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About us

The British Centre for Literary Translation (BCLT) is Britain’s leading centre for the study and support of literary translation. BCLT was founded in 1989 by the late W.G. Sebald. Sebald, also known as Max, was Professor of European Literature here at University of East Anglia (UEA) and a German writer who opted to live in the UK and continue writing in German.

BCLT is based at UEA in Norwich, England’s first UNESCO City of Literature. BCLT bridges academic research and the literary translation profession. As a research centre with a mission to support and advance the field of literary translation studies, we are uniquely positioned to connect theory and practice.

Working in close partnership with the National Centre for Writing and a broad network of national and international organisations, BCLT delivers a rich programme of in-person and online activities that foster the professional development of literary translators and promote translation as a creative and vital art form. In addition, we collaborate with research organisations across the UK and around the world on innovative research projects that foster dialogue, creativity, and new approaches in the field of literary translation studies.

Our events programme includes literary translation workshops, research seminars, and the annual Sebald Lecture on Literary Translation. Each year, our International Literary Translation and Creative Writing Summer School brings together translators from around the world for an immersive week of workshops, panels, and creative writing sessions.

Through these programmes and partnerships, BCLT has been instrumental in transforming the role of the literary translator—from a behind-the-scenes linguistic technician to a creative writer publicly recognised by major literary prizes such as the Booker International prize. We are always interested in new projects and ideas for activities, so please get in touch to discuss future partnerships with the team.

Our Team

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Prof. Cecilia Rossi

Executive Director

Cecilia Rossi is Professor of Literary Translation and the Executive Director of the BCLT. Since 2015 she has convened the MA in Literary Translation, set up by Professor Jean Boase-Beier in 1993. Her latest translation, The Last Innocence and The Lost Adventures (Alejandra Pizarnik), published by Ugly Duckling Presse, was shortlisted for the National Translation Awards for Poetry (ALTA) in 2020. Her practice-led research focuses on literary translation process, the disciplinary boundaries between literary translation and creative writing, translation from indigenous languages in Latin America, and the translation of post conflict literature, especially post dictatorship texts from the Southern Cone (Argentina-Chile).

Anna Goode

Managing Director

Anna has been managing the BCLT since 2016 and has played a leading role in shaping the Centre’s global outreach, working in close collaboration with literary translators, cultural institutions, and partners to support the professional development of translators. She specialises in designing tailored programmes that respond to the specific challenges and opportunities of different language combinations and literary traditions.

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Prof. Duncan Large

Professor of European Literature and Translation

Duncan Large is Professor of European Literature and Translation at UEA, and Chair of the PETRA-E Network of literary translator training institutions. He taught previously at the Universities of Oxford, Paris III (Sorbonne Nouvelle), Dublin (Trinity College) and Swansea. With Jacob Blakesley he is Editor of the monograph series Routledge Studies in Literary Translation; with Alan D. Schrift and Adrian Del Caro he is General Editor of The Complete Works of Friedrich Nietzsche (Stanford University Press).

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Sally Dix

Marketing and Events Assistant

Sally joined BCLT in Spring 2024. She now runs the centre’s day-to-day social media, events and marketing. She project-managed the BCLT rebrand and the development of the new website. With a background in the arts and a degree in Fine Art, she enjoys all things creative and is especially passionate about working in a role that supports and facilitates the creativity of others.

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Dr. Thomas Boll

Associate Professor in Literary Translation

Tom teaches in the School of Literature, Drama and Creative Writing at UEA and curates the translation collection in the British Archive for Contemporary Writing, held in the university library. He has published widely on Latin American literature. His translations have appeared with Poetry Review, Modern Poetry in Translation and Seagull Press. Before joining UEA in 2016, he was Assistant and then Managing Director of the Poetry Translation Centre, where he was involved in bringing poets to the UK from numerous countries, including Somalia, Sudan, Afghanistan, Mexico and Cape Verde.

Our Partners

The National Centre for Writing (NCW) is a contemporary literature house located in the heart of England’s first UNESCO City of Literature, dedicated to the transformative power of stories for personal, social, and community development.

NCW works closely with the BCLT to provide additional professional development opportunities and delivers translation workshops in schools in partnership with the Stephen Spender Trust. The centre also supports literary translators through mentoring, residencies, and tailored professional development.

NCW’s translation programme includes the annual Emerging Translator Mentorships, residencies at Dragon Hall, and the Visible Communities initiative, which supports UK-based Black, Asian, and ethnically diverse translators, as well as those working in heritage and community languages.

We are proud members of the PETRA-E and RECIT networks and collaborate with a wide range of partners on research projects and events, including the annual BCLT International Literary Translation and Creative Writing Summer School.

PETRA-E is a European network of institutions dedicated to teaching and training literary translation. It supports educators and emerging translators through a shared framework of professional competencies, fostering collaboration, resource-sharing, and ongoing dialogue around the evolving practice of literary translation.

RECIT is a network of European literary translation centres that offers residencies for translators and organises events connecting writers, translators, and audiences.

BCLT Research Group

The BCLT Research Group was founded in 1993 when Jean Boase‑Beier established UEA’s MA in Literary Translation, alongside Professors W.G. Sebald, Clive Scott, and Janet Garton. From the start, the group’s ethos has been to combine rigorous research with the practice of writing translations.

Today, the group includes Duncan Large, Cecilia Rossi, Thomas Boll, Jo Catling, Philip Wilson, Veronika Bowker, Eugenia Loffredo, Hannah Osborne, Alana Stone, John-Mark Philo, Pierre Faugère, Clodagh Kinsella, Timothy Anderson, Kotryna Garanasvili, Juana Adcock, Husain Akbari, Astrid Alben, Claire Demenez, Pierre Faugère, Jess Tipton, Harriet Truscott and Laura Zambianchi.

Members of the Research Group lecture, write, and run workshops on a wide range of literary translation topics. They also oversee the PhD programme. Across research and translation, members have been recognised with numerous grants and awards, reflecting the group’s ongoing contribution to the field.

Find out more on our research page

Our Library

The BCLT Library, housed within the British Centre for Literary Translation at UEA, is a resource available to literary translators, researchers, UEA staff and students and the general public. Almost all of the library’s collection is available for readers to explore. Within the BCLT Library are books written in a wide variety of languages, as well as books translated into English. The library also contains reference works and journals for the practice and research of literary translation. Whether you are a researcher seeking a theoretical text, an MA student looking for a work to translate, or an undergraduate student looking for something new to read, the BCLT Library welcomes you.

The BCLT Library is also home to a large collection of approximately 700 Doris Lessing translations, donated by Doris Lessing's estate.

Visit the BCLT Library on Tuesdays, 10am—4pm. Find us in Lakshmi Holmström Room, AHB 1.19, on the first floor of the Arts and Humanities building.

Browse our library online