Resources

Europeana Collections is a collection of almost 58,000,000 resources in book, manuscript, art, film and music media drawn from European museums, galleries, libraries and archives. Curated collections include: The Rise of Literacy in Europe, Migration, the First World War, Twentieth Century Modernist Art, and Women’s History.

LitLine is a website which serves the independent literary community. It features a extensive databases of independent, community and not-for-profit publishers, literary and poetry journals, and organisations which support independent writers and poets.

Online Books Page comprises an index of more than 2 million online and electronic books,  readable without charge, copyright cleared or with permissions for non-commercial use, with search facilities by author, title, and subject

VoS – Voice of the Shuttle is a database that serves content dynamically on the Internet. The VoS categories include resources in Literature in English, Literatures other than English, Classical Studies, Literary Theory,  Gender and Sexuality Studies, in all languages, and covering individual authors as well as genres, topics and periods. There are also databases of journals, conferences and mailing lists. 

Words Without Borders: The Online Magazine for International Literature carries a wide range of fiction and interviews from contemporary international authors. Words without Borders has published 2,200 writers from 134 countries, translated from 114 languages, and also holds regular events, in addition to its education programme WWB Campus, which aims to inspire a lifelong interest in international literature.

The British Centre for Literary Translation is a research centre within the School of Literature, Drama and Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia. It is a national and international focus for literary translation research, hosting regular research events, and works in partnership with the BCLA to support the annual John Dryden Translation Competition. The BCLT’s Resources page is also an up-to-date and comprehensive guide to funding, residencies, networking, publishing and events.

The Creative Literary Studio carries a list of resources with links to publishing houses specialising in translation, prizes and awards for translation and some articles.

The European Society for Translation Studies has a list of international research associations, a 2012 list of 103 associations in European Union Member States, and a list, with links, of all international journals in Translation Studies.

The Institute for Translation and Interpreting is the UK-based independent professional membership association for practising translators, interpreters and language service businesses. It offers networking opportunities and peer group support, together with links to professional development and current institutional research projects.

Literature Across Frontiers  Translation Workshops  comprise week-long residential workshops which act as cross-cultural encounters for writers and poets working in all European languages, in partnership with local literature organisations.  The workshops often focus on poetry, usually less supported by commercial interests.  Literature Across Frontiers also carries a hub of resources for translation, including information for publishers on grants for publishing translation,  and information for writers and translators on where to locate residences and bursaries,.

The National Centre for Writing is a charity supporting writers, literary translators and those working in any literary field.  Based in Norwich, UNESCO’s first UK City of Literature,  the Centre offers collaborations, mentoring and support, events of all kinds and activities for young people.

The Translation Database, hosted by Publishers Weekly,  searchable and open to contributions, tracks all original publications of fiction and poetry published in English translation in the USA. It identifies which books are available, from which countries and in what language.

ACLALS – Association for Commonwealth Literature and Language Studies
The ACLALS promotes and coordinates Commonwealth Literature Studies through multiple activities in the academic field, including a triennial conference.  The Association was officially accredited to the Commonwealth in 2005, and is eligible to apply for funding from the Commonwealth Foundation, and participate in civil society organisations and other consultation.  Membership of ACLAS is offered through its local branches in the Commonwealth countries. all contact details for these may be found on the website.

CLAROC – Comparative Literature Association of the Republic of China
The activities sponsored by the CLAROC include an annual national comparative literature conference in Chinese, and an international comparative literature conference in English held every four years. For contact details, go to this page.

English PEN is the founding centre of PEN International, a worldwide writer’s association with 145 centres in more than 100 countries, whose core mission is to defend readers and writers in the UK and around the world from threats to freedom of expression. PEN promotes a residency programme, hosts events, an online magazine and collection of contemporary works in translation, and awards grants and prizes for the translation and promotion of world literature.

ISNFR – The International Society for Folk Narrative Research
The ISNFR is a scholarly and professional organisational organisation of international specialists in the areas of folk narrative, popular literature, folklore and all aspects of narrative. The Association has four special Committees, and the next ISFNR Congress will be held in Zagreb, Croatian from 21 – 26 June, 2020.

Literature Across Frontiers: European Platform for Literary Exchange, Translation and Policy Debate, based in Mercator International/Mercator Rhyngwladol in Wales, aims to develop intercultural dialogue through literature and translation, highlight Europe’s literary diversity to new audiences, and also highlight less translated literatures.

MLA – Modern Language Association of America 
The MLA offers numerous resources and activities related to the study and teaching of language and literature, including the MLA International Bibliography, four major periodicals, more than 50 membership committees in all the specialism, and a book publication programme.

The Royal Society of Literature organises over twenty literature-related events per year, and administers a number of awards and prizes for writing and services to literature, together with schools outreach programmes.

T. J. Reed, Genesis: The Making of Literary Works from Homer to Christa Wolf.  Camden House/Boydell and Brewer. Rochester, New York: 2020.
ISBN – 13: 978-1-64014-082-0
ISBN-10: 1-64014-082-4

The book reasserts a traditional genetic approach to critical understanding. An account of the creative “processes” of real authors is illustrated by thirteen case studies, from single poems to epic and dramatic works, from the genesis of new genres to the pattern of a whole career.  The selection ranges from antiquity (Homer and the Bible), to Early Modern (Montaigne, Shakespeare) Goethe (three chapters, on “Faust”, the lyrical poetry, and two novels), and finally 19th and 20th century German (Büchner, Thoams Mann, Kafka, Brecht, Paul Celan and Christa Wolf). All texts are quoted in English translation, the crucial ones (poems especially) in the original as well.

Poetry of Jiangnan, 2020: Issue 3, ISSN 1001 6694.
Kindly contributed by BCLA member Brent Yan, Beijing Foreign Studies University