We bring the best of Irish literature to the world and the best of world literature to readers in Ireland.
Our mission is to develop, promote and support literary translation in Ireland. We support three main areas of activity: education and outreach; publications; and community building.
Education and outreach
We host events such as:
- book launches
- literary readings
- a monthly book club
- research seminars
- public lectures
- seminars, workshops and conferences
- translation slams
- student-led events
- meetings with writers and translators
Publications
Together with our partner Literature Ireland, we are involved in the publication and promotion of translations and theoretical writings on translation in different, but complementary, ways.
- Literature Ireland promotes Irish literature abroad, primarily in translation. It administers a translation grant programme and a translator bursary programme; it supports Irish participation at international literary festivals and events, and manages the Ireland stand at the London and Frankfurt book fairs and other book fairs around the world. Literature Ireland publishes and distributes New Writing from Ireland.
- A number of staff at Trinity's School of Languages, Literatures and Cultural Studies are actively involved in translating works of literature into or out of English; others research the theories and practice of translation.
Community building
As part of our efforts to connect the literatures of the world, we host meetings with writers and translators from all over the world. We provide training and internship opportunities for the next generation of translators and publishers. We also provide translators who are working on Irish literary texts with the opportunity to familiarise themselves with the landscape, people and culture of Ireland.
We run an annual programme of residential bursaries for professional translators working on publisher-commissioned translations of works of Irish literature. The purpose of the bursaries is to enable translators to spend a period of time in Ireland working on a translation, meeting with authors, carrying out research in Irish libraries and generally immersing themselves in the cultural, linguistic and artistic environment of contemporary Irish literature.
Click here to watch a short video of Professor Michael Cronin, introducing one of our recent events.