As part of the international CELA project, the workshop Translation as a Collaborative Art brought together translators from different countries. The participants discussed literary translation as a collective artistic practice as well as a tool for cultural dialogue.
The workshop was held in cooperation with the NGO TRANSLATORIUM. Its representatives, Veronika Yadukha and Yuliia Didokha, spoke about the organization’s key areas of work: translation residencies, artistic projects, the annual Literary Translation Festival, and other initiatives aimed at protecting translators’ rights and developing a sustainable professional ecosystem.
The practical part of the workshop was dedicated to translating Ukrainian poetry. Working in groups, participants translated texts by Maksym Kryvtsov, Viktoriia Amelina, Iia Kiva, and Lesyk Panasiuk into various languages, discussing rhythm, emotional resonance, and cultural contexts.
Among the challenges of poetic translation, the following were highlighted:
- preserving the sound of the text,
- adapting rhythm and stress patterns across different languages,
- working with symbols and culturally specific imagery.
Key takeaways from the workshop on translation as a collaborative practice:
- Collaborative translation is best realized in formats such as festivals, residencies, readings, and cultural events, as these help build strong professional communities.
- Translator residencies are not only a way to develop professional networks but also to form friendships. This format brings people together and creates a space where participants can feel comfortable and safe.
- Artistic projects by the NGO TRANSLATORIUM are usually built at the intersection of different art forms — literature, theater, music, and others. Such interdisciplinary collaboration can help explain concepts and phenomena that are important or difficult to translate.
- Using collaborative translation techniques — working on a text in pairs with another translator — opens up new interpretations and helps find compelling equivalents. For example, translators discussed how different languages might render distinctly Ukrainian words such as “chortopolokh” or “posadka”.
- Even when working with a translator who translates into a language different from your own, it is still possible to jointly discuss the emotional, stylistic, and sonic aspects of poetry.
Connecting Emerging Literary Artists (CELA) is an international project of cooperation and development of literary talents, promotion and distribution of literary works, involving 12 literary organizations from 11 countries of the world. And this is already the third iteration of CELA. In 2024, the team of the International Book Arsenal Festival joined this large-scale European project for the first time. It is designed for four years, more details can be found here.
The CELA project is funded by the European Union. The views and opinions expressed are solely those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency. Neither the European Union nor the funding body can be held responsible for them.