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Fundraiser for Galina Korovina’s Funeral Expenses

January 29, 2025

Long-time SLD member and Russian translator Galina Korovina passed away unexpectedly earlier this month. She left no family behind, and her friends have organized a GoFundMe, which can be found here, to help cover her funeral expenses. We can help by donating or sharing the link to spread the word.

If anyone has any memories of Galina, please feel free to share in the comments.

Filed Under: SLD Tagged With: Administrative, Russian

Notes from the Administrative Underground

December 13, 2024

Steven McGrath, SLD Administrator

At long last, I am reaching out to you in the first administrator’s column on the SLD Blog. I acknowledge that it would have been ideal to update you on events in the division sooner, especially since this has been an eventful year for the ATA and SLD, but, as is fitting at the year’s end, I can now report to you a summary of challenges overcome and successes for our membership.

The first success I’d like to mention is the SLD website and blog where you are reading this column, which is now our division’s primary organ. After some technical difficulties earlier in the year, website administrator and blog editor Eugenia Tietz-Sokolskaya has started to right the ship. Starting in May, she oversaw the first member-submitted articles on the blog, a series on translation quality by Mikhail Yashchuk and a guide to generative AI by Viktoryia Baum. The blog is now publishing the post-conference staples of session reviews and newcomer first impressions, as well as administrative updates, announcements, and job opportunities. Kudos to Eugenia and to all SLD Blog contributors!

In speaking of the conference, it was a pleasure seeing many of you at ATA65 in Portland. Special thanks to Eugenia, John Riedl, Olga Bogatova and Shelley Fairweather-Vega for presenting under the Slavic Languages topic category. Thank you as well to SLD members who presented under other topics – I tried to attend them all when the schedule would allow.

Preparations for ATA66 in Boston are already well underway, so I encourage you all to consider presenting sessions. The call for proposals typically goes out in January, so start brainstorming now! SLD’s leadership council has already decided on a nominee to be the Susan Greiss Lecturer in Boston: British literary translator Robert Chandler, who has made an incredible mark on the profession over the course of his distinguished career – including his highly praised translations of the works of Vasily Grossman, to name only one of many authors. He has been on the SLD’s short list of speakers for several years now, and both Paul Gallagher and Nora Favorov, respectively our incoming and emerita Greiss Lecture sherpas, endorsed him in a competitive process.

The past year was quite productive for SLD volunteers. Halla Bearden has been steadily recording interviews for the Slovo podcast, notably with Viktoryia Baum concerning, among other things, her experience with NASA, and also with the Language Technology Division administrative team Daniel Sebesta and Bridget Hylak. An interview with Polish>English literary translator Phillip Boehm has been ready for some time and the link should go out to SLD members shortly. SLD’s social media moderators – Mikhail Yashchuk for the LinkedIn group, Anna Livermore for the Facebook group, and Julia Thornton for the Google listserv – helped spread the word on various opportunities and requests made known to the division.

Moving the administrator’s column to the SLD Blog seems a bit like the start of a new era, and in some ways this reflects changes in the ATA and in the profession as a whole. The sustaining force for any organization in times of change is the energy of its members. Next year, the columns will become regular again, we will have our own Greiss Lecturer at the conference, and there will be new initiatives in new formats. In 2024, a year of transition marked by staff turnover and technological changes at ATA headquarters, we were fortunate to have an enthusiastic body of volunteers who helped us connect with each other and stay abreast of the industry. Thank you all! I look forward to working with you again in 2025!

Filed Under: ATA65, ATA66, SLD Tagged With: Administrative, SLD

2024 SLD Annual Meeting Minutes

October 30, 2024

Minutes of the Annual Meeting of the Slavic Languages Division

of the American Translators Association

September 29, 2024, 2:00 EDT

Held online via Zoom

Steven McGrath, Administrator; Natalia Postrigan, Assistant Administrator

  1. Short introductions were exchanged (attendees’ locations and specializations) before the meeting was called to order.
  2. The meeting was called to order at 2:03 PM EDT.
  3. The minutes from the annual meeting of 2023 were shared in the chat for the attendees to review, and it was mentioned that the minutes were also previously published in the Slav File.
  4. The agenda for the current meeting was also shared in the chat. Eugenia Tietz-Sokolskaya seconded to approve. The 2024 agenda was accepted with no changes.
  5. Division members presented an overview of Division events in the past year:
  6. Blog update: Eugenia shared an update on the SLD Blog. There have been challenges this year related to the changes in the content regulations for ATA division blogs. Also, currently there is no way to subscribe to the blog, leaving no way to let members know about new posts: the only way at present is to request a broadcast to all through ATA communications. Steven said that he would bring up this issue in the quarterly report to the ATA board.
    • Eugenia will be at the conference in Portland inviting people to submit reviews of the conference sessions for publication in the blog.
    • Aleksandr Lukoff asked what input would be wanted from the conference. Eugenia explained that members would be invited to share reviews of the conference sessions.
    • Steven expressed appreciation for Eugenia’s work, and for Viktoryia Baum for contributing an article to the blog.
    • Viktoryia commented about her willingness to share reviews on the sessions, if possible.
    • Steven added that in addition to Slavic track sessions, because in the blog format we don’t have a page limit anymore, anyone is welcome to submit reviews of sessions in other tracks, as well as other content.
  7. Website update: Eugenia shared an update about the website. Eugenia would like to build the resource page on the website, and she invited everyone to supply links and resources.
  8. SLD podcast: Halla Goins was not present to report progress. Steven reported that the podcast is going well. Steven mentioned that there had been two episodes this year and that a new episode is coming soon. Steven expressed appreciation for Viktoryia for participating in the podcast.
  9. Facebook, LinkedIn, and the online forum: The volunteers in this area were not present to report. Steven expressed appreciation for the volunteer effort to grow our social media: Anna Livermore for Facebook, Julia Thornton for the Google forum, and Mikhail Yashchuk for LinkedIn.
  10. Steven asked if anyone would be interested in managing the division’s X (formerly Twitter) account. There was no interest expressed.
  11. New business for 2024:
    • Next year, an election is coming up for the administrator and assistant administrator. Steven called for volunteers for the nominating committee (at least two members). Eugenia and Shelley Fairweather-Vega volunteered.
    • ATA’s 66th Annual Conference will be held in Boston, MA, October 22-25, 2025.
    • Steven invited suggestions for speakers, in particular, for a Distinguished Speaker. Eugenia encouraged members to send proposals to present on their specialization, because the Slavic track usually is slow to fill up. Language-specific sessions are of particular interest. Eugenia said that we are all experts in something and great in what we do, and it would be interesting for all to hear these presentations. Steve joined this call for proposals, sharing that presenting is a good experience and helps you think about your specialization in a new way. Aleksandr commented that interpreting for worker compensation cases appears to be an area of high demand at the moment.
    • Eugenia reminded attendees that Nora Favorov had suggested literary translator Robert Chandler on several occasions, and Boston would be a logistically easier destination for him traveling from England. Shelley commented that if someone like Robert Chandler is recruited, the Literary Division might join SLD to have a joint Distinguished Speaker. The Literary Division also needs to find a distinguished speaker for the next year.
    • Eugenia mentioned immigration lawyer Jan Albrecht as another potential distinguished speaker. Aleksandr mentioned that a colleague of late Ukrainian émigré linguist Sviatoslav Karavanskyi could be a good speaker, but he would need to research a suitable candidate.
    • Steven mentioned that distinguished speaker suggestions would be reviewed by Paul Gallagher.
  12. Call for feedback and suggestions from the members
    • Eugenia spoke about the survey for her and John Riedl’s upcoming presentation at the conference. The survey was sent by the ATA in the past month. The subject was “SLD survey request,” and the email went out on September 25th. The survey is primarily on the topic of Russian>English translation.
    • Viktoryia expressed appreciation for the work of SLD administrator and assistant administrator and mentioned being nominated for ATA president-elect.
  13. Call for newcomers to introduce themselves
    • Anna Kostorna made her introduction. She is looking to expand her business in translation and interpreting work in Ukrainian and Russian.
    • Steven encouraged attendees to share their contact information in the chat.
  14. Annual dinner: Natalia reported on signups for the annual dinner in Portland and encouraged people to sign up soon, as we are getting close to capacity. Viktoryia suggested that next year SLD and LTD consider a joint dinner.
  15. ATA election: Steven mentioned that the ballots for the ATA election should be going out tomorrow.
  16. The meeting was adjourned at 2:46 PM EDT.

Filed Under: SLD Tagged With: Administrative, SLD

Don’t Miss SLD’s Annual Meeting 9/29/24

September 20, 2024

The Slavic Language Division’s annual meeting is on Sunday, September 29, from 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM (ET).

Don’t miss out on the chance to share your common interests and shape upcoming division initiatives! Find out what the division has been up to in the past year, provide input, and welcome newcomers to the division and our profession.

How to attend:
The Zoom link was sent out in a broadcast from ATA Headquarters to SLD members on Friday, September 6. Check your ATA member email inbox and join us!

Conference registration is not required. All members are welcome!

Filed Under: SLD Tagged With: Administrative, ATA

Reminder: Don’t Miss SLD’s Spring 2024 Networking Meetup!

May 13, 2024

ATA SLD Networking MeetupDon’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!

Filed Under: SLD, SLD Networking Tagged With: networking, SLD

Don’t Miss SLD’s Spring 2024 Networking Meetup!

April 30, 2024

ATA SLD Networking MeetupWe 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!

Filed Under: SLD, SLD Networking Tagged With: networking, SLD

Headed to ATA64 in Miami? Join us for dinner!

September 21, 2023

People eatingThursday, 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.

 

Filed Under: ATA64, SLD, SLD Networking Tagged With: annual dinner, ATA64, events, networking

Don’t Miss SLD’s Annual Meeting 9/22

September 19, 2023

The Slavic Language Division’s annual meeting is this Friday, September 22, from 3:00 PM to 3:30 PM (ET).

Don’t miss out on the chance to share your common interests!

ATA Divisions hold their annual meetings to discuss new developments and ideas while offering a chance to connect with colleagues who share common languages or specialties.

How to attend:
The Zoom link can be found at https://web.atanet.org/divisions/division_annual_meeting_2023.php (requires ATA member login)

Conference registration is not required! All members are welcome!

Filed Under: SLD Tagged With: Administrative, ATA

Don’t Miss SLD’s Spring Networking Meetup!

April 28, 2023

ATA SLD Networking MeetupWe would like to invite you to the next quarterly gathering on Zoom this Sunday, April 30. 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 12–2 PM EST on Sunday, April 30. Come when you can, leave when you must!

To RSVP, please email SLD Assistant Administrator Steven McGrath (steven@mcgrathtranslations.com) before the meetup. We hope to see you there!

Filed Under: SLD, SLD Networking Tagged With: networking, SLD

Don’t Miss SLD’s Winter Networking Meetup!

January 27, 2023

Photo by Alex Padurariu on Unsplash

Dear SLD members,

We would like to invite you to the next quarterly gathering on Zoom this Sunday, January 29. 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 1–3 PM EST on Sunday, January 29. Latecomers are welcome. Attendance will be limited to 100 attendees, but this has not been a problem in the past.

To RSVP, please email SLD Assistant Administrator Steven McGrath (steven@mcgrathtranslations.com) before the event. We hope to see you there! There are still spots available! We hope to see you there!

Filed Under: SLD, SLD Networking Tagged With: ATA, networking

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