Translation as Activism Workshop with Kasia Szymanska

Led by Kasia Szymanska, this participatory conversation will ask: how can we use our languages to make the change we want? Should all activists want to translate? Should all translators want to be activist? And are we talking about different things when we talk about translation as activism and translation as art?

This workshop is aimed at individuals interested in translation, just starting out, or early into their practice. Participants are encouraged to bring something they would like to ask or share, such as a story about their experience with languages that they think is relevant to the theme.

This event is presented in partnership with English PEN, Comma Press and Manchester Translation Series, and is part of English PEN’s programme for International Translation Day 2025.

Kasia Szymanska is a translation critic, translator, and academic who teaches literary and creative translation at the University of Manchester’s Centre for Translation and Intercultural Studies. She’s the author of Translation Multiples (PUP, 2025), a book that looks at the creative and political sides of a new kind of writing that produces multiple translation versions. She was one of the judges for the Oxford-Weidenfeld Translation Prize and has written about translation for Words Without Borders, Review of Democracy, and Hopscotch Translation, among others.