Coming up

One lot clings to the original, while the others want it easy to read. That’s just how it is with translators and editors. But is it? Are they really at constant odds with each other? What happens in the dialogue between the two? How do we talk about our texts, and what does “our” mean in this context? Who does the text belong to? 

The workshop focuses on collaboration and cooperation between translators and editors. Participants apply by submitting samples from texts they are working on, which are discussed in the group with an eye for the different (and common) perspectives and goals of translation and editing. How do both parties explain their changes in terms of content and form, who has the last word and what does the first word look like – where does collaboration begin and how can we plot a course as early as possible for constructive working relationships?

By reversing roles – editors translating, translators editing – we also reflect on our own activities, and short writing exercises are designed to counter the assumption that one side is creative and the other are spoilsports. A comprehensive dialogue between translators and editors working from all languages into German. 

For more information, see: Über Kreuz Belletristik 2024

A professional training workshop in conjunction with the German Translation Fund as part of the Academy of the Art of Translation. Funded by the Swiss arts council Pro Helvetia.