”This was the most welcoming and inclusive conference experience I have ever had. There was so much care put into everything: dorm assignments, name tags, bathroom signage, dining accommodations, faculty/staff awareness of diversity and inclusion, and more.”
Holly Yanacek
Rockingham, VA
Bread Loaf Translators’ Conference
The 11th annual Bread Loaf Translators’ Conference is a week-long series designed to provide training and community to beginning and experienced translators, as well as those who want to be more sophisticated readers of literary translation or want to incorporate it into the classroom.
Literary translation is the translation of a literary work such as a poem, essay, short story, or novel, out of its original language and into a new language. It is also the creative, complex, and writerly activity of making an equivalent literary text exist in English.
The Translators’ Conference aims to strengthen the visibility and access to high quality literary translations in the United States, and also to acknowledge that translators require the same training and skills as creative writers.
Overview
The conference incorporates the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference model of small, focused, genre-based workshops coupled with lectures and classes on the art of literary translation. Workshops are limited to ten participants so that each manuscript receives individual attention and careful critique. All participants also meet individually with their workshop leader to amplify and refine what was said in the workshop itself.
In addition to the workshops, lectures, classes, and readings, meetings with agents and editors take place during the afternoon. The workshop packet of student translations for the Translation Workshops and packet of readings for the Introductory Workshop are made available in the weeks leading up to the session in order to allow time to read and prepare before arrival.
Participants include translators who want to improve their craft; students who are mastering a foreign language and want to acquire translation skills; teachers interested in bringing the practice of literary translation into their classrooms; and anyone wanting to learn more about and participate in the ever-growing community of literary translators.
The 2025 Session
The 2025 Translators’ Conference will be held from Sunday, June 15 to Saturday, June 21 in Ripton, Vermont. Find out more about dates and fees.
Our faculty are acclaimed and award-winning translators including Madhu H. Kaza and Matvei Yankelevich (Introductory workshops); Jennifer Grotz (poetry workshop); Anton Hur and Aaron Robertson (prose workshops); and Damion Searls (mixed workshop including prose and poetry). In addition to their literary accomplishments, our faculty has been specifically chosen for their skill at guiding developing translators in a given genre.
Other guests from the publishing, literary, and translating world will offer panels, discussions, or one-on-one meetings with conference participants. Find out more about faculty and guests.
Financial Aid
Financial aid is limited, but thanks to support from Middlebury College and also many donors and former Bread Loafers who have contributed over the years, financial aid is available for both published and unpublished writers. Financial need has no bearing on decisions, except as noted. Find out more about financial aid.
Though it’s possible for a former financial aid winner to apply again in a subsequent year, please note that the admissions board gives preference to first-time financial aid applicants.
Apply
Rolling admissions November 1 to February 1 or until places fill. Applicants are notified approximately four to six weeks after they apply.
Applicants choose to apply to either the Introductory Workshop or the Translation Manuscript Workshop. Applicants can choose to apply as auditors. See Application and Acceptance Information.
What Past Participants Say:
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“The Bread Loafer (participant) readings are, quite possibly, the highlight of the week. Everyone (who wants it) gets their moment to shine, and the outpouring of support for our fellow readers is edifying. It’s community-building.”
Jay Alexander Brown
Montreal, QC -
“This week will be a pivotal one in my life. The access that Bread Loaf made possible, the faculty, the staff, and the space, it all created a warm, welcoming, enriching experience that will guide my path forward. I made friends that will hopefully become colleagues. I had conversations with brilliant people I didn’t know before this week. How do I talk about this experience if it feels that even my heart can’t fully grasp it. It was magic.”
Patricia Hechavarria
Miami, FL
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“I emerged from the conference with a much clearer idea both of the kinds of work I’d like to translate from French and how my work as a translator could fit into my writing life as a whole.”
Katherine Cusumano
Portland, OR