SALT is excited to continue sponsoring emerging translator mentorships in partnership with the American Literary Translators Association!
The ALTA Emerging Translator Mentorship Program is designed to establish and facilitate a close working relationship between an experienced translator and an emerging translator on a project selected by the emerging translator. The mentorship duration is one year. The emerging translator is expected to choose a project that can be completed in that time, and they will only be advised on that particular project. ALTA’s Emerging Translator Mentorship Program was founded by former ALTA Board member Allison M. Charette. Since its inception, the program has supported over 90 translators working from over 30 languages.
All mentors and mentees meet via video conference at the beginning of their mentorship in February, and continue their work through individual meetings either in person, over Zoom, or by phone. A minimum of six meetings is expected during the first nine months of the mentorship. The mentorship will feature a presentation of the mentee’s work in a reading at the annual ALTA conference in the fall and conclude with the opportunity to submit work to our “First Look” program for possible publication.
This year, SALT is supporting mentorships from Kannada, Malayalam, Sinhala, and Marathi into English. Additionally, we are offering our first-ever mentorship focused on children’s literature translated from any South Asian language.
To read more about this year’s mentors and apply, click here.
Applications are due November 30th, 2025.