Connecting Emerging Literary Artists (CELA) is an international talent development project co-funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the EU. It is a 4-year project that connects emerging translators from 11 European countries (10 languages) with emerging writers through masterclasses, sample translations, mentorship, presentations and live meetings. CELA aims to offer literary artists from small language markets in Europe a level playing field to establish an international career, reach an international audience and develop their professional skills.
Book Arsenal became a participant of the CELA project for the first time in 2024.
CELA project is funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or European Education and Culture Executive Agency. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
About
The CELA project is a training program for translators and a joint international experience with colleagues, also translators, from 11 European participating countries. One of the important components of this extensive process is the support from mentors in the professional development throughout the whole duration of the project. Each of the translators of the Ukrainian team will be accompanied by a mentor-translator in the chosen language direction.
CELA offers emerging writers, translators, literary professionals, and literary organisations a two-year trajectory of training, tools and network with the aim of facilitating an international career and building a combined professional practice.
Countries of Teams
The Book Arsenal team is participating in the third iteration of the CELA program: from September 2024 to June 2027. Together with teams from:
- Spain
- Italy
- the Czech Republic
- Poland
- the Netherlands
- Serbia
- Slovenia
- Romania
- Bulgaria
The opportunities that will be available to the project participants:
- paid assignments on the translation of 6 sample (prose) texts from emerging authors into Ukrainian;
- publication of these translations on the CELA website and other literary platforms across Europe;
- 4 international online masterclasses on the topics relevant to professional growth;
- mentorship program: participants will work with an established translator in the same language direction and with a literary consultant;
- development of a professional tool set for communication, including a photography and artist bio;
- 2 live meetings in Kyiv with the Ukrainian team of the project;
- 2 work weeks within the project. In Turin (Italy) and in Brussels (Belgium);
- 2 visits to a literary festival in the country of your target language;
- paid and mentored pitch session for (at least) one of your authors;
- connection to an international network, communication and discussions with more than 300 European writers and translators.
Participants of CELA Program
We sincerely welcome 10 emerging translators, who have passed the competitive selection, to the project team:
- Translation from Spanish into Ukrainian — Oleksandra Laktionova.
- Translation from Italian — Olena Roman.
- Translation from Czech — Olha-Anastasiia Futoran.
- Translation from Polish — Iuliia Stakhivska.
- Translation from Dutch — Olga Bondarenko, Larysa Dobra.
- Translation from Serbian — Máximo André Martynenko Shchehlov.
- Translation from Slovenian — Yuliia Stankevych.
- Translation from Romanian — Onujec Ionela-Paulina.
- Translation from Bulgarian — Khrystyna Vengryniuk.
Mentors of the CELA project (2024-2027) in the Ukrainian team
