Bridging Words: A Cross-Border Dialogue

on Literary Translation

Our last event in Romania's programme at The London Book Fair brought together Romanian and British publishers and authors whose meaningful work in promoting international literature and cross-border dialogue across the years has made our world richer. Our guest speakers were Denisa Comanescu (Humanitas), Dan Pleşa (Vellant), Monique Charlesworth (Moth Books) and Neil Astley (Bloodaxe Books), in a conversation chaired by cultural manager, translator, and editor Alexandra Büchler, director of Literature Across Frontiers.

The evening was opened by RCI London director Aura Woodward and continued with an engaging discussion about publishing trends in Romania and the UK, the key role of translators in erasing borders of knowledge and the ever-growing relevance of translated literature in connecting nations and broadening our perspectives.

We were happy to be joined by an enthusiastic audience made up of reputed international authors, translators and publishers, as well as friends of the Romanian Cultural Institute in London. Discussions continued long after the panel talk, and we concluded our programme animated by new ideas, opportunities and ambitions.

We salute the participation of Jozefina Komporaly, one of Romanian literature's most active UK-based translators, at the Literary Translation Centre's LBF panel entitled "The Task for Feminist Translators Today".

Our heartfelt thanks to all our guest creatives for their brilliant and inspiring contributions, our valuable partners, our enthusiastic audiences and everyone who visited us for the first time, at Olympia or our other event locations. Special thanks go to our colleagues at the Romanian Cultural Institute Bucharest (thank you, Sorin Ghergut, for being with us in London!), particularly to the National Book Centre team - Dana Ionescu (director of CENNAC) and Silvia Saitoc. And last but not least, to Alex Coman for the great shots.

Many thanks to our guest speakers and to everyone who joined us!

Photography by Alex Coman