Research Seminar with Ian Giles- Translating the Profession through the Lens of Patricia Crampton

This BCLT Research Seminar took place online on Wednesday 30th October 2024. This talk offers a lively exploration of the daily challenges and triumphs of translation in the second half of the 20th century, seen through the lens of the personal papers of distinguished translator Patricia Crampton (1925-2016). For Crampton, translation was not just about words, but about navigating relationships, meetings, and the evolving role of the translator. Drawing on her witty and illuminating correspondence with authors and editors, alongside her involvement in a variety of translator groupings including the Translators Association, this talk will offer an entertaining glimpse into the realities of working behind the scenes as a translator – as well as how much of it still resonates today. Ian Giles is a translator of Swedish, Norwegian and Danish into English, with some thirty-five publications to his name. His doctoral research explored the sociocultural framework in which Scandinavian translated literature was read in Britain during the twentieth century. His research interests include the exploration of translator groupings and collectives, as well as the working terms and conditions for literary translators. He has served as the Chair of the Swedish-English Literary Translators’ Association (SELTA) since 2018 and as the Co-Chair of the Translators Association since 2023. Ian was a Visiting Fellow at BCLT and the British Archive of Contemporary Writing at UEA during the spring of 2024.