American Literary Translators Association

Conference : ALTA's annual conference is the largest gathering of literary translators in the U.S., and the only one of its kind. It brings together between 500-650 translators, writers, and editors for an intimate, intense, three-day conversation through panels, workshops, roundtables, and bilingual readings. The ALTA conference is structured around the creation of high-quality art. Panels focus on important issues and trends in the field, while roundtables are structured to provide practical information to working translators, like funding and publication advice. Workshops deal with issues of craft, with participants working through solutions on the spot. Readings are performances in their own right, and many are held in partnership with local arts organizations, thus facilitating interaction with the local community, and engagement with diverse and excellent art. Conference held virtually (April 26 -November 10, 2022).

Awards : ALTA awards five major prizes at the annual conference: the National Translation Award in Poetry and Prose, for an exceptional book of translated literature published within the previous year; the Lucien Stryk Asian Translation Prize, for an outstanding work of Asian literature published within the previous year; the Italian Prose in Translation Award (IPTA), for an exceptional work of Italian prose in English translation. We also offer the ALTA Travel Fellowships for emerging translators to attend the annual conference, including the Peter K. Jansen Memorial Travel Fellowship for an emerging translator of color or a translator working from an underrepresented diaspora or stateless language. -5 awards bestowed, 10 Travel Fellowships bestowed -A total of $26,000 in funds given to translators: (National Translation Award in Poetry: $2,500; National Translation Award in Prose: $2,500; Lucien Stryk Asian Translation Prize: $6,000; Italian Prose in Translation Award: $5,000; Spain-USA Foundation Translation Award: $5,000; Travel Fellowships: 10 x $500)

Mentorships : ALTA's Emerging Translator Mentorship Program is designed to establish and facilitate a close working relationship between an experienced translator and an emerging translator on a project selected by the emerging translator. Since its inception in 2015, the program has supported 54 translators working from 18 languages, including Arabic, Catalan, Chinese, Dutch, French, Greek, Indonesian, Isan, Japanese, Kazakh, Korean, Norwegian, Occitan, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Swedish, and Tamil. The Mentorship Program allows an emerging translator(someone who has published no more than one full-length work of translation) to begin a career as a literary translator with a more seasoned translator by their side, as they create a literary translation of high caliber. In 2023, the program supported 8 translators.

To support the work of literary translators, advance the art of literary translation, serve translators, and the students, teachers, publishers, and readers of literature in translation.