Jen Calleja
@jencalleja.bsky.social
Wrote FAIR / GOBLINHOOD / VEHICLE / DUST SUCKER, translate German lit, publish Maltese lit at Praspar Press. Lecturer in Creative Writing, Goldsmiths & Tutor, Granta Writers’ Workshop. www.jencalleja.com
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Jen Calleja
@jencalleja.bsky.social
· Nov 15
Hello 👋🏼 I’m Jen Calleja, a writer, literary translator & small press publisher based in Hastings, UK.
I mainly write experimental & hybrid work across all forms including novels, short fiction, poetry, essays, memoir, combinations of the above. Here are my books so far…
I mainly write experimental & hybrid work across all forms including novels, short fiction, poetry, essays, memoir, combinations of the above. Here are my books so far…
Reposted by Jen Calleja
We need your help.
@waterstones.bsky.social, without any direct communication with us, will be opening their 6th Edinburgh branch less than 100 metres from our front door at the Foot of the Walk in Leith.
Please read on for more information
www.heraldscotland.com/news/2562908...
(1/2)
@waterstones.bsky.social, without any direct communication with us, will be opening their 6th Edinburgh branch less than 100 metres from our front door at the Foot of the Walk in Leith.
Please read on for more information
www.heraldscotland.com/news/2562908...
(1/2)
Anger as Waterstones snaps up prime site on doorstep of independent bookshop
UK's biggest bookselling chain under fire over plans for new store beside Edinburgh tram line.
www.heraldscotland.com
November 18, 2025 at 11:28 AM
We need your help.
@waterstones.bsky.social, without any direct communication with us, will be opening their 6th Edinburgh branch less than 100 metres from our front door at the Foot of the Walk in Leith.
Please read on for more information
www.heraldscotland.com/news/2562908...
(1/2)
@waterstones.bsky.social, without any direct communication with us, will be opening their 6th Edinburgh branch less than 100 metres from our front door at the Foot of the Walk in Leith.
Please read on for more information
www.heraldscotland.com/news/2562908...
(1/2)
Reposted by Jen Calleja
Argonaut takes the risk of opening a beautiful, independent, community-oriented bookshop in Leith, then big chain @waterstones.bsky.social comes in, having done none of the work, to try and steal their market. I will always support indie bookshops, especially my local @argonautbooks.bsky.social!
Argonaut Books needs your help 📣
Waterstones are set to open a store less than 100m from the indie bookshop's front door.
Full info on @argonautbooks.bsky.social's Insta: www.instagram.com/p/DRMULI1jCI...
Waterstones are set to open a store less than 100m from the indie bookshop's front door.
Full info on @argonautbooks.bsky.social's Insta: www.instagram.com/p/DRMULI1jCI...
November 18, 2025 at 11:51 AM
Argonaut takes the risk of opening a beautiful, independent, community-oriented bookshop in Leith, then big chain @waterstones.bsky.social comes in, having done none of the work, to try and steal their market. I will always support indie bookshops, especially my local @argonautbooks.bsky.social!
Support indie bookshops !!!
Argonaut Books needs your help 📣
Waterstones are set to open a store less than 100m from the indie bookshop's front door.
Full info on @argonautbooks.bsky.social's Insta: www.instagram.com/p/DRMULI1jCI...
Waterstones are set to open a store less than 100m from the indie bookshop's front door.
Full info on @argonautbooks.bsky.social's Insta: www.instagram.com/p/DRMULI1jCI...
November 18, 2025 at 11:22 AM
Support indie bookshops !!!
Cover reveal ! 💅🍒🚬
Here’s the pretty incredible cover for my translation of FAVORITA by Michelle Steinbeck, out from @faberbooks.bsky.social on 12 February.
“Part hallucinatory road trip, part feminist revenge fantasy: a wild, furious and mischievous novel…”
www.faber.co.uk/product/9780...
Here’s the pretty incredible cover for my translation of FAVORITA by Michelle Steinbeck, out from @faberbooks.bsky.social on 12 February.
“Part hallucinatory road trip, part feminist revenge fantasy: a wild, furious and mischievous novel…”
www.faber.co.uk/product/9780...
November 17, 2025 at 9:25 AM
Cover reveal ! 💅🍒🚬
Here’s the pretty incredible cover for my translation of FAVORITA by Michelle Steinbeck, out from @faberbooks.bsky.social on 12 February.
“Part hallucinatory road trip, part feminist revenge fantasy: a wild, furious and mischievous novel…”
www.faber.co.uk/product/9780...
Here’s the pretty incredible cover for my translation of FAVORITA by Michelle Steinbeck, out from @faberbooks.bsky.social on 12 February.
“Part hallucinatory road trip, part feminist revenge fantasy: a wild, furious and mischievous novel…”
www.faber.co.uk/product/9780...
Perfect reading between Halloween and Christmas @roughtradebooks.bsky.social
November 16, 2025 at 11:42 AM
Perfect reading between Halloween and Christmas @roughtradebooks.bsky.social
Reposted by Jen Calleja
A statement about David Bellos just issued by his department: www.princeton.edu/news/2025/11...
David Bellos, renowned scholar of French fiction and ‘totally brilliant translator,’ dies at age 80
His work grappled with the tricky nature of interpreting between languages and embraced the potential of language itself to help us understand the human condition.
www.princeton.edu
November 14, 2025 at 11:58 PM
A statement about David Bellos just issued by his department: www.princeton.edu/news/2025/11...
Reposted by Jen Calleja
Very much enjoyed Fair by Jen Calleja. A good read on literary translation.
prototypepublishing.co.uk/product/fair/
prototypepublishing.co.uk/product/fair/
Fair: The Life-Art of Translation by Jen Calleja - Prototype
Fair: The Life-Art of Translation is a satirical, refreshing and brilliantly playful book about learning the art of translation, being a bookworker in the publishing industry, growing up, family, and ...
prototypepublishing.co.uk
November 14, 2025 at 12:50 AM
Very much enjoyed Fair by Jen Calleja. A good read on literary translation.
prototypepublishing.co.uk/product/fair/
prototypepublishing.co.uk/product/fair/
Reposted by Jen Calleja
Giving a lecture on the drafts of The Waste Land tomorrow and all the strange and haunting lines that Eliot and Pound decided to cut
November 12, 2025 at 8:08 PM
Giving a lecture on the drafts of The Waste Land tomorrow and all the strange and haunting lines that Eliot and Pound decided to cut
Now the FAIR and GOBLINHOOD tours are over, I wanted to share this essay I wrote for @thelondonmagazine.bsky.social about writing both books. thelondonmagazine.org/article/essa...
@prototypepubs.bsky.social @roughtradebooks.bsky.social
@prototypepubs.bsky.social @roughtradebooks.bsky.social
Essay | Evading Capture: On Writing Two Experimental Memoirs by Jen Calleja - The London Magazine
From our December / January 2025 issue, Jen Calleja on writing experimental memoir and the freedom of experimental forms.
thelondonmagazine.org
November 11, 2025 at 10:01 AM
Now the FAIR and GOBLINHOOD tours are over, I wanted to share this essay I wrote for @thelondonmagazine.bsky.social about writing both books. thelondonmagazine.org/article/essa...
@prototypepubs.bsky.social @roughtradebooks.bsky.social
@prototypepubs.bsky.social @roughtradebooks.bsky.social
I wrote about how getting an allotment made me reflect on life writing for the ROT issue of THE MIRROR LAMP.
You can read the whole issue here: static1.squarespace.com/static/601fd...
Art by Olivia Sterling
You can read the whole issue here: static1.squarespace.com/static/601fd...
Art by Olivia Sterling
November 10, 2025 at 9:26 AM
I wrote about how getting an allotment made me reflect on life writing for the ROT issue of THE MIRROR LAMP.
You can read the whole issue here: static1.squarespace.com/static/601fd...
Art by Olivia Sterling
You can read the whole issue here: static1.squarespace.com/static/601fd...
Art by Olivia Sterling
My Maltese great-grandfather Paulo Calleja died aged 41 fighting for the British Royal Navy. He was on the HMS Diamond when it was bombed while evacuating Allied troops from Greece. His name is on a war memorial in Plymouth, though he never set foot on UK soil.
November 9, 2025 at 8:38 AM
My Maltese great-grandfather Paulo Calleja died aged 41 fighting for the British Royal Navy. He was on the HMS Diamond when it was bombed while evacuating Allied troops from Greece. His name is on a war memorial in Plymouth, though he never set foot on UK soil.
Reposted by Jen Calleja
Today's class is on translation, translators, and the labour of translation - reading this by @jencalleja.bsky.social
November 6, 2025 at 11:20 AM
Today's class is on translation, translators, and the labour of translation - reading this by @jencalleja.bsky.social
Congratulations to @cdrose.bsky.social !
We are delighted to announce that the winner of the Goldsmiths Prize 2025 is C.D. Rose's We Live Here Now! 🎉🎉
Congratulations Chris! 👏👏
Congratulations Chris! 👏👏
November 6, 2025 at 8:13 AM
Congratulations to @cdrose.bsky.social !
Congratulations to Will Mountain Cox for The Relegation Reader anthology, a collection of work by 26 writers in the US, UK & Europe. Will has included an excerpt from my novel Vehicle & I was extremely moved by the Note he includes for it in the anthology itascabooks.com/products/the...
November 4, 2025 at 10:33 AM
Congratulations to Will Mountain Cox for The Relegation Reader anthology, a collection of work by 26 writers in the US, UK & Europe. Will has included an excerpt from my novel Vehicle & I was extremely moved by the Note he includes for it in the anthology itascabooks.com/products/the...
Reposted by Jen Calleja
"Life is about decisions. Either you write 100,000 words a day or you meet people and develop ties of affection. You can’t do both."
How to Write 100,000 Words Per Day, Every Day
Most people don’t believe me when I tell them I write 100,000 words every day of my life. If I’m being totally honest, 100,000 is probably just a b...
buff.ly
November 3, 2025 at 6:26 PM
"Life is about decisions. Either you write 100,000 words a day or you meet people and develop ties of affection. You can’t do both."
Reposted by Jen Calleja
My concrete poem about the Elgin Marbles was published at Thraca Magazine today. 🇬🇷🏛️🏺#GiveTheMarblesBack
November 3, 2025 at 11:54 AM
My concrete poem about the Elgin Marbles was published at Thraca Magazine today. 🇬🇷🏛️🏺#GiveTheMarblesBack
Reposted by Jen Calleja
The inventive, antic, justice-fighting spirit of Jen Calleja is something to behold, bent here to an exploration of translation and the role of the literary translator. A ripper.
October 28, 2025 at 11:42 AM
The inventive, antic, justice-fighting spirit of Jen Calleja is something to behold, bent here to an exploration of translation and the role of the literary translator. A ripper.
RIP to David Bellos whose book Is That a Fish in Your Ear?: Translation and the Meaning of Everything massively contributed to me wanting to become a literary translator. When I was writing my own book about translation, I kept in mind how funny and accessible his book was.
October 27, 2025 at 4:23 PM
RIP to David Bellos whose book Is That a Fish in Your Ear?: Translation and the Meaning of Everything massively contributed to me wanting to become a literary translator. When I was writing my own book about translation, I kept in mind how funny and accessible his book was.
Reposted by Jen Calleja
Announcing the longlist for the Warwick Prize for Women in Translation 2025! Featuring 10 languages, 12 publishers, 4 collections of poetry - and much more. The longlist travels from Argentina to South Korea, from Haiti to Romania, from Sweden to Slovenia.
tinyurl.com/4cu8sdv9
tinyurl.com/4cu8sdv9
October 24, 2025 at 2:19 PM
Announcing the longlist for the Warwick Prize for Women in Translation 2025! Featuring 10 languages, 12 publishers, 4 collections of poetry - and much more. The longlist travels from Argentina to South Korea, from Haiti to Romania, from Sweden to Slovenia.
tinyurl.com/4cu8sdv9
tinyurl.com/4cu8sdv9
Reposted by Jen Calleja
Sign the petition to get the UK Home Office to listen to translation experts before they blindly implement automated (AI-based) translation for asylum cases.
If the Home Office is serious about protecting human rights, it must listen to those who work with language and law every day.
If the Home Office is serious about protecting human rights, it must listen to those who work with language and law every day.
Sign the Petition
Home Office: before automating translation, please listen to the experts
c.org
October 27, 2025 at 7:47 AM
Sign the petition to get the UK Home Office to listen to translation experts before they blindly implement automated (AI-based) translation for asylum cases.
If the Home Office is serious about protecting human rights, it must listen to those who work with language and law every day.
If the Home Office is serious about protecting human rights, it must listen to those who work with language and law every day.
Reposted by Jen Calleja
Tonight in Lisbon! Richard Phoenix & I discussing our books at Well Read.
October 24, 2025 at 12:21 PM
Tonight in Lisbon! Richard Phoenix & I discussing our books at Well Read.
New long-form interview with me in Asymptote!
The new edition of Asymptote is out today - and I got to interview the wonderful @jencalleja.bsky.social for it 😊 Have a read here!
www.asymptotejournal.com/interview/an...
www.asymptotejournal.com/interview/an...
An Interview with Jen Calleja - Asymptote
I met with Jen Calleja—author, musician and translator from German extraordinaire—at the Edinburgh International Book Festival where she was taking part in two events. In the first, she ap...
www.asymptotejournal.com
October 24, 2025 at 11:29 AM
New long-form interview with me in Asymptote!
Reposted by Jen Calleja
The new edition of Asymptote is out today - and I got to interview the wonderful @jencalleja.bsky.social for it 😊 Have a read here!
www.asymptotejournal.com/interview/an...
www.asymptotejournal.com/interview/an...
An Interview with Jen Calleja - Asymptote
I met with Jen Calleja—author, musician and translator from German extraordinaire—at the Edinburgh International Book Festival where she was taking part in two events. In the first, she ap...
www.asymptotejournal.com
October 23, 2025 at 2:25 PM
The new edition of Asymptote is out today - and I got to interview the wonderful @jencalleja.bsky.social for it 😊 Have a read here!
www.asymptotejournal.com/interview/an...
www.asymptotejournal.com/interview/an...
Reposted by Jen Calleja
My translation of Michelle Steinbeck’s FAVORITA is coming out from Faber Books in February !!!
‘On the wall in my grandmother’s kitchen there is a mortadella-coloured rotary telephone. It rings. . .’
🚬💅 Favorita proofs are in 💅🚬
Part hallucinatory road trip, part feminist revenge fantasy, this wild novel from Michelle Steinbeck, translated by Jen Calleja, is out 12 February.
🚬💅 Favorita proofs are in 💅🚬
Part hallucinatory road trip, part feminist revenge fantasy, this wild novel from Michelle Steinbeck, translated by Jen Calleja, is out 12 February.
October 21, 2025 at 10:53 AM
My translation of Michelle Steinbeck’s FAVORITA is coming out from Faber Books in February !!!