The Translators Association (TA) is an association representing

literary translator Translation is the communication of the Meaning (linguistic), meaning of a #Source and target languages, source-language text by means of an Dynamic and formal equivalence, equivalent #Source and target languages, target-language text. The ...

s in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. The Translators Association is affiliated with the

International Federation of Translators The Fédération Internationale des Traducteurs (English: International Federation of Translators) is an international grouping of associations of translators, interpreters and terminologists. More than 100 professional associations are affiliate ...

(FIT).

History

The Translators Association (TA) was established in 1958 as a specialist group within the

Society of Authors The Society of Authors (SoA) is a United Kingdom trade union for professional writers, illustrators and literary translators, founded in 1884 to protect the rights and further the interests of authors. , it represents over 12,000 members and as ...

, a trade union for professional writers, The TA was set up to provide translators with an effective means of protecting their interests and sharing their concerns. The TA is a source of professional advice, a representative for individuals, and an advocate for the profession as a whole. The TA administers prizes for published translations of full-length work of literary merit and general interest from the following languages into

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

, French,

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

, modern

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

or Flemish, and

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

was formerly also included. The TA is run by a committee of 11 elected members. The current (2021) committee members are: Kari Dickson and Christina MacSweeney (co-chairs), Ruth Ahmedzai Kemp, Rebecca DeWald, Marta Dziurosz, William Gregory, Rosalind Harvey, Sawad Hussain, Vineet Lal,

Natasha Lehrer Natasha Lehrer is a writer and literary translator. She was born in London and studied at Oxford University and the Université de Paris VIII. Her translations have received multiple awards, and been longlisted and shortlisted for several prizes. ...

- and

Roland Glasser Roland Glasser (born 1973), is a literary translator, working from French into English. Awards and honours * His translation of Fiston Mwanza Mujila’s ''Tram 83'' won the 2015 Etisalat Prize for Literature and was longlisted for the 2016 Man ...

(ex-officio). Previous committee members include

Anthea Bell Anthea Bell (10 May 1936 – 18 October 2018) was an English translator of literary works, including children's literature, from French, German and Danish. These include '' The Castle'' by Franz Kafka, '' Austerlitz'' by W. G. Sebald, the ''In ...

, Peter Bush, Robert Chandler,

Charlotte Collins Charlotte Collins is a British literary translator of contemporary literature and drama from German. Career Collins studied English literature at Christ's College, Cambridge, then trained in acting at The Poor School, London. She worked as ...

Howard Curtis Howard Curtis (born 1949) is a British translator of French language, French, Italian language, Italian and Spanish language, Spanish fiction. He won the 2013 Marsh Award for Children's Literature in Translation for his translation from Italian o ...

Daniel Hahn Daniel Hahn (born 26 November 1973) is a British writer, editor and translator. He is the author of a number of works of non-fiction, including the history book ''The Tower Menagerie'', and one of the editors of The Ultimate Book Guide, a ser ...

Nicky Harman Nicky Harman is a UK-based prize-winning literary translator, working from Chinese to English and focussing on contemporary fiction, literary non-fiction, and occasionally poetry, by a wide variety of authors. When not translating, she spends tim ...

, Antonia Lloyd-Jones, Ruth Martin, Samantha Schnee,

Ros Schwartz Ros Schwartz is an English literary translator, who translates Francophone literature into English. In 2009 she was awarded the Chevalier d’Honneur dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres for her services to French literature. Career Alongside ...

, Jamie Lee Searle, Trista Selous, Deborah Smith, Ruth Urborn, Helen Wang.
Translators Association - 60 Years of Classic Translation
A special series, curated by

to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the TA.
Translators on the Cover
An open letter issued by the Society of Authors in September 2021, and signed by authors and translators, to campaign for translators' names to placed on the cover the works they translate (#TranslatorsOnTheCover)

Prizes administered by the Translators Association

The Saif Ghobash Banipal Prize (for translation from Arabic)
The Vondel Prize (for translation from Dutch)
The

Scott Moncrieff Prize The Scott Moncrieff Prize, named after the translator C. K. Scott Moncrieff, is an annual £2,000 literary prize for French to English translation, awarded to one or more translators every year for a full-length work deemed by the Translators Asso ...

(for translation from French)
The

Schlegel-Tieck Prize The Schlegel-Tieck Prize for German Translation is a literary translation award given by the Society of Authors in London. Translations from the German original into English are considered for the prize. The value of the prize is £3,000.

(for translation from German)
The Goethe-Institut Award for New Translation (for translation from German)
The

John Florio Prize The John Florio Prize for Italian translation is awarded by the Society of Authors, with the co-sponsorship of the Italian Cultural Institute and Arts Council England. Named after the Tudor Anglo-Italian writer-translator John Florio, the prize wa ...

(for translation from Italian)
The Hellenic Foundation for Culture Translation Prize (for translation from Greek)
The Calouste Gulbenkian Prize (for translation from Portuguese)
The Premio Valle Inclán (for translation from Spanish)
The Bernard Shaw Prize (for translation from Swedish)

References

External links

Translators Association website
Trade unions in the United Kingdom Translation associations of the United Kingdom Organizations established in 1958 1958 establishments in the United Kingdom Literary translators {{translation-org-stub