ATA SLD

Slavic Languages Division (American Translators Association)

American Translators Association: The Voice of Interpreters and Translators

Join SLD at the Annual Dinner in Boston!

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.

Division Roundup: June 2025

Natalia Postrigan, SLD Assistant Administrator

Registration for the ATA 66th Annual Conference in Boston, MA, is open now! Head to the conference website for updates on registration and the agenda for what promises to be an exceptional gathering of translation and interpretation professionals.

The conference kicks off on Wednesday, October 22nd with:

  • AST (Advanced Skills & Training) sessions
  • In-person certification exam
  • Welcome reception at 5:30 PM
  • Divisions & Special Interest Group (SIG) meet & greet, 7-8 PM

Over the following three days, attendees can enjoy multiple sessions alongside exciting networking opportunities including division events, a job fair, after-hours open mic café, book & resource fair, game night, and the annual ATA members meeting. The conference concludes on Saturday evening with a closing session (5:15-5:45 PM) followed by the legendary annual dance party.

SLD Annual Dinner: Our team is currently working on picking a restaurant. Stay tuned for updates! If you can recommend a great venue, please contact Natalia at divisionSLD@atanet.org.

Get Inspired: ATA65 Session Reviews

Need motivation to start planning for Boston? Read Conferences and Marketing on Stephen Rifkind’s blog for ideas on how to maximize the economic benefit of participating in a professional conference.

You can find reviews of sessions presented by SLD members in previous conferences on the SLD blog. For example, “On Interpreting for Russian-Speaking LGBTQ+ Individuals“ (presented by Olga Bogatova and reviewed by Julia LaVilla-Nossova).

Distinguished Speaker Announcement

We are thrilled to announce that our Distinguished Speaker will be Robert Chandler, a literary translator and poet with over 50 years of experience, including highly acclaimed translations of Vasily Grossman and Teffi.

Mr. Chandler began learning Russian at age 15 and spent a transformative year at 20 as a British Council Exchange scholar in Voronezh – the birthplace of Andrey Platonov and the city where Osip Mandelstam was exiled. It was there that he first discovered these writers and began his lifelong journey translating Russian poetry and prose. Currently based in London, he runs translation workshops and mentors emerging translators. We’re honored to welcome him from England and hope you’ll join us in Boston to celebrate his remarkable achievements.

Community Building Initiatives

Polish Certification Study Group

SLD member Katarzyna Kawalec is launching a peer practice group for the Polish<>English ATA certification exam. Inspired by Maria Guzenko and Eugenia Tietz-Sokolskaya’s primarily Russian-language study group of past years, Katarzyna is building a community for feedback exchange on practice texts and mutual support throughout the certification journey. If you’re planning to take the PL>EN or EN>PL exam, contact Katarzyna at kontakt@kawalec-tlumacz-przysiegly.pl.

Turkic Languages SIG

SLD members Shelley Fairweather-Vega and Jamila DelMistro are working on starting a Special Interest Group for Turkic languages within ATA. To learn more or volunteer as a moderator, contact Jamila (jamdmistro@gmail.com) or Shelley (translation@fairvega.com).

Continuing the conversation about AI in translation

The impact of AI on translation remains a hot topic. At ATA65 in Portland, Eugenia Tietz-Sokolskaya and John Riedl presented “I Can’t Place the Accent: Identifying the Characteristic Traits of Computer Translation,” which compared output from newer AI/LLM models to that of older machine translation and human translators. Read Christine Pawlowski’s review on the SLD blog, and access the presentation slides in our Slavic Languages Presentation Archive.

Coming Soon: Slovo podcast editor Halla Goins is preparing an interview with Eugenia and John. Catch up on previous Slovo episodes on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, and Spotify.

Share Your Voice

Want to contribute to our community discussions? Contact Halla about podcast opportunities or Eugenia about blog contributions and address any general questions and comments to SLD Administrator Steven McGrath and Assistant Administrator Natalia Postrigan by reaching out to divisionSLD@atanet.org.

Notes from the Administrative Underground

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!

SLD Annual Dinner at ATA65

group of 17 people in a restaurant

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!

2024 SLD Annual Meeting Minutes

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.

ATA65 – One Month Away!

One Month until ATA65 in Portland, OR

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.

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

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!

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

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!

Don’t Miss SLD’s Spring Networking Meetup!

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!

SLD at the ATA 58th Annual Conference: all you need to know and do before leaving for Washington, D.C.

Watch

Image by Jiyeon Park via Unsplash

The ATA 58th Annual Conference is now less than a week away. We look forward to meeting new SLD members and reconnecting with the colleagues we already know.

We have several reminders for the SLD members coming to the conference – before you start your journey to Washington, D.C., make sure you are not going to miss any of the SLD events that interest you.

For the first-time attendees: advice from SLD members, Buddies welcome Newbies and Newcomers Lunch

If you are a first-time attendee, welcome!

You’ll be able to meet with SLD members even before the sessions start at the SLD table at the Welcome Celebration. We also recommend participating in the Buddies welcome Newbies program, and attending the SLD Newcomers Lunch (Thursday, October 26, 12:30 pm) – please remember that registration for this event closes on Friday, October, 20.

Read more about the SLD Newcomers Lunch here. Remember that this event is open to both newcomers and those who have already attended ATA conferences in the past.

In addition to organizing the newcomers lunch, Jen Guernsey has prepared a blog post with advice for the first-time attendees. You can read it here. Natalie Mainland, a recent first-time attendee, shares her experience and offers advice in this post. If you would like to read other conference reviews by first-time attendees, the Summer/Fall SlavFile Preview issue has a list of articles going back to 2004.

SLD Annual Dinner

This event will take place on October 26, from 7pm to 10 pm at Meze. You can find detailed instructions on registration and information about the event here. While we do offer an opportunity to register at the Welcoming Celebration, we would very much like to have as many attendees as possible register before October, 20. Please register now to avoid possible cancellation!

Other dining options: going out with other SLD members

This year we are running sign-up sheets for SLD members who would like to explore Washington, D.C., Slavic food scene. Additional information and a link to the sign-up form are available here.

SLD sessions and the Annual Meeting

While going out with fellow SLD members is an important part of the conference experience, it is not all that we do.

You can find the Slavic languages sessions schedule online, or in the Summer/Fall SlavFile Preview issue.

In addition to that we encourage all SLD members to attend the Annual Meeting on Thursday at 4:45 pm to 5:45 pm. This is an opportunity to discuss the division initiatives, find out about division plans, meet other members and help shape the future of our division. SLD Annual Meeting agenda has been published in the 2017 Summer/Fall SlavFile issue on page 24.

Other ways to make a difference

Even if you are not willing to take on a specific position as a member of the Leadership Council, you can still contribute to the division. For example, we would love SLD members and other conference attendees to share their experiences and/or reviews of non-Slavic sessions. Read a post from Eugenia Tietz-Sokolskaya, the SLD Blog Editor, to find out more.

Final reminders

Please remember that there is a new badging policy in place: do not forget to wear your attendee badge for any conference events and activities.

If you would like to attend one of the SLD events, please remember to register in advance, by October, 20, for both Newcomers Lunch and Annual Dinner.

Lastly, please consider contributing to the division, either by attending the Annual Meeting or by submitting a review, a post, or a SlavFile article.

We wish all attendees an exciting time in Washington, D.C., and hope to see you there!

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