Meet the people behind The Queen’s Translation Exchange, and how their passion for languages started.
Charlotte Ryland
Charlotte Ryland is the Founding Director of the Translation Exchange. She grew up in an English-speaking family in Oxfordshire. Charlotte learnt French and then German at secondary school, and studied both languages at Cambridge University. After a Masters and doctorate in German Literature at Oxford University and UCL, she was Lecturer in German at Queen’s until 2018. Charlotte has run numerous projects that get people of all ages engaging with and enjoying international culture. Alongside her work at QTE, she is the Director of the Stephen Spender Trust.
Charlie Louth
Charlie Louth is the Fellow in German at Queen’s and was involved in setting up the Translation Exchange (though Charlotte and others did most of the work). He began learning French and German at his comprehensive school then continued both at university – so though he isn't bilingual, his wife is French and so his children are. Charlie is now the Academic Lead, but in practice takes mostly an avuncular interest, as member of the advisory body, helping when he can.
Holly Langstaff
Holly Langstaff set up the Anthea Bell Prize for Young Translators back in 2020 and continues to run the Warwick Prize for Women in Translation. She had only visited France once before she went to study French and German at the University of Cambridge; she was the first person in her family to go to university. Holly is currently a Lecturer in French at St Edmund Hall, University of Oxford.
Jack Franco
Jack Franco is a Policy Co-ordinator at the Translation Exchange. He grew up speaking Italian with his family. He started learning French at his comprehensive secondary school and never stopped, taking French GCSE and A-Level. Jack graduated in Philosophy and French this year, from Queen's, where he was once a Creative Translation Ambassador for the Translation Exchange. He is now trying to learn Mandarin so he can study Chinese philosophy.
Catriona Parry
Catriona is the former QTE Programme Coordinator. Prior to this, she supported the 'Inclusive Outreach through Translation' project and Polly Barton’s 2022/23 translation residency, ‘The Visible Translator’. She has recently completed a DPhil in Modern Languages at Oxford, focussing on Angolan and Portuguese cinema, and is now a Departmental Lecturer in Portuguese. She studied Spanish and Portuguese at university.
Elly Walters
Elly Walters is the current Programme Coordinator at the Translation Exchange. Elly began learning French and Spanish in KS3 and went on to study both languages (plus Catalan!) at the University of Cambridge. She came to Oxford in 2020 to study for an MSt and then a DPhil in contemporary francophone women's writing, which she completed in early 2025.
