The Literary Translation Centre was launched at the 2010 London Book Fair with the aim of raising the profile of translators and translated literature in the UK. It was designed to be a place where publishers and translators could meet, network and participate in seminars on the subject of literature in translation, with a view to increasing the quantity, quality and diversity of translated literature available to the UK public. The creation of such a hub filled a significant gap, since translations into English make world literature available to the potentially huge English-reading audience and are increasingly used as the interface between other languages.

However, the success of such an initiative depended very much on a collaborative approach and a concerted effort on the part of key players in the industry, namely the Arts Council England, the British Council, English PEN and a consortium of three not-for-profit organisations with a high level of expertise on the subject – Literature Across Frontiers, the British Centre for Literary Translation and the Translator’s Association.

The Foundation became aware of this initiative, and prospective collaboration, at a time when we were increasingly turning our attention to the value of translated literature in encouraging cross-cultural understanding and thus the importance of establishing the LTC at the London Book Fair was immediately understandable to us. We offered strategic support to ensure the participation of the not-for-profit organisations in the overall collaboration – a modest financial contribution over several years was significant in ensuring the success of the project, given the level of expertise held by these organisations.

The first Literary Translation Centre in 2010 was well-attended by a wide range of professionals in the sector and highly acclaimed by the specialist press, which led the Book Fair to seriously consider it becoming a permanent feature. Furthermore, a steering group consisting of the nine leading organisations and the Foundation was established to hold regular discussions throughout the year. This has resulted in a productive community of practice which has already shown results, for example, a strong contribution to the International Translation Day events in the UK.

Alexandra Buchler, Director of Literature Across Frontiers, said: “The low number of books in translation published in the United Kingdom is at odds with the multicultural nature of British society and with publishing practices in the rest of Europe where translated literature forms an inseparable part of literary culture.  By stepping into the field of literary translation and partnering with organisations working to raise the profile of translation, create better conditions for translators, increase the number published translations and develop audiences for translated literature, the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation is contributing to a major change on the British literary scene.”

The Literary Translation Centre is an excellent example of a successful, mutually beneficial collaboration between partners with differing impetuses, including philanthropic funders, private sector and not-for-profit organisations. We will continue to support the project over the next year in order to guarantee a strong self-sustainable legacy.