May 2026 Translation News Roundup

Our monthly roundup of literary translation news and opportunities.

We’re building a new permanent literary home! In mid-April, the Center for the Art of Translation announced a $17 million capital campaign to open a literary and cultural center at the corner of Leidesdorff and Commercial in downtown San Francisco—steps from the Transamerica Pyramid, at the intersection of Chinatown, North Beach, and the Embarcadero. Our good news was covered by Publishers Weekly(opens in a new tab), Literary Hub(opens in a new tab), KQED’s Forum(opens in a new tab) (which includes a conversation with our founder Olivia Sears, and others. We’re excited that word is spreading widely and hope you’ll join us!

(opens in a new tab)Michigan Quarterly Review(opens in a new tab) is currently seeking Arabic translators for its Fall 2026 special issue, which will feature works from authors in Southwest Asia and Northern Africa. Interested translators should submit a brief bio and CV to the Review at mqr@umich.edu(opens in a new tab) to express interest. An honorarium of $200 will be provided. The deadline for expressing interest is May 8, 2026.

English PEN is currently accepting submissions for its Translation Spring 2026 grant opportunities. (opens in a new tab)Five different grants are available for publishers and literary translators. The deadline to apply is May 31, 2026.

Words Without Borders is hiring for three remote positions(opens in a new tab): Finance and Operations Manager, Engagement Editor, and Administrative and Development Assistant. Applications close on May 14, 2026.

Registration is open for ALTA’s Multilingual Translation Workshops(opens in a new tab), which will be held virtually via Zoom from June 22 to 27. Each two-hour workshop pairs six translators with an established translator leader. The registration deadline is May 25, 2026. Workshop fees are $60 per session for ALTA members (who received a 20% promo code) and $75 per session for non-members.

ALTA members are invited to submit session proposals for the 49th Annual Conference(opens in a new tab), which will take place October 21–24 in Portland, OR. With the theme “Give and Take,” ALTA welcomes proposals that explore the craft and business of translation through the lens of reciprocity and sustainability. The submission deadline is June 15 and decisions will be sent out in mid-July.

CAT’s 2025 Impact Report(opens in a new tab): Thanks to the generous support of our donors, the Center for the Art of Translation connected readers across the country with stories from around the world. Our accomplishments ranged from growing the number of attendees at events to publishing award-winning books and reaching classrooms nationwide. Read the complete Impact Report here(opens in a new tab).

The PEN Translation Prize(opens in a new tab) was awarded to Minna Zallman Proctor for her translation of Cesare Pavese’s The Leucothea Dialogues from Italian (published by Archipelago Books). The PEN award for Poetry in Translation went to Michael Martin Shea’s translation from Spanish of Liliana Ponce’s Theory of the Voice and Dream (published by World Poetry Books).

The International Booker Prize 2026 has announced its shortlist(opens in a new tab). The selection celebrates the best works of long-form fiction or collections of short stories translated into English and published in the UK and/or Ireland between May 1, 2025, and April 30, 2026. 

Karen Gu, from our publisher Two Lines Press, interviewed Brazilian author Juliana Leite about her debut novel, Exemplary Humans(opens in a new tab). “As a fiction writer, I am very loyal to the unexpected and the subconscious.” Read their conversation here.

“At the heart of Natalia’s account is the question of how one continues to exist. The book ventures an answer, one found in its very form: by transmitting memories, both our own and others.” Exemplary Humans featured in The New Yorker’s Briefly Noted column(opens in a new tab).

“In one tale from this marvelous collection by Son (Hot Air Balloon), skillfully translated by Hong, pitcher Babe Ruth becomes a movie star instead of a Hall of Fame… Son excels at presenting fiction as biography, crafting narratives that feel revelatory and uncannily plausible, and she ingeniously blurs the boundaries between reality and fiction to illuminate the fragile relationships between parents, children, friends, and lovers… Throughout, Son addresses questions of self-perception and self-delusion and exposes the distortions that comprise human self-regard. It’s a revelatory work about the stories people tell themselves.” Publishers Weekly’s starred review(opens in a new tab) of Swell.

Contributors to Two Lines Press’s Calico series Diana Arterian, Eric Fishman, and Monica Cure share their recommendations of translated poetry collections from across the world. Check out their reading list here.

Are you an organization, venue, funder, publication, educational program, residency, or other group that offers opportunities to literary translators? We are always on the lookout for literary translation news and opportunities to share with our audience. Please reach out to our Engagement Editor, Alana Rodrigues(opens in a new tab), via email or message us on Bluesky(opens in a new tab) or Instagram(opens in a new tab) with the information you’d like us to consider sharing. We love to amplify work that supports the wider literary translation community.