How we translate – in conversation with David Colmer and David McKay
3 July @ 14:30 - 15:15 BST
Grab a cuppa and get to know translators David Colmer and David McKay. David and David will be in conversation with Jane Davis to discuss their work and career and to offer a glimpse into their creative routines.
#SoAatHome in conversation events – free for all + donation
As of Feb 2025, our #SoAatHome in conversation events are free for all but with a donation option when registering for the event. All donations made go towards the Society of Authors’ Access Fund. The fund is to help provide authors support for travel, subsistence, childcare or access needs for events, residencies, and retreats. If you would like to donate with your booking, please do so when registering for the event below.
Accordion Content
Access 20% off your first year of membership of the SoA with discount code SOAATHOME20
The Society of Authors is the UK’s biggest trade union for authors – representing more than 12,000 writers, illustrators, translators and other creative practitioners.
Our standard subscription rate is just £32.50 per quarter (£22.75 for students).
As an SoA member, you’ll get:
- Access to all our #SoAatHome events for free including the Professional Development sessions usually charged at £35 from Feb 2025
- Access to all our Feel Good Friday and Industry Insider events which are usually charged £5 from Feb 2025
- Access all #SoAatHome Vimeo professional development recordings so you can catch up in your own time
- Access Unlimited one-to-one professional advice
- Membership of our online and real-world professional networks and special interest groups
- A range of member-only discounts, including books, insurance and travel
- And much more
‘It was a surprisingly lovely way to meet fellow writers in a friendly, warm surrounding perfectly hosted by the SoA staff. Thank you for all the introductions, the welcome and the nourishment!’ – attendee from SoA in Person: Autumn New Members’ Party 2024
JOIN NOW | PRICING
Programme
- Welcome and housekeeping from Jane Davis (3 mins)
- Introduction to David Colmer and David McKay, and a glimpse into their creative routines (15-25 mins)
- David Colmer and David McKay will do a short reading from their book Revolusi (2-3 mins)
- Q&A with audience (10-15 mins)
- Summary and closing comments (2 mins)
Send us your questions
If you would like to send questions in advance, email amorvan@societyofauthors.org with ‘David Colmer and David McKay – Question’ in the subject header. We will prioritise questions sent in advance and answer as many as we can from the audience on the day.
#SoAatHome Fundraising Bookshop
Browse our virtual Bookshop.org store featuring books by authors and speakers taking part in the #SoAatHome. When you make a purchase using our affiliate links, a percentage will go to the Society of Authors’ Access Fund, giving authors support for travel, subsistence, childcare or access needs for events, residencies, and retreats.
The Line-up
David Colmer
David Colmer is an Australian translator of Dutch literature who works in a range of genres. The translator of more than eighty books, he has won a number of major prizes, including the Dublin Literary Award and the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize, both with novelist Gerbrand Bakker. David Van Reybrouck’s Revolusi, shortlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize, was his first co-translation.
David McKay
David McKay lives near The Hague with his partner and his cat and translates numerous books about art, history, and culture for Dutch museums, researchers, and other clients. When he can, he also translates fiction, literary non-fiction, plays, and poetry. He is best known for his translations of War and Turpentine and other novels by Stefan Hertmans. David has also translated several Dutch-language classics, including Max Havelaar (with Ina Rilke) and We Slaves of Suriname by Anton de Kom. His recent UK publications include The Remembered Soldier by Anjet Daanje and Off-White by Astrid Roemer (with Lucy Scott). He enjoys collaborating with fellow translators, authors, and other creative professionals, and is proud to have mentored a number of exceptional emerging translators for the American Literary Translators Association and other organisations.
Website: www.openbooktranslation.com
Jane Davis
Jane Davis was born on the Isle of Man and now lives in rural Sweden. She studied archaeology and heritage management before – somewhat inevitably – going on to work in the IT industry. For the last fifteen years she has been a translator from the Scandinavian languages and French, as well as a proofreader and editor. In 2022 she published A Manx Daisy Chain, a collection of short stories based on prompts taken from a box of Christmas teas.
LinkedIn: janedavisthehelpfultranslator | Website: www.thehelpfultranslator.com
About the Translators Association
The Translators Association (TA) provides a source of expert advice for individual literary translators and is also a collective voice representing the profession as a whole. The TA is committed to the need for more openness and opportunities in publishing, more visibility of translators of colour and more proactive intervention to help dismantle the institutional barriers faced by early career translators.
Need to know
Accessibility
- Attendees will have the option to turn on the live transcript, to watch with subtitles.
- If you require BSL interpretation for this event, please email events@societyofauthors.org
Before the event
- Once registered, you will be sent a confirmation email with the Zoom link
- If the confirmation email doesn’t arrive in your inbox, please check your junk/spam email folder
- Please add events@societyofauthors.org to your Safe Senders list so you receive our confirmation and reminder emails
During the event
- This online event will take place on Zoom Webinar. You will not be on screen.
- This event is 45 minutes
After the event
- Hashtag for this event: #SoAatHome
- Attendees will be able to catch the recording on our Vimeo channel
Booking
Please either use the form titled ‘Register – no donation’ or the option of the different ticket options with a donation amount depending on how much you would like to donate towards the Society of Authors Access Fund.
Accordion Content
Access 20% off your first year of membership of the SoA with discount code SOAATHOME20
The Society of Authors is the UK’s biggest trade union for authors – representing more than 12,000 writers, illustrators, translators and other creative practitioners.
Our standard subscription rate is just £32.50 per quarter (£22.75 for students).
As an SoA member, you’ll get:
- Access to all our #SoAatHome events for free including the Professional Development sessions usually charged at £35 from Feb 2025
- Access to all our Feel Good Friday and Industry Insider events which are usually charged £5 from Feb 2025
- Access all #SoAatHome Vimeo professional development recordings so you can catch up in your own time
- Access Unlimited one-to-one professional advice
- Membership of our online and real-world professional networks and special interest groups
- A range of member-only discounts, including books, insurance and travel
- And much more
‘It was a surprisingly lovely way to meet fellow writers in a friendly, warm surrounding perfectly hosted by the SoA staff. Thank you for all the introductions, the welcome and the nourishment!’ – attendee from SoA in Person: Autumn New Members’ Party 2024
JOIN NOW | PRICING
Accordion Content
Giving authors support for travel, subsistence, childcare or access needs for events, residencies, and retreats
Every contribution helps us ensure that these needs and costs aren’t barriers to authors wishing to access events.
If you are in a position to help, please donate via the link below. If you are an author facing access issues, please click here to see if we can help.
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Register - No Donation
Please use the booking form to register for this event.
Please email
events@societyofauthors.org if you have any questions.
