Translation Exchange
A new outreach and research initiative
The Queen’s College Translation Exchange brings together expertise in literary translation and outreach within the College, University, city, and country to develop a broad programme of translation-related activities for students, schools, and the public.
The focus of the Translation Exchange is on bringing students from the Medieval and Modern Languages, Oriental Studies, Classics, and English faculties together with teachers and pupils from local schools for translation workshops. With an emphasis on translation as a creative, inspiring, and aspiration-raising activity, these workshops will channel the students’ expertise in translation and enthusiasm for language-learning and literature into enriching literary experiences for young people from primary age upwards.
The Exchange is partnering with literary charity the Stephen Spender Trust and its ground-breaking ‘Translators in Schools’ education programmes to develop a unique training programme for students, and with Modern Poetry in Translation – also based at Queen’s – to develop resources for use in the classroom. The outreach training programme for students has been devised in collaboration with Shadow Heroes. The centre’s directors, Dr Charlotte Ryland and Dr Jenny Higgins, held a forum on 'Creative Translation in the Classroom' at Queen’s on 23 January 2019, bringing together practitioners and researchers in the field for practice-sharing. The forum also launched the Exchange’s research project on using translation to engage young learners.
Exchange events include an international literature book club, support for events with international writers visiting Oxford, and a residency for an international writer.
