International Translation Day 2024

Hosted by the human rights and literature organisation English PEN, International Translation Day (ITD) brings together translators, publishers, agents, booksellers, academics and more to celebrate the creative and complex work of literary translation and to ask the big questions about the future of the sector.

Featuring six leading industry professionals ITD returns on Monday 30 September 2024. Join us in London or online from anywhere in the world for a "2024 State of the Translation Nation" plenary discussion.

English PEN’s 2024 ITD programme is held in collaboration with the School of Advanced Study and supported by the Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS).

5–5.55pm BST (in-person doors open 4.30pm BST) – “State of the translation world” part 1: craft, work, business

Wasafiri and 2025 International Booker Prize judge Sana Goyal, chairing the discussion, will be joined by Nichola Smalley, award-winning Swedish and Norwegian literary translator, English PEN Translation Advisory Co-chair, and Translators Association committee member; Ravi Mirchandani, publisher of Summit Books at Simon & Schuster, and formerly publisher of Picador; and Safae El-Ouahabi, agent at RCW, representing clients including literary translators. They will discuss pressing issues for the sector related to the craft and labour of translation, rights and representation, and movements in the wider industry. With an audience Q&A for in-person and online attendees.

5.55–6.10pm BST – interval

6.10–7pm BST – “State of the translation world” part 2: promotion, politics, ethics

Sana Goyal, Nichola Smalley and Ravi Mirchandani return to the stage, and will be joined by Tamara Zimet, Programme Director (Adults) at Edinburgh International Book Festial, and Nariman Youssef, award-winning Arabic translator and the new director of the Poetry Translation Centre. They will discuss how we promote translated literature, the ethics of how we do so, and the politics of translation. With an audience Q&A for in-person and online attendees.

7–8.30pm BST – in-person networking reception and online “ask us anything”

In-person attendees will join a networking drinks reception, where the next cohort of the National Centre for Writing’s Emerging Translator Mentorship Scheme mentees will also be announced.

Online attendees will join an “ask us anything” virtual space with members of the English PEN team; award-winning author and English PEN Translation Advisory Co-chair Preti Taneja; and past applicants to, assesors for and winners of our PEN Translates and PEN Presents grants. The following day, Tuesday 1 October, PEN Translates and PEN Presents will both open for submission, alongside applications to join our pool of grant assessors. Attendees can ask questions about these programmes, and our wider work with translated literature.

Senate House's Macmillan Hall is fully wheelchair-accessible. The panel discussion will be BSL-interpreted. If you require any other access arrangements, please contact us at [email protected].

A limited number of free tickets (in-person or online) for self-identifying low-income translators and literary professionals are available on a first-come-first-served basis. If you would like to request a bursary ticket, please email [email protected], with the subject line "ITD 2024 bursary ticket". You do not need to include any information about why you are requesting a bursary ticket.

English PEN is one of the world's oldest human rights organisations and the founding centre of PEN International, a worldwide writers’ association with 130 centres in more than 90 countries. The charity works to promote literature and to defend freedom of expression in the UK and internationally. www.englishpen.org | X | Instagram | newsletter

Host or Publisher English PEN