Workshops & Mentoring

To see my latest workshops and courses, scroll down.

I’ve created and delivered creative writing and literary translation courses, masterclasses and workshops for Arvon Foundation, The British Library, The Poetry School, New Writing South, Hastings Writers Workshop, the British Centre for Literary Translation Summer School (UEA), American Literary Translators Association, Bristol Translates Summer School (University of Bristol) and various universities and institutions in the UK and US.

I’ve been an Associate Tutor in the Department of Literature, Drama and Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia. I’ve also supervised students on Birkbeck’s MFA Creative Writing and UEA’s MA Literary Translation programmes. I’m currently mentoring a young poet for the charity Arts Emergency.

I’ve mentored emerging literary translators for the British Council and London Book Fair, and now mentor writers and translators independently (see below).

Workshops

I devise and lead workshops on creative writing and literary translation. These can be for writers writing in English and/or literary translators working from any language into English. Fiction, poetry, and German-to-English literary translation are my specialisms.

If you’re an organisation, institution or university looking to book a creative writing and/or literary translation workshop I can create a workshop suitable for different abilities and skills.

Mentoring

My books are currently *CLOSED* for one-on-one mentoring. Please subscribe to my newsletter to find out when they re-open.

I offer low-cost mentorships to emerging literary translators from any language into English for 2, 4, 6 or 12 hours taken in 1-2 hour slots in person in London and/or over Skype. Please contact me for rates.

I’m particularly keen to mentor emerging writers and translators who are Black; disabled; living with a chronic illness; from less privileged backgrounds; who haven’t attended university; and/or are the first in their family to attend university.

My former mentees are:
Phyllis Ang (Chinese to English)
Sophie Atkinson (Literary translation – general)
Rachel Beverley (German to English)
Filiz Emre (Turkish <> English) – Goldsmiths Alumni Mentoring Scheme
Laura Francis (French to English)
Viv Griffiths (French & Spanish to English)
Julija Gulbinovic (Lithuanian to English) – British Council/London Book Fair Translation Fellow
Jack Hargreaves (Chinese to English)
Jo Heinrich (German & French to English)
Vijay Khurana (German to English)
Lizzy Kinch (German to English)
Tyler Langendorfer (German to English)
Veronika Lukács (Hungarian to English)
Valentina Marconi (working with English, Italian & Serbo-Croat)
Karen Martin (Afrikaans to English)
Elie Ochôa  (French to English)
John-Baptiste Oduor (German to English) – see below for an interview with JB in New Books in German magazine
Lucy Rand (Italian to English)
Roya Sarrafi-Gohar (German & French to English)

Featured Workshops & Mentees

Literary Translation (Online) – Mondays 6.30pm till 8.30pm (GMT) 6 February to 13 March 2023

Online

I’m going to be offering an online course in Literary Translation comprising six two-hour sessions. The first hour will be practical exercises and discussion on things like writing, approaches, ethics, and working with(in) the publishing industry, the second hour will be a discussion of a translation by one of the participants in the group to give insight into the editing and redrafting process. Before the course you will need to provide a short translation of prose, a few poems, or a few pages of theatre from any language into English (specifics will be given over email).

Spaces limited to 6. The full price is £150. By booking a place you will have to commit to all six weeks.

Email jenniferannecalleja at gmail dot com with the subject LIT TRANS SPRING 2023 to book a place.

I’ll be offering an online Fiction and Poetry course later in Spring 2023, more details to follow.

It…made it clear to me that I would like to pursue literary translation as at least a part of my career – it had always seemed so terrifyingly inaccessible before so it was really nice to meet a friendly real human who actually does it for a living and made it seem much less so.

Workshop attendee

Creative Masterclass for Writers and Translators

British Library

My most popular workshop has been my Creative Masterclass for Writers and Translation, which I teach over the course of a weekend at the British Library. This course has been running since 2018 and takes place twice a year.

More Info

The course was creative, stimulating, encouraging and friendly, and was exactly as described […] Jen Calleja was a skilled, intelligent, confident and encouraging tutor.

Masterclass participant, British Library

Literary Translation, Creative Writing, and Creative Translation Workshops

Various Locations

My workshops have been in association with places including Grand Union Gallery, Doolin Writers Festival, King’s College London, Edinburgh Universities’ Summer School, University College London and British Centre for Literary Translation.

I can give literary translation, creative writing, and creative translation workshops of any length – from 2 hours to multiple sessions over the course of many weeks.

Julija Gulbinovic

Lithuanian to English

I mentored Julijia as part of the British Council/London Book Fair Emerging Translator Scheme.

Jen Calleja provided me with valuable context for the literary translator’s network in the UK, introduced me to the work of the Society of Authors and the Emerging Translators Network, as well as some editors and publishers, and even edited my sample translations, which was very generous of her. All of that worked as a confidence-building experience and it would have taken much longer otherwise or might not have happened at all.

Julija Gulbinovic

I give literary translation mentorships for 2, 4, 6 or 12 hours in 2-hour sessions in person or over Skype. Please contact me for details.

John-Baptiste Oduor

German to English

John-Baptiste is undertaking a 12-hour mentorship with me focusing on translating literary fiction and non-fiction from German to English.

Read a conversation between John-Baptiste and I about the mentorship at New Books in German magazine

Follow John-Baptiste on Twitter

From my perspective the experience has been incredibly enriching.

John-Baptiste, New Books in German magazine