The translation center at the Torino International Book Fair, which produces the October 16 ‘From Italy to the World’ conference for translators on Italian books and their rights availabilities at Frankfurter Buchmesse. Image: SILT
By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson
On Frankfurt Wednesday Morning
Dall’italiano al mondo means “From Italy to the World,” and this year’s iteration of the translation conference at Frankfurter Buchmesse (October 16 to 20) starts at 9 a.m. on the first day of the fair.
This year in its fourth iteration, the program, which targets translators, is to be an in-person event rather than digital, and the goal is “to support the translation of Italian litrature abroad and to promote networking between translators all over the world.” That of course is perfectly aligned with the mission of Guest of Honor Italy.
The conference runs from 9 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. and is set in Hall 4.1. It’s organized by Salone Internazionale del Libro di Torino (May 15 to 19) in association with Buchmesse, of course, and the the Association of Italian Publishers (Associazione Italiana Editori, AIE) with Italia Ospite d’Onore 2024 and the ubiquitous ITA—meaning the Italian Trade Agency, not the airline formerly known as Alitalia.
And this program has the patronage of CEATL, the Conseil Européen des Associations de Traducteurs Littéraires, which, as our readers know, is now in the middle of its own three-day translation conference in Strasbourg.
This conference, the Italian one on Frankfurt Wednesday, is curated by Ilide Carmignani and designed for translators from Italian into all the languages of the world. it was inaugurated in 2021, to help present “a vast selection” of Italian books that stand ready to be translated.
With the help ITA, the Torino Salone has been able to use a fellowship to host 15 translators for the event.
In a comment on the upcoming event, Carmignani is quoted, saying, “We couldn’t miss the extraordinary opportunity to hold the conference in person in such a special year.
“We’ll welcome the most illustrious translators from the Italian language arriving from Portugal, Spain, Catalonia, France, Poland, the United Kingdom, the United States, the Netherlands, Greece, Croatia, Albania, Romania, Egypt, Sweden and of course Germany.
“We’ll offer them a compelling showcase of books to discover and rediscover—interesting titles that could risk escaping the normal editorial mechanisms. After the symposium, we’ll have translators meet with our Italian publishers.”
A Quick Look at the Agenda
9 a.m.
Welcome and Opening remarks
- Annalena Benini, director of the Torino International Book Fair
- Juergen Boos president and CEO of Frankfurter Buchmesse
- Annette Kopetzki, curator/ VdÜ
- Francesca Novajra, president of CEATL
Followed by ‘The Scout Translator’s Proposal’ with Monica Malatesta, MalaTesta Literary Agency
9.30 a.m.
Children’s Books, Comics and Graphic Novels
- Emanuele Di Giorgi, coordinator of the AIE comics and graphic novels commission novels
- Beatrice Masini, writer and editor at Bompiani
10 a.m.
How To Make Italian Books Travel
- Michael Reynolds, Europa Editions
- Ana Rodado, Anagra.m.a
- Audrey Scarbel, Éditions Grasset et Fasquelle
- Linus Guggenberger, Verlag Klaus Wagenbach
- Moderated by Annalena Benini
10:45 a.m.
Poetry, Fiction and Essays
- Vincenzo Latronico, writer and translator
- Laura Pugno, Scientific Committee of the Strega Poetry Prize
11:30 a.m.
Closing Remarks
- Ilide Carmignani and Lorenza Honorati, Salone Internazionale del Libro di Torino
The conference is open to all translators from Italian and will be held in Italian.
More from Publishing Perspectives on Frankfurter Buchmesse is here, more on the Salone Internazionale del Libro di Torino is here, more on the Italian publishing market is here, more on Guest of Honor Italy at Frankfurt is here, more on translation rights is here, and more on translation and translators is here.