This week I spoke at two literary events in London. What could a medical translator bring to the literary translator’s table? Read on to find out.

The Assembly of Literary Translators

On Monday, I gave a presentation on workplace ergonomics at The Assembly of Literary Translators. At the talk I shared the results of the ergonomics survey I ran in 2023, while discussing workstation equipment and work strategies for sedentary language professionals. The day-long event was organised by Ian Giles (literary translator from Swedish and chair of the Translators Association) and focused on literary translator wellbeing, so my session slotted in neatly with the other topics on the programme, including nurturing the author-translator relationship, embedding wellbeing in the publishing process, and an unconference session on co-creating care, which was a first-time experience for The Assembly and for me, kindling some interesting spontaneous discussions.

The event drew some 80 participants, a pretty perfect number for peer learning, networking and socialising all in one big room at Holborn House Community Centre.

The London Book Fair

After sandwiching in a quiet work-from-home day, I braced myself for Wednesday’s challenge: joining 30,000 visitors at #LBF25, The London Book Fair, where I spoke as vice-chair of MET in a panel about The Benefits of Specialist Networks. Fortunately, the panel took place away from the crowds in a calm, carpeted 19th-century room annexed to the Literary Translation Centre.

The conversation, deftly moderated by Paul Russell Garrett (chair of DELT, the Association of Danish-English Literary Translators), revolved around the benefits of regional, subject, language and other specialist networks for language professionals; how and why members should engage with their associations; and whether size matters.

While I waxed lyrical about the benefits of MET and its Mediterranean connection, fellow panellists talked enthusiastically about language-specific associations (Nichola Smalley, chair of SELTA, the Swedish-English Literary Translators’ Association) and a new Black literary translators’ network (Anita Barton-Williams, founder of BLKTNET, the Black Translators’ Network). I also touched on the benefits of subject-specialist networks such as ITI MedNet, which has a thriving terminology forum and organises twice yearly hybrid medical and pharmaceutical workshops. With so much to discuss, our 45-minute session was over before we knew it.

As a medical translator, I loved connecting with my literary counterparts this week, discovering how our distinct fields intersect, and seeing the opportunities for collaboration and cross-fertilisation as freelancers in those fields.