Center for the Art of Translation (CAT)

@catranslation.org

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CAT champions literature in translation and global voices. We program events with authors and translators in the Bay Area and beyond, publish books @twolinespress.com, and run an education program (Poetry Inside Out). More at www.catranslation.org.

Graphic announcing the Day of Translation, September 24, 2026 at the Center for Fiction in Brooklyn, NY.
Photo of translator Allison Markin Powell (left) with Kanako Nishi, author of the Japanese novel Sakura, at our event at Black Bird Bookstore.
Graphic announcing the 2026 Literary Arts Fund General Operating Grant Awardee.
Graphic featuring the panel Dark Nights of the Soul: Mental Health in Translation with Jeremy Tiang and Tatiana Țîbuleac in conversation with Rita Bullwinkel. Sunday, May 31 at 1:30pm at The Marsh Cabaret in Berkeley.
Graphic announcing Two Lines Press & CAT at the Bay Area Book Festival May 31, 11am - 5pm, in Berkeley, CA.
Graphic featuring our next book club on May 20, 12pm PT at the Mechanic's Institute and online via Zoom. May's selection is Celestial Bodies written by Jokha Alharthi and translated by Marilyn Booth.
Graphic featuring our next book club on May 20, 12pm PT at the Mechanic's Institute and online via Zoom. May's selection is Celestial Bodies written by Jokha Alharthi and translated by Marilyn Booth.
Graphic featuring open call for panel submissions for the Day of Translation, presented by the Center for the art of Translation and The Center for Fiction. Deadline is May 1st.
Graphic featuring the 2025 Impact Report. Text reads: The Next Chapter
Graphic featuring the event If This Be Magic: The Unlikely Art of Shakespeare in Translation with Daniel Hahn, Michael Holtmann and Carla Pantoja. The event will be held at The Drawing Room: Annex on April 29. Doors open 6 pm and event begins 6:30 pm.
Graphic featuring open call for panel submissions for the Day of Translation, presented by the Center for the art of Translation and The Center for Fiction. Deadline is May 1st.
Graphic featuring a quote from Aaron Coleman, translator, poet, and professor of English & Comparative Literature at the University of Michigan. Text reads: In a world where it's so difficult for us to find the time and space and energy to listen to each other and to connect, translation is all about cultivating that capacity. CAT is positioning itself to do that work in a really exciting way.
Graphic featuring the event Mats Mats Söderlund on Eskatos & The Stretched Necks of Stillness with Forrest Gander, April 20, 7 pm PDT, at Green Apple Books on the Park.
Graphic featuring a quote from Paul Yamazaki, Principal Buyer at City Lights. Text reads: The most significant literary event in San Francisco since the opening of City Lights.
Graphic featuring the event: Kanako Nishi & Allison Markin Powell on Sakura with Marie Mutsuki Mockett, April 18, 7pm, at Black Bird Bookstore & Café in San Francisco.
Graphic featuring a quote from Jazmina Barrera, National Book Award Finalist & Two Lines Press Author. Text reads: At a time when the founds for literature, for translation, for humanities all around the country are being cut, I see the Center for the Art of Translation as a refuge, but it also a lighthouse.
Graphic with a quote from Michael Holtmann, President of the Center for the Art of Translation, alongside his photo. Text reads: The Center for the Art of Translation will be a cultural anchor for a city that desperately needs places where people gather around ideas, not algorithms.
Graphic featuring a quote from Olivia Sears, Translator, Founder and Board Chair of the Center for the Art of Translation, alongside her photo. Text reads: When I founded the Center over two decades ago, I was already imagining a physical space in San Francisco where language meet, stories cross, and people recognize their connection to one another.
Graphic featuring the event with Olga Ravn on The Wax Child, April 15, 7 pm ET, at the Center for Fiction, in person and livestreamed.
Graphic featuring a rendering of our new building at the corner of Leidesdorff and Commercial in downtown San Francisco. Text reads: Opening 2027, Help open our doors.
Graphic featuring the event Mats Mats Söderlund on Eskatos & The Stretched Necks of Stillness with Forrest Gander, April 20, 7 pm PDT, at Green Apple Books on the Park.
Graphic featuring the New York Public Library’s World Literature & Arts Festival
Graphic featuring the event: Kanako Nishi & Allison Markin Powell on Sakura with Marie Mutsuki Mockett, April 18, 7pm, at Black Bird Bookstore & Café in San Francisco.
Graphic featuring the event If This Be Magic: The Unlikely Art of Shakespeare in Translation with Daniel Hahn, Michael Holtmann and Carla Pantoja. The event will be held at The Drawing Room: Annex on April 29. Doors open 6 pm and event begins 6:30 pm.
Graphic featuring the event with Olga Ravn on The Wax Child, April 15, 7 pm ET, at the Center for Fiction, in person and livestreamed.
Graphic announcing Exemplary Humans Book Tour April 21-24 in San Francisco, Washington, DC, and Brooklyn, NY.
Graphic featuring the event Max Lawton on Antonio Moresco's The Beginnings with Sean Thor Conroe, at City Lights Bookstore, April 6, 7 pm PDT.
Graphic featuring the event: Kanako Nishi & Allison Markin Powell on Sakura with Marie Mutsuki Mockett, April 18, 7pm, at Black Bird Bookstore & Café in San Francisco.
Graphic featuring open call for panel submissions for the Day of Translation, presented by the Center for the art of Translation and The Center for Fiction. Deadline is May 1st.
Graphic featuring book covers from the Spring 2026 Lit in Translation Preview.
Graphic featuring the event Max Lawton on Antonio Moresco's The Beginnings with Sean Thor Conroe, at City Lights Bookstore, April 6, 7 pm PDT.
Graphic featuring the event Mats Mats Söderlund on Eskatos & The Stretched Necks of Stillness with Forrest Gander, April 20, 7 pm PDT, at Green Apple Books on the Park.
Graphic featuring the event with Olga Ravn on The Wax Child, April 15, 7 pm ET, at the Center for Fiction, in person and livestreamed.
Graphic featuring the event Max Lawton on Antonio Moresco's The Beginnings with Sean Thor Conroe, at City Lights Bookstore, April 6, 7 pm PDT.
Graphic announcing the launch event for I Was Alive Here Once: Ghost Stories, featuring The Loose-Haired Women story--A Haunted Reading Room at KALW studio in San Francisco.
Graphic announcing Brenda Navarro and Megan McDowell event at Medicine for Nightmares, March 18, at 7pm PST. The graphic features Navarro and McDowell's photos, along with the Eating Ashes book cover.
Graphic featuring THE WEEK OF COLORS book cover, March's pick for the Contemporary Translated Works Book Club. This is a hybrid event, held in person at the Mechanics' Institute, and online, via Zoom.
Graphic announcing the launch event for I Was Alive Here Once: Ghost Stories, featuring The Loose-Haired Women story--A Haunted Reading Room at KALW studio in San Francisco.
Graphic announcing Brenda Navarro and Megan McDowell event at Medicine for Nightmares, March 18, at 7pm PST. The graphic features Navarro and McDowell's photos, along with the Eating Ashes book cover.
Graphic announcing the launch event for I Was Alive Here Once: Ghost Stories, featuring The Loose-Haired Women story--A Haunted Reading Room at KALW studio in San Francisco.
Graphic featuring THE WEEK OF COLORS book cover, March's pick for the Contemporary Translated Works Book Club. This is a hybrid event, held in person at the Mechanics' Institute, and online, via Zoom.
Graphic announcing the launch event for I Was Alive Here Once: Ghost Stories, featuring The Loose-Haired Women story--A Haunted Reading Room at KALW studio in San Francisco.
Graphic featuring open call for panel submissions for the Day of Translation, presented by the Center for the art of Translation and The Center for Fiction. Deadline is May 1st.
Image announcing Two Lines Press and the Center for The Art of Translation at AWP 2026, March 4-7, featuring three book covers of titles published by Two Lines Press. Find us at booth #1145.
Graphic featuring THE WEEK OF COLORS book cover, March's pick for the Contemporary Translated Works Book Club. This is a hybrid event, held in person at the Mechanics' Institute, and online, via Zoom.
Graphic announcing Brenda Navarro and Megan McDowell event at Medicine for Nightmares, March 18, at 7pm PST. The graphic features Navarro and McDowell's photos, along with the Eating Ashes book cover.
Image announcing Two Lines Press and the Center for The Art of Translation at AWP 2026, March 4-7, featuring three book covers of titles published by Two Lines Press. Find us at booth #1145.
Graphic announcing open call for Bay Area Event Proposals, featuring a photo of writer Jazmina Barrera and translator Megan McDowell.
Book cover of Tomb of Sand by Geetanjali Shree for Contemporary Translated Works Book Club. This is a hybrid event that will take place at the Mechanics's Institute February 18, at noon. You can also join on Zoom. Registration link available in the caption.
Book cover of Tomb of Sand by Geetanjali Shree for Contemporary Translated Works Book Club. This is a hybrid event that will take place at the Mechanics's Institute February 18, at noon. You can also join on Zoom. Registration link available in the caption.
Quote from Julia Sanches on translating It Always the Hour of Our Death Amen by Mariana Salomão Carrara. The quote reads: "It's really interesting trying to feel my way around what is voice for the narrator and what is just the author's style." Sanches joined our panels with 2025 NEA Translation Fellows. Watch the conversation in full and other sections on our YouTube channel.
Images of Cristina Rivera Garza and book cover to announce her conversation with Rita Indiana, discussing Autobiography of Cotton in a hybrid event February 10, 7pm ET — at The Center for Fiction, or via livestream in San Francisco at 4pm PT.
Images of Cristina Rivera Garza and book cover to announce her conversation with Rita Indiana, discussing Autobiography of Cotton in a hybrid event February 10, 7pm ET — at The Center for Fiction, or via livestream in San Francisco at 4pm PT.
Images of Cristina Rivera Garza and book cover to announce her conversation with Rita Indiana, discussing Autobiography of Cotton in a hybrid event February 10, 7pm ET — at The Center for Fiction, or via livestream in San Francisco at 4pm PT.
Book cover of Queen of Swords by Jazmina Barrera for Contemporary Translated Works Book Club. This is a hybrid event that will take place at the Mechanics's Institute January 21, 12 - 1pm. You can also join on Zoom. Registration link available in the caption.