Thursday, 20 June 2013, 6.30 - 9.30 pm, 
at the Irish Writers' Centre, 19 Parnell Sq., Dublin 1

Audio-Description in Close-Up

A workshop with Dr. Agnieszka Szarkowska, University of Warsaw

Recent years have witnessed a growth in interest in audiovisual translation and media accessibility. Following EU Directive 2007/65/EC, European broadcasters are obliged to provide their programmes with subtitling, sign language interpreting and audio description (AD). 

This 3-hour workshop will begin with an overview of audio description – the technique used to make audiovisual content accessible to people who are blind or visually impaired. AD is an audio account of the visual and aural content which is important for understanding audiovisual material. AD can include information in relation to actions, scene changes, on-screen text, descriptions of characters, their movements and body language, explanation of sound effects, etc. 

In the workshop we will discuss the fundamentals of AD, its target groups, AD standards in various countries, and objectivity vs. subjectivity in description. The workshop will use film clips to show the challenges faced by audio describers and the choices they have to make when working in this constrained medium. Among such challenges are content selection, film language, description of characters, emotions, settings, and actions. Participants will get hands-on experience in drafting an AD script using clips from feature films. The workshop is targeted at translators, academics, students and all who are interested in media accessibility. Participants will be provided with extra reading materials but are requested to bring their own laptops and earphones/headphones. 

Dr. Agnieszka Szarkowska, is assistant professor at the Institute of Applied Linguistics, University of Warsaw and founder and head of the Audiovisual Translation Lab (www.avt.ils.uw.edu.pl). Her research interests include audiovisual translation, especially subtitling for the deaf and hard of hearing and audio description. Her book Forms of Address in Polish-English Subtitling was published by Peter Lang earlier this year. She also works as a freelance subtitler and certified translator. 

Booking fee: ITIA members: €25 / Student members: €15 / Non-members: €35

For bookings, please contact the ITIA at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it  

Tuesday, 28 May 2013, 7.30 pm, at the IWC, 19 Parnell Square, Dublin 1

Edith Grossman: A Public Interview 

Followed by conferment with Honorary Membership of the ITIA

Translator of Miguel de Cervantes, Mario Vargas Llosa, Gabriel García Márquez, Carlos Fuentes, Ariel Dorfman and many other Spanish-language writers, and author of Why Translation Matters, Edith Grossman will be making a rare visit to Ireland in May 2013.  

Following our highly successful event with Frank Wynne last September, the ITIA continues its series of public interviews with major literary translators on the evening of May 28th with Edith Grossman in conversation with Translation Ireland editor John Kearns. 

Admission is free and all are welcome!

For queries, please contact the ITIA at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it  

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Saturday, 1 December 2012, 7 pm, at the IWC, 19 Parnell Square, Dublin 1

Christmas Party

This year we'll be celebrating the publication of the collection, The Irish Catullus or One Gentleman from Verona, edited by Ronan Sheehan. This elegant anthology features translations of Catullus by many major Irish writers and is a sister volume to Pádraig Breandán Ó Laighin’s Catullus Gaelach, the publication of which we marked for International Translation Day two years ago. 

We'll be joined by the editor Ronan Sheehan, along with several of the translators to read and discuss this elegant and landmark publication.

Admission is free and all are welcome, so do join us for wine, mince pies and poetry!

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Saturday, 29th September, 6.30 pm, at the IWC, 19 Parnell Square, Dublin 1

International Translation Day 2012

Frank Wynne

in conversation

This year the ITIA is marking International Translation Day with a very special guest. Frank Wynne began working as a translator of graphic novels. In 2002, his translation of Michel Houellebecq’s Atomised won the IMPAC Prize, and he decided to dedicate himself full-time to writing and translating. He has since translated works by, among others, Frédéric Beigbeder, Ahmadou Kourouma and Claude Lanzmann. For several years he lived in Central and South America and in 2010 was persuaded to begin translating from Spanish. Since then he has translated a number of Hispanic authors including Tómas Eloy Martínez, Marcelo Figueras, Alonso Cueto and Almudena Grandes. In addition he has contributed translations to The Paris Review, Index on Censorship, Granta and Beirut ’39 among others

He has been Translator in Residence at the Villa Lyon (2007) and at the Santa Maddalena Foundation (2011) and has taken part in translation events at the LRB World Literature Weekend, Norwich Showcase and the Hay Festival. He has also written a non-fiction book, I Was Vermeer, about the career of the forger Han Van Meegeren. It was a Radio 4 Book of the Week, and was optioned by the National Theatre to be adapted by playwright Lucinda Coxon.

During the evening, Frank Wynne will be presented with Honorary Membership of the ITIA.

Admission free, wine free, all welcome!