The New York Literary Translation Festival

...translating from one language into another... is like gazing at a Flemish tapestry with the wrong side out: even though the figures are visible, they are full of threads that obscure the view and are not bright and smooth as when seen from the other side. (Cervantes, The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote de la Mancha)

Join the effort to turn the tables on common preconceptions about the impossibility of translation, the monadic existence of isolated texts and cultures, the inaccessibility of the international book market to “minor” literatures and the like. Let us fearlessly turn over the neat tapestry of texts and look at the interlacing of ideas and idioms that shows on the back of it. Help weave a new texture for literature alongside leading writers, translators, academics, publishers, journalists, and cultural managers from Romania and the United States.

____________________

The New York Literary Translation Festival is finally here! Initiated and organized by the Romanian Cultural Institute in New York, the three-day festival will bring together writers, translators, academics, editors, publishers, journalists, and cultural diplomats in order to present and initiate projects, debate problems, and identify opportunities in the field of literary translation and the interaction between cultures. Events featured in the festival will include readings and literary cafe meetings, workshops, round tables and debates, an academic conference, and an editors and publishers’ roundtable contributed by by our partner for the event, The Imperatore School of Arts and Sciences at the Stevens Institute of Technology.

Translations are a controversial subject in a paradoxical America, one of the most complex and welcoming countries in terms of multiculturalism, yet one of the book markets that is most resistant to the translations from world literatures. We believe translations have always been the key factor in cultural interchange and a prerequisite for mutual understanding and tolerance. With this in mind, the Romanian Cultural Institute in Bucharest has launched the 2006 Translation and Publication Support Program, an ongoing project aiming to facilitate and finance the publication abroad of Romanian authors in translation. Among other things, the Literary Translation Festival is also meant to raise awareness and attract projects around the initiative of the Romanian Cultural Institute.

We invite publishers, translators, writers, academics, journalists, and generally any individual or organization with an interest in the field of translation and cultural interchange to participate in this Festival. Our intention is not just to celebrate the circulation of culture and provide due consideration to a vital issue in today’s world, but also to offer a context where palpable projects may be initiated and working contacts be made.