Slavic Languages Division (American Translators Association)
Registration for this year’s ATA Annual Conference is open! The 67th Conference will take place at the Hyatt Regency in San Francisco, CA on October 28-31, 2026. You can find all the information, including the schedule at a glance and hotel info, at the ATA67 website.
Early registration rates are available until September 8. In addition to the full conference, there are also 1-day and 2-day registration options.
SLD hopes to see you there!
Photo by Chris Montgomery on Unsplash
We would like to invite you to the upcoming quarterly gathering on Zoom. Come chat with Slavic Languages Division colleagues about what’s going on in life and in business. Past meetups have offered members a valuable chance to catch up with each other. We hope that this one will give attendees a sense of connection and motivation going forward.
Grab something from the fridge and meet us on Zoom from 12-2 PM EST on Saturday, March 7th. Latecomers are welcome. Attendance will be limited to 100 attendees, but this has not been a problem in the past. The registration link was emailed out on February 11 to all SLD members. If you have any questions or missed the link, please email SLD Assistant Administrator Natalia Postrigan (postrigann09@gmail.com) before the event.
We hope to see you there!
If you’re heading to Boston for the 66th ATA Annual Conference this year (October 22-25) and wondering what will be there for the Slavic languages enthusiast, we have you covered! In this roundup, we’ve compiled a rundown of SLD-related happenings at the conference, from the Wednesday night division meetup to our Distinguished Speaker sessions to the annual dinner. Hope to see you there!
And if you haven’t registered for the conference yet, there’s still time!
Keep Connecting and Celebrating with Divisions & Special Interest Groups
Wednesday, October 22, 7:00–8:00 PM (after the Welcome Celebration)
Commonwealth Ballroom AB
Come find the SLD area, meet our administrators and fellow members, and get the conference off to a good start!
(067) Changing Attitudes to Translating from Russian
Robert Chandler (Distinguished Speaker)
Friday, October 24, 2:40–3:40 PM
Session description: Constance Garnett was a courageous and independent woman. She translated at least five great Russian writers well enough that readers could sense their greatness for the first time (there are few translators of whom one can say that). Her translations influenced such varied writers as Arnold Bennett, D.H. Lawrence, Katherine Mansfield, and Virginia Woolf. Bizarrely, both Nabokov and Brodsky and, more recently, Pevear and Volokhonsky, have criticized her work. These attacks exemplify how rigid ideologies of translation can interfere with our real work–that of communicating meaning, whether thought, fact, or feeling.
(099) Learning from My Mistakes
Robert Chandler (Distinguished Speaker)
Saturday, October 25, 10:30–11:30 AM
Session description: In some fields of translation (e.g., legal), mistakes are likely to be noticed. In other fields, there may be no one checking your work. That’s why it’s essential to find a way of getting another person to do this. One of the dangers in our profession is that the better one’s command of English, the better one can be at disguising a misunderstanding. A serious source of misunderstandings is verbal aspects. The speaker will provide memorable examples of his own misunderstandings to help attendees grasp the power of these aspects.
This session is also available on livestream (https://www.atanet.org/ata66/education/livestream/), which is included with every level of conference registration and can be purchased separately before October 16.
An interview with Robert Chandler is available on the blog.
(103) New Directions on the Contact Line: How the Russia-Ukraine War Changed Terminology
Steven McGrath
Saturday, October 25, 10:30–11:30 AM
Session description: After more than three years of intense fighting, the war in Ukraine has resulted in numerous consequences for diplomatic and military affairs, as well as for the lives of millions of soldiers and civilians in harm’s way. Nonetheless, English-language media has struggled with terminology for discussing even the technical aspects of battlefield weapons and tactics, let alone the deep, distinct Russian and Ukrainian cultural contexts involved in home-front mobilization and information warfare. In this session, attendees will discuss various approaches for conveying wartime concepts to a general audience in English as they explore terminology with potential applications in various translation fields.
(119) Three Paths to Publishing Professional Literary Translations
Shelley Fairweather-Vega
Saturday, October 25, 1:30–2:30 PM
Session description: No literary translator can succeed without publishing their work, but most translator certification programs teach nothing about publishing. That means too many highly skilled translators never pursue a career in book translation. This session will dispel some of the mystery around the publishing process through case studies of three recent translations published by different routes: a teen romance self-published by the author, short fiction published by a tiny university press, and literary fiction commissioned by a prestigious imprint of another university publisher. We’ll explore specific differences in process, cost, editing, marketing, and more in each publishing scenario.
(138) Court Interpreting – The Translation Side of It
Ana Biškup
Saturday, October 25, 2:40–3:40 PM
Any court interpreting job, whether consecutive or translation, will always include analyzing relevant documents and making sure to use accurate terminology. This session will highlight the importance of research for a court interpreter that goes beyond what any available Artificial Intelligence tool could offer. This includes knowledge of consular affairs, relevant historical sources, and comparative analysis of the source and target language. It also implies using consistent terminology that conveys the correct meaning in the target language.
Thursday, October 23, 7:00-9:00PM
Join us for a delightful dinner featuring dishes from Mediterranean, Italian, and Mexican cuisines. We will head out to Servia, located near the famous Faneuil Hall Marketplace, on Thursday evening between the job fair and After Hours Cafe. Servia offers a buffet of dishes to serve various tastes (salad, ratatouille, grilled chicken, pork tacos).
Location: Servia (https://serviaboston.com/)
126 State St, Boston, MA 02109
Guests will pay for their own food, but registration ensures we can reserve the right number of tables. To register, please contact Assistant Administrator Natalia Postrigan at divisionSLD@atanet.org.
Attending the conference? Consider writing for SlavFile Online, the division blog! Doing a writeup of an SLD-related session (or any session if it really made an impression!) is a great way to collect your thoughts and impressions, extend the reach of knowledge shared at the conference, and raise your own profile. If it’s your first time attending, you can also share general impressions of the conference for a Newcomer’s Column. If interested, contact editor Eugenia Tietz-Sokolskaya at eugenia@sokolskayatranslations.com.
Thursday, October 23 | 7:00PM-9:00PM
Join us for a delightful dinner featuring dishes from Mediterranean, Italian, and Mexican cuisines. We will head out to Servia, located near the famous Faneuil Hall Marketplace, on Thursday evening between the job fair and After Hours Cafe. There, we will be offered a buffet of dishes to serve various tastes (salad, ratatouille, grilled chicken, pork tacos), non-alcoholic drinks, and table wine.
Location: Servia (https://serviaboston.com/)
126 State St, Boston, MA 02109
Cost: $55 per person (includes tax, gratuity, non-alcoholic drinks, and table wine while supplies last)
Guests will have the option to order alcoholic beverages out of pocket.
Space is limited! Reserve your seat by October 16th or as space allows.
To register, please contact Natalia Postrigan at divisionSLD@atanet.org.
Networking Gathering on Zoom: March 9th
Please join SLD the upcoming quarterly gathering on Zoom. Come chat with Slavic Languages Division colleagues about what’s going on in life and in business. The past meetups have offered members a valuable chance to catch up with each other. We hope that this one will give attendees a sense of connection and motivation going forward.
Grab something from the fridge and meet us on Zoom from 3-5 PM EDT on Sunday, March 9th. Latecomers are welcome. Attendance will be limited to 100 attendees, but this has not been a problem in the past.
To register, go to https://tinyurl.com/cdj9z3rt. With questions, please email SLD AssistantAdministrator Natalia Postrigan (postrigann09@gmail.com) before the event. We hope to see you there!
Proposal Deadline for ATA66 Extended to March 10th
This year’s SLD Dinner was held on October 31, 2024, at Kachka, an Eastern European restaurant not far from the Oregon Convention Center. Over 30 people attended and enjoyed delicious food, unique decor, and excellent conversation. The photo above shows those remaining at the end of the evening – we were too busy enjoying ourselves to remember to document the event earlier!
Over the next few weeks, we’ll be sharing reviews of sessions and the conference as a whole. If you attended and would like to share your impressions or a session review (even if unrelated to Slavic languages), shoot me an email at eugenia@sokolskayatranslations.com. Stay tuned!
Just one month until the 65th ATA Annual Conference in Portland, Oregon (October 30 – November 2, 2024)! Early bird registration rates have been extended until October 7, so if you haven’t already, register now to lock in that good deal. Standard registration will be available October 7-14, and late registration rates apply after October 14.
Already registered? Wondering what to do on Thursday evening? Join SLD at our annual dinner at 8 PM at the Eastern European restaurant Kachka. Seats are limited and they’re filling up! Check your inbox for information from ATA HQ, or contact Natalia Postrigan to reserve your spot.
Don’t miss our next quarterly gathering on Zoom this Sunday, May 19, 2024. Come chat with Slavic Languages Division colleagues about what’s going on in life and in business. The past meetups have offered members a valuable chance to catch up with each other. We hope that this one will give attendees a sense of connection and motivation going forward.
Grab something from the fridge and meet us on Zoom from 2–4 PM EDT on Sunday, May 19. Come when you can, leave when you must!
To ensure you get a link for the event, register here. For questions, please email SLD Assistant Administrator Natalia Postrigan (postrigann09@gmail.com) before the meetup. We hope to see you there!
We would like to invite you to the next quarterly gathering on Zoom on Sunday, May 19, 2024. Come chat with Slavic Languages Division colleagues about what’s going on in life and in business. The past meetups have offered members a valuable chance to catch up with each other. We hope that this one will give attendees a sense of connection and motivation going forward.
Grab something from the fridge and meet us on Zoom from 2–4 PM EDT on Sunday, May 19. Come when you can, leave when you must!
To ensure you get a link for the event, register here. For questions, please email SLD Assistant Administrator Natalia Postrigan (postrigann09@gmail.com) before the meetup. We hope to see you there!
Thursday, October 26 | 6:15 p.m.
The SLD plans to continue its tradition of holding an annual dinner at ATA64 in Miami. We hope you can come join us for a Brazilian buffet!
The venue for the dinner is:
Camila’s Restaurant
129 SE 1st Ave, Miami, FL 33131
+1 305-375-0992
https://www.camilasrestaurant.com/
We plan to leave the conference hotel together on Thursday, October 26, at 6:15 EDT.
Tickets for the buffet will be $27, which includes tax, gratuity, and one free drink. To help prepare an appropriate table, please RSVP by October 23 by sending Eugenia Tietz-Sokolskaya an email at eugenia@sokolskayatranslations.com. Payments can be made via Zelle or PayPal to the same address.