literature. We work from Danish, French, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese and Spanish.
Location: London, UK
Contact: Email the collective at info@thestarlingbureau.com
Website: https://www.thestarlingbureau.com/
New members: no 
Read more about The Starling Bureau on the ALTA Blog

Collective: Smoking Tigers
Description: We are a complaint of literary translators working from Korean to English. We exchange manuscripts and information, promote our work together, and run a translation workshop in Seoul. Our name comes from Korea’s phrase for “Once upon a time,” which goes, “Long, long ago, back when tigers used to smoke…”
Location: Korea
Contact: contact@smokingtigers.com
Website: https://smokingtigers.com/
New members: no
Read more about Smoking Tigers on the ALTA Blog

Collective: Strong Women, Soft Power
Description: An international collective of literary translators committed to promoting Japanese writers.
Location: Japan, U.S., UK
Contact: https://www.japaneseliteratureinenglish.com/contact/
Website: https://strongwomensoftpower.peatix.com/
New members: no
Read more about Strong Women, Soft Power on the ALTA Blog

Collective: Third Coast Translators Collective
Description: The Third Coast Translators Collective (TCTC) is an international community of literary translators. Our members share resources, mentor one another, workshop projects in progress, facilitate pathways to publication, and foster a sense of belonging and excitement about the profession. We seek to build relationships with other literary and cultural organizations in Chicago and to become a valuable point of reference for international literature.
Location: Chicago, Illinois
Contact: info@tctranslatorscollective.org
Website: https://tctranslatorscollective.org
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tctranslatorscollective
Twitter: @TCTC_Chicago
New members: yes
Read more about Third Coast Translators Collective on the ALTA Blog

Collective: Turkoslavia
Description: We are three translators working from BCMS, Kazakh, Russian, and Uzbek languages. The main purpose of our collective is to help each other produce our best translations and navigate the publishing world. In addition, we work together to explore the fascinating connections and interactions between Turkic and Slavic languages, literatures, and cultures through translations, readings, essays, book reviews, and more.
Location: San Francisco Bay Area
Contact: turkoslavia@gmail.com
Website: https://www.turkoslavia.com/
New members: We're not accepting new members at this time but will consider it in the future.