Kotryna Garanasvili
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kotrynagaranasvili.bsky.social
Kotryna Garanasvili
@kotrynagaranasvili.bsky.social
100 followers 71 following 5 posts
translator&writer | asst. professor | languages, translation&creative writing | National Centre for Writing mentor
⭐️ very new bsky account
🇬🇧🇱🇹🇫🇷🇩🇪🇺🇦🇬🇪🇪🇺
kotrynagaranasvili.wordpress.com
Posts Replies Media Videos
Reposted by Kotryna Garanasvili
englishpen.bsky.social
We’re delighted that English PEN & @writerscentre.bsky.social are collaborating again this year to highlight and promote events and activities taking place across the UK and online in celebration of International Translation Day 2025. #ITD2025

View the programme ⤵️
www.englishpen.org/translation/...
ITD 2025 – Nationwide Programme - English PEN
www.englishpen.org
September 11, 2025 at 4:11 PM
Reposted by Kotryna Garanasvili
kaszyma.bsky.social
👊🏻Join me for this 'Translation as Activism' workshop at the 2025 Manchester Literature Festival 👊🏻 @mcrlitfest.bsky.social
manchesterliteraturefestival.co.uk/events/trans...

🤜🏻10 free tickets can be claimed by MMU (@manmetuni.bsky.social) & UoM (@uomhums.bsky.social) students ➡️📧 zoe@englishpen.org
September 9, 2025 at 10:55 AM
Reposted by Kotryna Garanasvili
brianbergstrom.bsky.social
Jeremy Tiang really hits the nail on the head here (as would be expected).

Translation is caught between two forms of capitalist exploitation: using a per-word freelance structure to provide a bare minimum fee, and playing on its artistic nature to compel free ancillary labor alongside
Tiang: As Maureen alluded to, when we sign a contract, we get paid for our translations. But, in fact, we’re also doing a lot of other labor that is expected but not compensated. This can start way before the contract is signed. Many of us are pitching books to publishers, and to do that, we have to be reading wisely. We have to be making contact with authors and publishers to make sure that the rights are available. We have to do sample translations and synopses, for free, and we have to email them to publishers that we have taken care to build relationships with. All of this is unpaid until a publisher accepts the book, at which point you are negotiating for money after having done a lot of labor. And then there is, as Adam has pointed out, a power differential where the only power the translator has is to say, “This is what I would like.” Beyond that, all you can do is accept what you’re offered or walk away. In one sense, you’re being paid for the labor of your translation. But in another sense, you’re an all-around concierge who, in my case because many of my authors do not speak English, is expected to translate emails between the author and the publisher, to act as a kind of go-between: an agent, a rights agent, and a publicist all in one. We do what has to be done in order to get the translation to market, and often we are the only person in the equation with access to both languages and both cultures and both literary scenes, so we’re the only person who can do this work. But it’s not in our contracts, and we’re not getting paid for it. But it’s what has to happen to keep everything running. Tiang: Honestly, any kind of disruptive solution would be great. I am someone who makes the majority of my income from literary translation, even though my language isn’t particularly in demand. I do this by pitching a lot, generating a lot of my own work, never taking a day off, not sleeping. And that’s not really sustainable. The question for someone like me, who is relatively established and working constantly translating three to four books a year, is: Should I not be making a living? The fact that I am not suggests a problem with sustainability in the industry. It can’t just be people with outside sources of income. But I will say that this conversation has been hugely generative, and I’m going to suggest we start a group chat and continue it.
August 31, 2025 at 3:12 PM
kotrynagaranasvili.bsky.social
APPLY: Lithuanian is one of the languages of the wonderful Emerging Translator Mentorship @writerscentre.bsky.social this year, and I’m v happy to return as a mentor. Please share this opportunity with people interested in translation, literature and languages ✍️📚🇱🇹 Deadline: 31 Aug. Link below!
August 11, 2025 at 1:00 PM
kotrynagaranasvili.bsky.social
I had a wonderful time leading a dialect translation workshop @bristoltranslates.bsky.social. It was so active with over 100 participants in the Zoom room, and their contributions have been simply brilliant! Dialect sparks the best kinds of conversations. Great to see & meet you all 📚✍️💙
July 10, 2025 at 2:06 PM
Reposted by Kotryna Garanasvili
societyofauthors.bsky.social
Member and former chair of the Translators Association Vineet Lal will be welcoming emerging translators at The Literary Centre at 10 today with @rebeccadewald.bsky.social , Nasim Luczaj & Dr Kotryna Garanasvili. #LBF25
Sessions Details
Useful Links
www.londonbookfair.co.uk
March 11, 2025 at 9:00 AM
kotrynagaranasvili.bsky.social
Meet the future of literary translation: the winners of this year’s Emerging Translator Mentorship will read from their brilliant work in this live showcase, hosted by @writerscentre.bsky.social
📚✍️🎤 9 mentees, 9 mentors, 8 languages, on 10 April! More details&booking here: tinyurl.com/4kbct5zv
April 7, 2025 at 10:10 AM
Reposted by Kotryna Garanasvili
gonzalofg.bsky.social
Un traductor literario hace mucho más que traducir textos. La lista de tareas es casi abrumadora.

Este excelente artículo de @kotrynagaranasvili.bsky.social basado en una encuesta demuestra, sin embargo, que el común de los lectores tiene una idea demasiado básica de lo que implica nuestro trabajo.
February 5, 2025 at 2:51 PM
Reposted by Kotryna Garanasvili
michehut.bsky.social
www.thebookseller.com/comment/tran... it's hard not to get jaded with this kind of invisible unpaid workload.
Translation adjacent
Translators do so much more than translation – and we need the industry's help.
www.thebookseller.com
February 4, 2025 at 10:19 PM
Reposted by Kotryna Garanasvili
marinarullo.bsky.social
"Translators are the Clark Kent of the publishing industry."

@kotrynagaranasvili.bsky.social on the @the-bookseller.bsky.social explores how the work of literary translators is perceived by readers.

#literarytranslation
www.thebookseller.com/comment/tran...
Translation adjacent
Translators do so much more than translation – and we need the industry's help.
www.thebookseller.com
February 3, 2025 at 11:39 AM
Reposted by Kotryna Garanasvili
wwborders.bsky.social
In "The Bookseller," a lovely abridged version of Kotryna Garanasvili's recent WWB essay "Translation-adjacent"!
www.thebookseller.com/comment/tran...
Translation adjacent
Translators do so much more than translation – and we need the industry's help.
www.thebookseller.com
January 30, 2025 at 4:32 PM
Reposted by Kotryna Garanasvili
charlenebusalli.bsky.social
Great article by @kotrynagaranasvili.bsky.social about the various things literary translators actually do www.thebookseller.com/comment/tran...
Translation adjacent
Translators do so much more than translation – and we need the industry's help.
www.thebookseller.com
January 30, 2025 at 9:27 AM
Reposted by Kotryna Garanasvili
bethangharad.bsky.social
@kotrynagaranasvili.bsky.social on everything we translators do that goes above and beyond actual translating.

Nailed it, Kotryna. Thanks for advocating for the amazing work we all do! 👏

@wwborders.bsky.social
wwborders.bsky.social Words Without Borders & WWB Campus @wwborders.bsky.social · Dec 19
Today on WWB: Kotryna Garanasvili on “translation-adjacent” tasks, from pitching to editing—and on the necessity of acknowledging this labor. Read her essay here: https://buff.ly/3Daeols
Pencils and shavings scattered over a surface with the quote “Translation-adjacent tasks are a mission, and it’s translators who very often end up with this mission. Why? Well, if anything, because no one else is willing to take it on. Even if they are, they won’t necessarily be able to do it” and the text “'Translation-adjacent' by Kotryna Garanas
January 6, 2025 at 9:26 PM
Reposted by Kotryna Garanasvili
lawrenceschimel.bsky.social
Great essay by @kotrynagaranasvili.bsky.social on all the unpaid/unackowledged things that befall translators in addition to and beyond translating itself.

#xl8 #langsky
wwborders.bsky.social Words Without Borders & WWB Campus @wwborders.bsky.social · Dec 19
Today on WWB: Kotryna Garanasvili on “translation-adjacent” tasks, from pitching to editing—and on the necessity of acknowledging this labor. Read her essay here: https://buff.ly/3Daeols
Pencils and shavings scattered over a surface with the quote “Translation-adjacent tasks are a mission, and it’s translators who very often end up with this mission. Why? Well, if anything, because no one else is willing to take it on. Even if they are, they won’t necessarily be able to do it” and the text “'Translation-adjacent' by Kotryna Garanas
December 20, 2024 at 7:43 PM
Reposted by Kotryna Garanasvili
annagunin.bsky.social
An excellent piece on misperceptions around what the job of literary translator involves.

By @kotrynagaranasvili.bsky.social.

wordswithoutborders.org/read/article...
Translation-adjacent - Words Without Borders
Just how broad is a translator's remit? Kotryna Garanasvili calls for "translation-adjacent" tasks to be duly acknowledged.
wordswithoutborders.org
December 22, 2024 at 2:32 PM
Reposted by Kotryna Garanasvili
wwborders.bsky.social
Today on WWB: Kotryna Garanasvili on “translation-adjacent” tasks, from pitching to editing—and on the necessity of acknowledging this labor. Read her essay here: https://buff.ly/3Daeols
Pencils and shavings scattered over a surface with the quote “Translation-adjacent tasks are a mission, and it’s translators who very often end up with this mission. Why? Well, if anything, because no one else is willing to take it on. Even if they are, they won’t necessarily be able to do it” and the text “'Translation-adjacent' by Kotryna Garanas
December 19, 2024 at 3:05 PM