Application and Acceptance

Application

Applicants can apply to an Introductory or Manuscript workshop. Introductory workshops are for those who haven’t sufficiently acquired a foreign language yet and/or who do not have a current project. You can also apply to be an auditor.

• Rolling admissions November 1 to February 1 or until places fill.
• There is a $20 application fee.
• Acceptances will be made on a rolling basis and applicants will be notified whether they have been admitted approximately four to six weeks after they apply. With rolling admissions, those who apply early increase their chances of acceptance; therefore, we encourage you to apply early.

We use Submittable, the online application program. Applicants who already have a Submittable account will be asked to login. Others will be prompted to set up a free account.

For financial assistance with the application fee, please contact staff at the Bread Loaf Translators’ Conference.

Introductory Workshop

This workshop is ideal for the following applicants:

• Those interested in literary translation but still acquiring sufficient proficiency in a foreign language.
• Those who have some language skills but do not yet have a translation sample to submit for critique.
• Students of literature, comparative literature, and creative writing.
• Teachers interested in learning how to incorporate translation into the classroom.

The workshop acquaints participants with recurring questions, problems, and pleasures of the activity of literary translation. Students are provided with literary texts from different genres and languages and expected to create translations that will be reviewed in class.

The two Introductory Workshops will be offered by Madhu H. Kaza and Matvei Yankelevich.

Applicants for the Introductory Workshop are not required to submit a translation sample but will be provided with a prompt in the online application where they are asked to address their interest in translation and what they hope to gain from the conference.

Manuscript Workshop

This workshop is intended for students who already have sufficient foreign language skills and are working on translations that are in-progress. Workshops will be genre based:

• Two workshops working exclusively in prose, either fiction or nonfiction (Anton Hur and Bruna Dantas Lobato)
• One poetry workshop (Kareem James Abu-Zeid)
• One mixed workshops in prose or poetry (Emily Wilson)

Manuscripts of up to 4,000 words (for prose) or eight pages (for poems) will be reviewed in the workshop and in a one-on-one conference with the instructor.

Applicants for the Manuscript Workshop submit the online application with a sample of current work. Applicants should send their strongest unpublished work. See Manuscript Guidelines.

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, several $500, $750, $1,000, and $2,735 scholarships will be given.

In addition, we are pleased to announce a full scholarship including a travel stipend of $500 made possible by The Rona Jaffe Foundation. This scholarship will be awarded to a woman in early career who has not attended Bread Loaf in the past and also meets one or both of the following criteria: an applicant with a nontraditional literary background, who is working outside of academia with or without a writing degree and/or an individual who is in particular need of financial and creative support. Candidates must be permanent residents of the United States, and writers who have published a book (a standard trade edition of their work) are not eligible for this scholarship. All financial aid applicants who meet the criteria as described above will be considered for this scholarship.

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 as well as to former winners who first participated in an Introductory Workshop and are now applying to take part in a Translation Manuscript Workshop.

See more about financial aid.

Auditor

Auditors are those who would like to attend a translation manuscript workshop or the introductory workshop but do not feel ready to participate fully. Auditors are assigned to a workshop and are asked primarily to listen and observe during the workshop meetings. Auditors do not submit a manuscript or assignments for review and do not receive an individual conference with the instructor.

Outside of the workshop, auditors participate in all aspects of the conference including the daily readings, lectures, craft classes, receptions, and social events.

Auditor applicants submit the online application. A writing sample is not required.

Acceptance

• Acceptance into the Introductory Workshop will be based on the strength of the application and the degree to which the applicant will benefit from the conference.
• Acceptance into the Manuscript Workshops will be based on the strength and promise of the translation sample submitted and the degree to which the applicant and his or her work will benefit from the conference. Only applications of work being translated into English are able to be considered. The application will require submitting a writing sample both in the original source language and the target language of English.
• Acceptances will be made on a rolling basis and applicants will be notified whether they have been admitted approximately four to six weeks after they apply. With rolling admissions, those who apply early increase their chances of acceptance.
• Applicants submit their top choices for workshop leader upon acceptance to the conference, noting it on the confirmation form. Participants are then assigned to a workshop based on our commitment to giving all attendees one of their choices.
• We do not enroll anyone for less than the full seven days of the conference.
• Applicants must be at least eighteen years of age.