Translators Against the Machine: Open Call for articles on the translation industry
Calling all linguists!
For a while now we’ve been running the Translators Against the Machine initiative. We met up in person recently and discussed new directions for the project, and we’ve decided to put together a dossier to document people’s experiences in the modern translation industry. To make this happen, we’re launching an open call for articles and testimonies from translators, or people with links to the industry. If this is you, read on!
We want to present as international and varied a perspective as possible. We’re not setting hard limits, but we want to have input from a range of different countries, language pairs, employment situations, types of translation, and so on.
We’re expecting AI to feature heavily in a lot of articles, but we’re not confining this to an article series on the evils of AI. Have political changes affected funding for your translation work? Have you had to quit translation because of stagnant rates and exploitative platforms? Have you been a victim of old-school volunteer exploitation? Has (heaven forbid) something good happened in this field? If so, we’d love to hear about it.
IMPORTANT POINT!
SEND US A PITCH, NOT A FINISHED ARTICLE
We might receive a few similar submissions, and we don’t want to turn down something you’ve worked hard on. Before putting pen to paper, send us an outline with a bit of info about yourself and the article you’d like to write.
We’re keeping an open mind as to contributors and content, so our open call will have the following criteria:
1. Articles should focus on your experience of the modern translation industry. The aim is to find common ground, build solidarity, and hopefully springboard new forms of collaboration. We also want to explore the breadth of our industry. A freelancer in Colombia, a government-employed interpreter in Vietnam, and a hotshot Basque literary translator will have wildly different experiences, and we can learn from all of them.
2. Articles should be around 800-1000 words. They will potentially be lightly copyedited in collaboration with authors, who will give approval to the final version.
3. Authors need to be working, or have worked, in or around translation. This can also include researchers, volunteer workers, agency staff, and so on.
4. Authors can be freelance, employed, unemployed, or working in any area of translation or interpretation.
5. Authors can write as individuals, on behalf of organisations or collectives, or anonymously.
6. Given that our sphere is quite Euro-centric, we will most likely give priority to non-European translators and language pairs. If we receive a few similar submissions, we might have to turn some down. If this does happen, please rest assured that it’s not personal. Remember to send us a pitch first to avoid disappointment.
7. We will publish all articles in English, but you can also submit in the following languages (which we can translate into English in-house): Spanish, French, Portuguese, Mandarin, German, Italian, Irish, Swedish. Articles received in these languages will be published in both their original language and English translation.
When you get in touch, please send your pitch along with the following info: name, location, language combinations, years of experience, types of translation work you do (literary, pharmaceutical, interpretation, etc). If you like, or if it’s relevant to your article, you can also mention things like employers, platforms that you use, collectives you’re a member of, prominent projects you’ve been involved in, etc.
Since this will all be voluntary work (including from us), we’ll publish articles as and when they’re ready, with no set deadline. All work will go out under a creative commons license, meaning your work can be shared freely. The eventual aim is to create a publication of some kind (most likely an e-book).
For updates on the project and to be part of the wider network, you can join the Translators Against the Machine Telegram group at this link.
If you want to contribute, please send us an email at hello@guerrillamedia.coop, with “Translators Against the Machine” in the subject line.
Looking forward to hearing from you!