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Residencies & fellowships

We offer residencies and fellowships that support professional literary translators and literary translation scholars. Our goal is to foster exchange between professional practice and academic research.

Each year, BCLT offers two translation residencies for UK-based literary translators, running for four months, one day per week. Designed as collaborative roles, the residencies are shaped around the interests of the translators-in-residence and provide time and support to develop translation projects in a stimulating academic environment.

BCLT also hosts the Charles Wallace India Trust (CWIT) Translation Fellowship, a long-established programme that has been offered since the 1990s. The fellowship enables translators from India to spend time at the University of East Anglia working on a literary translation project, while engaging with the academic, cultural, and creative life of the School of Literature, Drama and Creative Writing.

Find out more about BCLT residencies & fellowships

Apply for National Centre for Writing's Visible Communities programme 2026

The National Centre for Writing is seeking three UK-based literary translators to join our 2026 Visible Communities programme as virtual residents. In addition, we are offering two short in-person residencies in Norwich as part of the same programme.

NCW's Visible Communities programme aims to:

Diversify access routes to literary translation in the UK
Strengthen links between the literary translation community and UK diaspora communities
Contribute to the debate around decolonising literary translation
Expand the range of literature published in translation in the UK.

The deadline for applications is Monday 21 September 2026.

Find out more on the National Centre for Writing website

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Emerging Translator Mentorships at National Centre for Writing

Founded by Daniel Hahn at BCLT in 2010, NCW’s translation mentoring programme aims to develop successive new cohorts of literary translators into English, particularly for languages whose literature is currently under-represented in English translation.

The Emerging Translator Mentorships scheme matches experienced translators with emerging translators for a six-month period during which they work together on practical translation projects, developing their craft through working on a chosen text or texts. The mentor acts as an adviser to the mentee on aspects of life as a professional translator, such as time management, meeting deadlines, managing finances and understanding contracts, and as an advocate for their mentee with publishers in search of literary translators. The mentor will be a professional literary translator but may not translate from the language supported in the mentorship.

Find out more on the National Centre for Writing website

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Archive fellowships at the British Archive for Contemporary Writing

The British Archive for Contemporary Writing (BACW) is a collection of archives based at UEA that includes material from acclaimed contemporary authors and translators. BACW holds a Literary Translation Archive formed from the work of BCLT with additional deposits from former UEA staff, and papers from Anne Born, Anthony Vivis, David Bellos, Daniel Hahn, and John Fletcher. BACW also holds a collection of over 30 German translations of the work of 19th-century French poet Paul Verlaine donated by Magda Whitrow

Archive fellowships are available to apply for. Lily Meyer is a previous visiting fellow at BACW and during her fellowship, she researched the literary translation archives of David Bellos, Anne Born, and John Fletcher.

BACW holds the following collections in its archives: Literary Translation Archive; W.G. Sebald Audiovisual Archive; Daniel Hahn Archive; Sarah Maguire Archive ; Patricia Crampton Archive

We’re delighted to welcome award-winning writer, editor, translator, and friend of BCLT, Daniel Hahn, as BCLT Visiting Archive Fellow this semester. During his fellowship, Daniel will be exploring his archive, curating materials for use in teaching, and delivering workshops for our students.

Email archives@uea.ac.uk

Hear from translator Daniel Hahn about his fellowship with BCLT working on his archive that sits in the British Archive for Contemporary Writing at UEA. Daniel is in conversation with archives manager, Helen Busby.