I don't know what this carol is from Kings but it keeps sounding like Zorba the Greek, which is very disconcerting!

The news about Harlequin translators getting fired en masse? You should care about that. They're doing it there because they think nobody gives a shit about romance and so it's fine to experiment with it first.

So I am going to say something about romance as a genre. A lot of people think that romance is ignorable because <insert thing they think about romance> and romance authors don't count because <insert thing they think about romance>. This thread is not about whether you have to like romance.

Deep breath Ok I'm going to try and stay calm But I'll point out that AI translation is literally causing translators to be fired (see the whole Harlequin line in France) (1/?)

I will keep saying this. If you bought a calculator and it EVEN ONCE told you 2+2=5, you’d throw it out and demand a refund. If you had an employee who lied confidently to you, and was easily caught, you’d fire them. LLMs are the untrustworthy calculator and the confident liar. Fire them.

The same people who "love Christmas" so much that they put up a tree in November also take it down on Boxing Day *the actual literal second day of Christmas*. They also then complain about how much the hate January. Well folks, you did it to yourselves! We invented Christmas observence for this!

The others are a little confused by the new lap pad from @craftycow.bsky.social but Tolly understands, as the kids say, the assignment.

A lovely German phrase for somewhere off the beaten track is wo sich Fuchs und Hase gute Nacht sagen. It means “where the fox and hare bid each other goodnight.”

All the pretty lights are on and that's me done until January! Work Christmas do (nice meal with husband) tonight. 🎉🧑‍🎄🎄

"Über ihr weitere Schicksal, insbesondere den Zeitpunkt ihres Ablebens, sind wir nicht orientiert." (about her further fate, esp. the time of her departure from life, we are not oriented) => "we do not know what happened to her after that, or when she died." #amtranslating #simplify #cutthewaffle

Usual reminder: decisions like this don't mean that AI can do the job of a human translator; they mean that some C-suite creature who is basically a LinkedIn profile wrapped in ham and an expensive suit has decided it provides an alibi for paying human translators less money for less rewarding work.

Authors and agents have to make sure their translation contracts have a human translators only clause

📣 BCLT, on behalf of the Consortium for Humanities and the Arts – South-East England, is pleased to announce two sponsored places at the annual Institute for World Literature, to be held in person at Humboldt University Berlin in summer 2026. Find out more: www.uea.ac.uk/groups-and-c...

Merry gentlefolk, it is time. Today is the day. Today is comma-mas. Today is the day where we contemplate the correct placing of the comma in 'God rest you merry, gentlemen'. And if we are lucky, we can have a row about it. >

Why does LinkedIn style require all posts to be bulleted lists with emojis?!

ClickWord.org Daily 1038: 1045 points (top 20% 🎊) 14 words: ♾️🟪🟪🟪🟧🟧🟨🟨🟨🟨🟩🟩🟩🟩 💪 Best word: 740 points 🔥 Streak: 259 days 🦊 #ClickWord #ClickWordDaily1038

Fell down a bit of an etymology rabbit hole last night after D learnt aubergines used to be called "mad apple"...

So much of editing my translations seems to be deleting the words "of" and "that", and switching "like" to "as though", or vice versa... Sigh. #AmEditing #WouldRatherBeTranslating

French & Francophone pals: book recommendations please. I'm going to Paris for the weekend and I will allow myself to buy 1 book. I like fiction, particularly genre fiction, and I'd like something not too long, light-hearted, fun & ideally not translated into English. Merci d'avance !

This is very sad news. Marcia -- Lizzy Siddal at Lizzy's Literary Life -- was a wonderful blogger and a champion of translated German fiction in particular. I'm glad I got the chance to meet her a few times down the years, and will remember her with great affection and respect. Go well, Marcia 🌻

My friend and colleague @kasiabesfud.bsky.social reminded me of this informative discussion between IBP winner @michehut.bsky.social and Fitzcarraldo editor Tamara Sampey-Jawad on issues surrounding the editing of translations. Editing is not tedious busywork but a vital and dynamic discussion.

Next we have the Schlegel-Tieck Prize for translations into English of full-length German works of literary merit and general interest.

Really delighted to find myself on the @societyofauthors.bsky.social Schlegel-Tieck Prize shortlist for both DARKENBLOOM and THE GRANDDAUGHTER! And to see my friends and colleagues @racheltranslates.bsky.social and @roesch6-alex.bsky.social there with me. 🤗 societyofauthors.org/prizes/trans...

So delighted to be shortlisted for the Schlegel-Tieck prize with Ewald Arenz (@orendabooks.bsky.social) again, and in such fine company, including @cctranslates.bsky.social (twice!) #TranslationPrizes

"A new republic of books that transcends boundaries" - today we're announcing the shortlists for our Translation Prizes 2025. Nine prizes will be awarded at the ceremony in February next year, including the inaugural John Calder Translation Prize.

Annual reminder that the first day of Christmas is 25 December and the twelfth is 5 January...

what's key is to read the alt text

Does anyone know if Waterstones black Friday deals are online only, or how long they last? I.e. will I be able to get my mum a half price Mary Berry in store on Monday?! #booksky

Good thread, very informative. NB a key reason the traditional publishers' advance/royalties finance model no longer supports most UK authors is that assumes steady backlist sales but these days publishers don't take returns on titles more than 18 months old, so high street shops don't stock them.

Looking for translators with cats! Please help me find my people.

Journalist challenge: Use “Machine Learning” when you mean machine learning and “LLM” when you mean LLM. Ditch “AI” as a catch-all term, it’s not useful for readers and it helps companies trying to confuse the public by obscuring the roles played by different technologies. 🧪

"Getting a robot to use the treadmill for you at the gym doesn't make you any fitter" You don't say?

Is there such a thing as a Wasserhüpfburg in English?! Hüpfburg is bouncy castle. You can have inflatable water slides but I can't think what to call this. It's only a throwaway line, memory of a summer past, don't want to make a big thing of it. They swam "über die Bucht zur großen Wasserhüpfburg".

Hey! Northern hemisphere folks: this is my annual reminder to myself and perhaps also to you that if you have the schedule autonomy to permit it, get out for a walk or whatever during daylight hours! It's important! You can work more when it's dark but you need whatever sunlight is available!

Just arrived - thank you so much @orendabooks.bsky.social - “Sharks” by @ohneklippo.bsky.social (trans @racheltranslates.bsky.social). More Chastity Riley! Due out Feb 2026!

For anyone looking to deepen their craft... check out this Mst in Creative Translation!

I've got a "Darf ich Du sagen?" as a plot point. Can't just skim over it: it comes at a crisis point, followed by "fancy worrying about a thing like that at a time like this". First names don't really work here. Person B has already called A by first name + Sie... Maybe some other etiquette thing?

OK, I have only the woman in her PJs to go on #HiddenBooksGame and I am totally stumped. Apparently there's a book called Angry White Pyjamas, but it isn't that!

How did I not know it's #HiddenBooksGame day?!

Wordle 1,603 1/6* 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 I need another new starting word!

“In the end, it takes more time, energy, and could be more costly for clients in the long run to correct something a machine has translated badly.”

CAMBRIDGE! We are coming! Come see the wonderful Antti Tuomainen and I this Monday, Nov 10th at 18:30 at Bodies in the Bookshop. Dark Icelandic crime meets funny Finnish thrillers — the north in all its contrasts. #authorsontour @orendabooks.bsky.social

This story came up in my text this morning and I had to look up further details... How Bismarck almost drowned while swimming at Birarritz with his Russian princess mistress: www.theguardian.com/world/2006/a... The things we learn while translating!

Patronising and infuriating email from school, which basically boils down to "congratulations, your child happens to have been healthy for half a term, well done you."

In 1107, King Henry's butler founded the abbey of Wymondham, & he donated 2 things to help the monks get by: 1. the right to salvage shipwrecks on a nearby coast 2. a rent of 2,000 eels per year Time for an eel picnic on the beach! 🗃️🧪

Went down a rabbit hole of the German prefix "ver" prompted by "verlieben" and a whole bit of grammar in the middle of my novel translation! #amtranslating yourdailygerman.com/german-prefi...

A reminder to fellow NT members - the Restore Trust lot are at it again, trying to insert ideology into NT’s curation of our heritage. Don’t forget to vote for historical accuracy over politicised nostalgic fantasy

👋 Hello lovely Blueskyers! Do I (or you?) know any gothic novel fans (or even better, with links to the UK publishing industry)? A student I know is keen to ask research questions about British gothic novels by women authors over the years and their correlation with societal changes. And pls share!

And it includes children's books in translation too! 🥳