The Translators Association (TA) provides a source of expert advice for individual literary translators and is also a collective voice representing the profession as a whole.
Translators automatically become a member of the TA on joining the SoA.
Reasons to Join the TA
As a TA member you will have access to:
- Our contracts vetting service and bespoke individual advice on all aspects of the profession.
- Our quarterly newsletter for translation news, opportunities, events and much more.
- Tailored events, both in person and online.
- Member-only translation resources, including our guide to Translator-Publisher Contracts, but also our guides to negotiating payment for translations, relay translations, author-commissioned translations as well as our readers’ report best practice guidelines.
- The TA forum: a discussion group for TA members only.
The last two years have been difficult for many and I have felt humbled and grateful to see the TA committee come together to take action to try to address some of the challenges our association, our profession and wider society have faced.
TA member
Governance
The TA is run by a committee of 8 members and coordinated by Catherine Fuller and Ambre Morvan. Catherine and Ambre are also members of the SoA Contracts Advisory team.
The committee meets quarterly. TA members are always welcome to suggests topics or issues they would like the committee to discuss.
The TA is a member of CEATL (Conseil Européen des Associations de Traducteurs Littéraires), an international network of European literary translators’ associations working to improve the status and conditions of literary translators, and is represented by an appointed committee member.
Read Chair Ian Giles’s report to the AGM.
Campaigns
The TA is committed to the need for more openness and opportunities in publishing, more visibility of translators of colour and more proactive intervention to help dismantle the institutional barriers faced by early career translators.
The TA is actively campaigning to improve and advocate for translators’ rights, greater accessibility within the profession and fairer working conditions. For example, #TranslatorsOnTheCover has made a tangible difference to the visibility of translators since it was set up five years ago. The TA is deeply engaged in protecting translators’ rights and the translation craft in an AI age. The TA has notably been calling for the industry to stand in solidarity with human translators, whose livelihoods are threatened by generative AI.
Events
The TA programmes events throughout the year, including panel discussions and conversations with translators about their translations practice and routine, and is a partner in the Literary Translation Centre at the London Book Fair.
Translation Prizes
The TA proudly supports the Translation Prizes the SoA administers for published translations. The SoA awards over £10,000 annually for literature in translations. Our Translation Prizes recognize outstanding translations from works in Arabic, Dutch, French, German, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Spanish and Swedish. There is also the TA first translation prize for a debut literary translation as well as the John Calder prize for a translation in any language of an ambitious and groundbreaking work of literary merit.
Translators Directory
TA members can join the Translators Directory, which enables other members but also publishers or anyone else looking to commission a translation to find a translator.
Resources
- SoA guidance on rates and fees.
- National Centre for Writing.
- British Centre for Literary Translation
- Emerging Translators Network. ETN offers a discussion form and support network for early-career literary translators to share information and offer professional support.
- English PEN for translation grants and opportunities.
- US Authors’ Guild model translation contract.
- CEATL has resources for emerging translators and guidance on fair contract terms and model contracts from various countries.
- Chartered Institute of Linguists.