From 1 to 3 December 2011, organisations active in the field of literary translation in Europe at a national or transnational level are invited to meet at a congress in Brussels to work together on the development of a European plan of action in support of literary translation.

(http://www NULL.petra2011 NULL.eu/)

The congress is organised by PETRA, the European Platform for Literary Translation with the intention of uniting all existing initiatives in the field. As a follow-up to the EU’s determination to enhance the status of literary translation and translators, as was expressed by the President of the European Commission José Barroso in April 2009, PETRA aims at evaluating the current situation and drawing up concrete plans to improve the status of literary translation and literary translators in all member states of the EU.

To support the work of the Congress, the partners in the PETRA project will subsequently draw up an assessment of literary translation in Europe based on two important sources already available: the survey of literary translators’ training, profile, working conditions and digital rights, carried out by CEATL, which is an associate partner of PETRA, and the survey of translation in the Euro-Mediterranean region undertaken by the ‘Translation in the Mediterranean’ network.

The proceedings of the PETRA congress will be mainly concerned with the economic and social status of literary translators, the issues of training, royalties and digital publication, and in a more general sense, with the cultural and political issues that are related to translation.

Recommendations of the congress will be sent to all national and local authorities in Europe, to private organisations that support literary translation, and to other actors in the field of literary translation, including editors and publishers.

For more information, check the PETRA website (http://www NULL.petra2011 NULL.eu/). The complete press release can be downloaded here (http://www NULL.ceatl NULL.eu/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/PETRA-PRESS-RELEASE-EN-DEF NULL.pdf).