The Third Wheel is a new literary magazine, whose mission is to create a dedicated space for literary translators, and to illuminate the art of translation: the invisible struggles, creative battles, and quiet triumphs that shape every text.

"Everything changes, nothing is lost", stone mandala by land artist Katie Griesar #WomensArt #NewYear2026

Good morning. We are open. 📖☕️

Brilliant news!!! EU Erasmus scheme to reopen to UK students for first time since Brexit 💙🇪🇺 www.theguardian.com/education/20...

EXCL: An agreement to rejoin Erasmus – the EU’s student exchange programme – set to be announced on Wednesday as part of UK government’s drive towards closer relations with Brussels. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/d...

UK to rejoin EU’s Erasmus student exchange programme. British students will be able to participate in EU-wide scheme from January 2027, sources say. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/d... via @theguardian.com @pippacrerar.bsky.social

Happy Birthday to Jane Austen, born 250 years ago today on 16th December 1775, in Steventon, Hampshire. In celebration, I’d love to hear which is your favourite book, or your favourite quote ❤️ #JaneAusten

For 80s film kids, Rob Reiner was one of our directors. It was him, Lucas, Spielberg, Dante, Columbus, Hughes, these directors who danced between drama, humor and thrills, but even among them Reiner was different. Funny, yes, but always with this underpinning of compassion.

Merriam-Webster’s human editors have chosen ‘slop’ as the 2025 Word of the Year.

To my fellow translators: what do you wish someone had taught you about translation (whether the act or translation or having a freelance job) that you had to learn by yourself?

It's Mrs. Peabody’s 2025 Christmas list! Eight crime novels set in America, England, Norway, Scotland, Croatia and the former Yugoslavia, with a dash of China, Sweden and Ukraine 💙📚🎄 mrspeabodyinvestigates.com/2025/12/07/j...

1. Some good news at last. This week’s column is about the amazing thing a couple of us stumbled into three years ago, which we’ve now developed into a global research programme. It doesn’t change everything, of course, but it could help change quite a lot. + 🧵 www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

‘Embodying the zeitgeist more than ever’: the German sitcom character Stromberg is being revived for the Merz era www.theguardian.com/world/2025/d... via @theguardian.com @philipoltermann.bsky.social

Gutted. One of my absolute favourite authors.

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 🌻

Great culture can save lives. Literally. Amazing letter in today’s @thetimes.com about Tom Stoppard

It's a tad down to the wire, I know, but I'm thrilled to say that I'm running the Poetry Advent Calendar again this year -- sign up by donating to @msf.ca and receive a poem every day from 1 to 24 December: book.benefacthq.com?id=poetry-ad...

Sometimes I think it’s going to be the librarians who will save us all.

The Royal Literary Fund is launching a free four-part webinar series called ‘Making Writing Work’ next year 👇 #BookSky

'Nottingham will be the only Russell Group university not to teach modern foreign languages degrees if it approves plans to close a swath of courses including Spanish and French as well as music and dozens of others.' 1/3

In The Spotlight: LAXtras: Los Angeles-Style Crime Stories margot-kin-berg.com/2025/11/18/i...

Literary translators! Our publisher, @twolinespress.com, is currently open for submissions for animal stories in translation (from any language) & the Stevns Translation Prize (for Vietnamese translators). As always, no submissions fees. For more info visit: www.catranslation.org/books/submit...

🚨 “A court in Munich has ruled that OpenAI’s chatbot ChatGPT violated German copyright laws by using hits from musicians to train its language models” A landmark European ruling! www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

Amazon here, targeting the market consisting of people who for some reason buy books but don't actually like books, or writers, or reading. (Authors, please have nothing to do with this slop-dispenser, which will mangle your prose and put translators — your allies — out of work.)

I am hearing that @uniofnottingham.bsky.social is suspending (i.e shutting down) *all modern language courses* in 2026-27. One of the largest departments in the UK. A shocking short sighted move that damages regional and national prospects @britishacademy.bsky.social @hetanshah.bsky.social

ANNOUNCEMENT! The Big Green Books Advent Calendar! Choose from 4, 6 or 12 books. Your chance to unwrap a new surprise book every few days in the run up to Christmas. The books will be chosen based on what you enjoy reading. More info HERE www.biggreenbookshop.com/simon-likes-... PLEASE SHARE

Amazon is helping fund a $300 million build of a ballroom for the White House. Independent bookstores are donating to food banks and organizations that help with food insecurity. They are not the same.

Farage: epic grifter

RIP to David Bellos whose book Is That a Fish in Your Ear?: Translation and the Meaning of Everything massively contributed to me wanting to become a literary translator. When I was writing my own book about translation, I kept in mind how funny and accessible his book was.

How it started…. How it’s going… Is there any more potent symbol of how Trump is wrecking America? #BallroomBlitz

Brexit has robbed young people of exciting opportunities, such as Erasmus, while also hurting our economy. Baroness Coussins: "The international experience provided by Erasmus significantly enhances future employability and language skills."

Whatever you do, please don’t stop reading. Read for joy. Read for education. Read for resistance. Read banned books. Read books by marginalized authors. Read about experiences that differ from your own. Just. Keep. Reading.

"I think the greatest single enemy is the misuse of information, the perversion of truth in the hands of terribly skillful people." John le Carre, born on this day in 1931

😍 Boston, you are beautiful. #NoKings

CNN talking about the possibility of violence as a guy in a giraffe costume waddles by

On my blog today: margot-kin-berg.com/2025/10/11/t...

repost this if an editor has ever saved you from yourself

35 years ago today this happened. I’d grown up in the belief it could never happen, but then it did. It’s not been easy and even now reunification is an ongoing process. However, it makes me wonder what good things may be just around the corner that we currently think are impossible.

Some good news. London is meeting legal limits for toxic NO2 pollution for the first time – almost 200 years earlier than predicted – following the Mayor’s "world leading air pollution policies," City Hall announces. The Ultra Low Emissions Zone - and similar policies - really do work.

Happy International Translation Day! Here’s part of my translation manifesto, which can be found in full at the end of Fair: The Life-Art of Translation. (Written out in replies)

📢 Translators, you too can join the @alcs.co.uk and get paid for having your books checked out of the library. A lifetime membership costs just £36. They take it out of your first payment, so you don’t pay a penny up front. Since I joined in 2020, I have received £515.45! What are you waiting for?

Academics in #Gaza reflect on how a virtual fellowship scheme with the @bristoluni.bsky.social has offered "a lifeline for researchers, fighting to keep our voices heard despite the #war and the destruction of our academic institutions" and explain how it works: ow.ly/yfsl50WZisX #academicsky

It's here! The Petrona Award 2025- Best Scandinavian Crime Novel Of The Year- The Shortlist. #PetronaAward25 ravencrimereads.wordpress.com/2025/09/18/p...

Finally! 🤩 Our position piece: Against the Uncritical Adoption of 'AI' Technologies in Academia: doi.org/10.5281/zeno... We unpick the tech industry’s marketing, hype, & harm; and we argue for safeguarding higher education, critical thinking, expertise, academic freedom, & scientific integrity. 1/n

Unsolicited writing advice, no. 13: If you are lucky enough to be translated into other languages, always know this: you are NOTHING without your translator. Your translator has skills far beyond just putting words into another language. A good translator is a stylist, an interpreter, a composer.

I’ll be visiting Hamburg for soon for two weeks. I know the city pretty well, but haven’t been back for 7 years. Those of you in the know, do you have cafe, bookshop, restaurant recommendations? Places that you really, really love? 💛🇩🇪

People are constantly asking me — what can I do? Between now and the 2026 midterm elections, here are five practical steps you can take to make a difference.

I occasionally do proofreading and editing for non-English organisations. Absolutely spending way more time trying to decipher AI translated nonsense that completely erases original language nuances and meaning (and assume these jobs will dry up now bc I'm costing people more). Hire translators!