Feminist Translation Blog

Contributors to this blog share their thoughts on feminist translation practice from a variety of perspectives. Blog posts do not have to focus exclusively on contemporary literary translation into English; we welcome posts discussing feminist translation practice in other contexts and languages. We also welcome posts written in languages other than English.

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Photo of the audience and speakers at the launch of the Feminist Literary Translation book.

The Public Shows Up for Feminist Literary Translation!  

The impressive turnout for an event on feminist approaches to literary translation indicates a significant interest from the public.
The cover of An Anthology of New Feminist Translation

An Anthology of New Feminist Translations

We’re delighted to announce the publication of our Anthology of New Feminist Translations. Earlier this year, we asked six translators – Marilyn Booth, Ruth Donnelly, Seán McDonagh, Elete Nelson-Fearon, Georgia Wall and …
Cover of Marcella - La Sorcière ne ment jamais (The Witch Never Lies)

Feminism and Translation: workshop at Bristol Translates

Helen Vassallo (Exeter) writes about her workshop ‘What is “feminist translation”, and why does it matter?’
A scrabble board with the words Feminist, Translation, and Paratext spelled out in letters.

The Visible Woman: Paratextuality in Feminist Translation

“Translators are often invisible to their readers; however, some translators take a paratextual approach to translation.” Eleanor Fillingham writes for the Feminist Translation blog.
Femmes d’Alger dans leur appartement" — the 1834 painting by Eugène Delacroix that gave its title to Assia Djebar’s book.

From Translation to Authorship: The Itch to Write in Their Own Voices

For many translators, writing begins as an act of listening — a quiet, precise labour of carrying someone else’s voice across the threshold of language and culture.
Copy of "The Woman You Become" standing upright to show the cover, with a beautiful building in the background through a window

Feminist Translation and Creativity in the Classroom: ‘The Woman You Become’ Project

From January to June 2025, I undertook with a group of four second-year students in German at the University of Oxford a translation of the short story ‘Werde, die Du bist!’ (1894) by the German writer Hedwig Dohm.
Attendees at Translation slam with Michelle Geoffrion-Vinci and Lawrence Schimel, looking down at the speakers on the stage

Feminist translation in practice: just good, resistant or strategic?

The Feminist Translation Network (FTN) asks a clear and straightforward question: What is feminist translation, in practice, in the twenty-first century? The investigators are aware that there is no straightforward answer. …
Speakers at the Emma Press translation event

What Does Feminist Translation Look Like in Practice?: Reflections on The Emma Press and The Feminist Translation Network’s Scratch Night

Leilani Willis (University of Warwick) reflects on the Network’s recent event, which brought together a group of translators to read from and discuss their current works-in-progress which respond in various ways to the brief of a feminist translation project.
‘The Task for Feminist Translators Today’, panel at the London Book Fair, March 2025, co-organised with the British Centre for Literary Translation

Feminist Translation Network: preliminary insights

Hilary Brown reflects on the first year of the network.
two hands reaching for a flying object in the sky

Productive Glitches: Machine ‘Errors’ in Feminist Post-Editing

How does post-editing – the act of revising machine-translated output – affect the feminist voice in translation? My PhD research into contemporary Russian poetry and machine translation has led to me …
pink silhouette of a superhero

A Demystifying Introduction to Feminist Translation by Popular Demand

Mazal Oaknín of University College London writes about a session on feminist translation for postgraduate students.

APTIS 2024 Hot Topic roundtable: Teaching Feminist Translation

On 7 November 2024, Dr Gabriela Saldanha (University of Oslo), Dr Olga Castro (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona/University of Warwick) and Dr Hilary Brown (University of Birmingham) ran a Hot Topic roundtable …
Melinda Mátyus and Jozefina Komporaly at the launch of MyLifeandMyLife at the Liszt Institute in New York (11 February 2025), photo courtesy of Liszt Institute NY.

Signposting Feminist Translation Strategies: Why Positionality Matters

This blogpost aims to reflect on feminist translation practices from my perspective as a translator working out of my heritage languages into English and championing a transnational approach. In recent years, …
picture of scrabble tiles spelling out the words Choose your words

Gender-inclusive French translation as a feminist practice

Feminist translation goes beyond simply converting words from one language to another. It is a practice deeply rooted in collaboration, valuing women’s voices and feminist texts, and respecting both our own work and the work of others.
A woman marching at a protest with her face painted with the symbol for women

Feminist Translation and the Language of Power

As International Women’s Day approaches, various events are being organised in Italy where I live, including debates, demonstrations, and strikes. In this collective reflection on the histories, claims, and practices of the feminist movement, one question has been capturing my attention: what is the relationship between feminism and power?
Worksheets from the workshop on La forme de ma foret with student annotations

Feminist Translation in the A Level Classroom

For the past four years, I have worked with the Stephen Spender Trust to design and deliver creative translation workshops. This February, I had the opportunity to develop one such workshop …
First FTN event, Birmingham Literature Festival, October 2024

Why is a Feminist Translation Network important?

A feminist translation network involving researchers and practitioners is important for sharing, developing and creating feminist translation strategies. I am a translator and academic based in London and I travelled to …
‘Sparrowhearts’, an intersemiotic translation.

Thunder and Thread: Towards a Feminist, Intersemiotic Translation of Dolors Miquel’s ‘Sparrowhearts’

What is the link between pop artist Andy Warhol, contemporary Catalan poet Dolors Miquel, and intersemiotic translation?  The answer may well be excess. Not a hedonistic, or overtly indulgent excess, but …

A Feminist Translation from Chile

Letícia Goellner and Belén Rodríguez Salvatierra share their insights on feminist translation practice from the perspective of Latin American women, translators, and researchers in the field of Translation Studies.