Upcoming Translation Events (Virtual & In-Person): February 2026

From L-R: AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF COTTON by Cristina Rivera Garza, tr. Christina MacSweeney; SANDERLING by Anne Weber, tr. Neil Blackadder; THE MUSHROOM GATHERER by Viktorie Hanišová, tr. Véronique Firkusny

Tuesday, February 10:

The International Library Presents Cristina Rivera Garza on Autobiography of Cotton with Rita Indiana | Pulitzer Prize-winning author and translator Cristina Rivera Garza discusses her new novel, Autobiography of Cotton. In-person. Hosted by The Center for the Art of Translation. More info here. Starts at 7:00 p.m. (ET).

 

Wednesday, February 11:

A Trio of Books from Taiwan: Ocean, Ecology, and White Terror | This event celebrates the publication of three newly translated works of Taiwanese literature, co-published by the National Museum of Taiwan Literature and Columbia University Press. Together, Portraits in White, Eyes of the Ocean, and A Taiwanese Ecoliterature Reader guide readers from the shadows of Taiwan’s martial-law past, across the luminous horizons of its oceanic imagination, and into the vibrant landscapes of its ecological narratives. These works provide new perspectives on the island’s natural environment, historical experience, and cultural vision. Kaori Lai (co-author of Portraits in White), Ian Rowen (co-editor of A Taiwanese Ecoliterature Reader), and Brian Skerratt (translator of Ecoliterature chapter) will be in in conversation, with Andrew J. Nathan, Class of 1919 Professor of Political Science at Columbia University, moderating. In-person; registration required for non-Columbia affiliates. Hosted by the Weatherhead East Asian Institute. More info here. 4:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. (ET)

 

Thursday, February 12:

The 2026 Albertine Translation Prize Ceremony | On February 12, the annual Albertine Translation Prize Ceremony returns, honoring translators and American publishers of English translations of contemporary French works. This year Villa Albertine is partnering with the Colloquy series at World Poetry Books to celebrate the art of translation in a new and exciting way. Bringing together translators and readers, the evening will feature translation jousts: two translators and a moderator will engage in a lively discussion of their different renderings of the same French texts, one a work of fiction, the other a poem. In-person. Hosted by Albertine. More info here. Starts at 6:00 p.m. (ET).

Motheranimal by Leo Lorena Wyss | The Goethe-Institut New York and Voyage Theater Company present the North American premiere of Leo Lorena Wyss' Motheranimal (Muttertier) within the Parts Unknown play reading series. The reading will be preceded by a discussion featuring the translator, Neil Blackadder. In-person. Hosted by the Goethe-Institut New York. More info here. Starts at 6:30 p.m. (ET)

 

Wednesday, February 18:

Colloquy #20: Translating Theory, Translators in Conversation | An event series presented by World Poetry Books in collaboration with Montez Press Radio and partnering New York City institutions and bookstores. Translators engage with live audiences in an exploration of the art of translation. For Colloquy #20,  Patrick Lyons and Paul Reitter will be in conversation. In-person. Hosted by World Poetry Books. More info here. Starts at 7:00 p.m. (ET).

 

Tuesday, February 24:

Blendlings and Balloonatics: On Translating the "Second Body" of the Poem | Uljana Wolf is a much-lauded German poet, translator and essayist based in Berlin. In addition to four volumes of poems, she’s published translations (many collaborative) of works by Don Mee Choi, Kim Hyesoon, Valzhyna Mort, Christian Hawkey, Eugene Ostashevsky, Matthea Harvey, Erin Moure, and others. Her essay collection Etymologischer Gossip (forthcoming in English from Nightboat, trans. Sophie Seita) received the 2022 Prize of the Leipzig Book Fair. Her works in English include False Friends, trans. Susan Bernofsky (Ugly Duckling, 2011), subsisters: selected poems, trans. Sophie Seita, (*Belladonna, 2021), and kochanie today i bought bread, trans. Grace Nissan (World Poetry Books 2023). She directs the international poetry festival Poetica in Cologne and currently holds the DAAD Chair for Contemporary Poetics at NYU. In-person at 511 Dodge Hall; guest registration (those without a CUID) is required. More info here. 7:30 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. (ET)

 

Thursday, February 26:

The Mushroom Gatherer: A Conversation with Author & Translator | Book launch event for The Mushroom Gatherer with readings and a moderated conversation with the author, Viktorie Hanišová, and translator, Véronique Firkusny, followed by a reception with refreshments and book signing. In-person. Hosted by Czech Center New York. More info here. Starts at 6:30 p.m. (ET)

Sanderling: An Evening with Anne Weber, Neil Blackadder and Tess Lewis |  Deutsches Haus at NYU and Goethe Institut New York presents a reading by Anne Weber from her book Sanderling (Indigo Press, 2025, translated by Neil Blackadder), followed by a conversation between her and the book's translator Neil Blackadder, which will be moderated by the author and literary translator Tess Lewis. The conversation will focus on Anne Weber’s deeply personal reckoning with what it means to be German, how the past continues to manifest in the present, how this “Zeitreisetagebuch” (Diary of Time Travel) came to be, and finally, how the translation from German to English was facilitated by the author and translator. In-person. Hosted by Deutsches Haus at NYU. More info here. Starts at 6:00 p.m. (ET).

 

Friday, February 27:

Either Translation or Translingualism | Please join the Harriman Institute for a poetry reading by Eugene Ostashevsky. Moderated by Mark Lipovetsky. Eugene Ostashevsky will read his translated and original poetry and discuss the difference between the two. How do translation and translingualism differ in their handling of the sounds and shapes of language? Why is it a mistake to think of poetry as always already a translation? Why is translingualism, in calling attention to language only, a misnomer? And other such things that you did not know you wanted to know you shall know. In-person; registration required by February 26 at 4 p.m. (ET). Hosted by the Harriman Institute at Columbia University. More info here. 5:30 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. (ET)

 

 

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