Wednesdays, March 25 to April 29th, 7-9pm Eastern Time
online; 8 students max
$300
Enroll in this class.
please note: payments will not be accepted until January 1, 2026. For now, sign up, and in the New Year you will be required to input your credit card information to complete the purchase. Thank you!
Translated literature contains so much— as translators, we’re not just working on the craft of translation, the languages, we’re also working on expressing contexts, contradictions, and letting both the authors and translators’ voices be heard. The practice of translation is also about close reading, embodying the emotions, understanding our relationship with the languages, and learning to express them. How do we talk about our creative works with the publishers and audiences? What else can we build, to decolonize the “standards”, the conventions, and what didn’t make sense before, through publishing our works?
Every week, we’ll start with 1-2 readings and toolkit materials that contain nits and bits of how we can approach pitching and bring out more contexts that speak justice, or deepen the understanding of your works. Expect a mix of literary reading and practical essays.
Starting from Week 2 or 3, we’ll workshop short translation practices or translation-in-progress from each student. What’s different from my other workshop is—if you have articles about translation that you wrote, or pitch materials that you hope to get workshopped and discussed, this is the space for you. This is a non-language-specific workshop and there is no limit with the genres to submit (poetry, hybrid works, graphic novels, and picture books are all very welcomed). Every translator will get to workshop once and have a 30-minute one-on-one meeting with me. If you are just starting a project, or already have a project in-progress, you’re more than welcomed to join!
Note for translators: For those of you who have taken my translation workshops, or other translation workshops before, and are seeking to deepen your practice in literary translation, getting more involved in the landscape, or think it would be helpful for you to first building up your toolkits with the field, this is the workshop for you.
Week 1: How to Be Different? On Sensitivity, Censorship, and Taboos
Week 2: Translating Dialects, Slangs, Unwritten languages, and the “Irregular”
Week 3: Translating the Unvoiced–On Contexts, Visibility, and Representation
Week 4: How to Pitch to Publishers, Magazines, and Talk About Your Work
Week 5: Writing Our Own Pitches Together & Understanding Contracts
Week 6: On Translator’s Notes: Writing About Translation and Languages & How to Do Public Readings
Enroll in this class.
About the Instructor
Jenna Tang is a Taiwanese writer and a translator who translates between Mandarin, French, Spanish, and English. Her translations and essays are published in The Paris Review, Lit Hub, Restless Books, Latin American Literature Today, AAWW, McSweeney’s, Catapult, Fare Magazine, and elsewhere. Her translations include works from Taiwanese feminist authors, Lin Yi-Han (Fang Si-Chi’s First Love Paradise), Lâu Tsí-û (“Not Your Child”), Leah Yang, and more. She is currently working on books written in her disappearing dialect. She is a board-member at the American Literary Translators Association (ALTA). She has given talks about translation, languages, and gender movements across 22 universities in the States, Canada, China, and Taiwan.
Student Testimonials
“I came to this class simply curious about translation on my own language journey as I navigate an intense career change, and learned so much from Jenna and our cohort about the industry and how translation is an art form. It’s really opened up my perspective on how I wish to continue my creative pursuits. The readings are spectacular, I had to find hard copies to finish them!” — previous Crossing—On Translated Literature student
“Jenna is a brilliant instructor whose classes always push me to engage more deeply with literature. She is generous with her time and attention to every class, sharing literature from across the world and giving her students new perspectives and techniques to explore in their own writing. Her passion for language and narrative is contagious, I could talk about literature with Jenna all day.”
“Jenna's classes awaken me and allow me to voice silent questions about the rapidly changing world and myself. I will definitely take another class of hers.”
"Jenna Tang is doing incredible and important work as a translator and writer. She is so generous and always opens the door for others. Her work challenges the status quo and creates a space for resonant stories and writers to find many audiences and communities across languages and borders. She helps us see what is possible in the literary world and how to find our way toward it. I can't think of anyone I'd rather learn from more!" — K-Ming Chang, writer
“Jenna Tang works tirelessly and generously to promote literature in translation and to build community within the translation sphere. As a translator from Taiwan now based in the US, she moves fluidly between the cultures she translates from and to, probing the bounds of the English language and seeking out voices who have hitherto not received sufficient attention.” — Jeremy Tiang, translator
“Jenna is a thoughtful translator and creative spirit who works from multiple lineages and myriad inspirations, toggling between the minutest of details and big-picture issues in a text with ease. Warm and inquisitive, she's committed to community in all senses and brings passion and energy to every one of her endeavors.” — Mike Fu, Literary Translator of Sanmao’s Stories of the Sahara
“Jenna made each one of us feel valued and comfortable during class. She was a fantastic teacher, genuinely enthusiastic about the subject. Her thoughtfully-prepared class discussions were directly applicable to my translation practice, and I am now a better translator because of it.” — Former Student