The Linguist is a languages magazine for professional linguists, translators, interpreters, language professionals, language teachers, trainers, students and academics with articles on translation, interpreting, business, government, technology
Issue link: https://thelinguist.uberflip.com/i/1099780
@Linguist_CIOL APRIL/MAY The Linguist 25 FEATURES literature"), and Literally Swiss to promote Swiss literature and languages in the UK for the Swiss arts council Pro Helvetia. The annual European Literature Night dried up ("funding, formatting problems") but the European Literature Network, its website, partners and members continued as the platform for all our projects. My nickname became Rosie The Riveter, after the US factory worker in WWII who rolled up her sleeves and got things done. I liked the word 'riveting' – it summed up my ambition – and I created Riveting Reviews, Riveting Reads and, ultimately, The Riveter magazine, all dedicated to European literature in translation. Riveting work In 2017, I was at a steering committee meeting to discuss the year's Market Focus at London Book Fair: Poland. Participants had various articles on Polish literature and translation looking for a home, and events to promote. I was keen to review some of the stunning Polish books I'd been reading, so I suggested that I create a free magazine of Polish literature in English to coincide with the London Book Fair. Instant approval. I garnered a few hundred pounds here and there, asked some famous friends for help, and within a few months The Polish Riveter was born. The illustrator Chris Riddell drew the cover, and the author Deborah Levy became guest editor and contributed a short story set in Poland. Anna Blasiak, my literary partner, taught herself to typeset and format; we found a cheap printer and self-published. We have since gone on to create five more free Riveter magazines, focusing on reviews, essays and extracts from the Nordic countries, the Baltics, Russia and Switzerland. In each case we've been supported by local and Arts Council funding, famous friends and good will, as well as by professional reviewers, writers and editors united in the cause. My approach to European literature is to make it riveting, accessible and attractive. To invite artists to sketch at events, and photographers and videographers to make films of events; to provide wine, food and chocolate – especially at Swiss events! Personality and quality performance are also important: foreign writers should be able to read or converse well in public. You won't sell books if you are shy and retiring – unless you're Elena Ferrante, and she has a very eloquent translator, Ann Goldstein. ELNet occupies one small field in the literary landscape of Britain, but we're on the map. Funding is sparse, we only travel when invited, numbers attending our networking meetings are low, but website hits and social media activity are high. Maybe that also signifies success, as individual publishers and cultural organisations get on with their own affairs and fight their own corners. My role and public profile as champion of European literature and languages (thank you Wikipedia!) has grown, as I lecture, interview authors, host events, judge prizes and collaborate with partners such as ELIT- European Literature House in Austria, the European Union Prize for Literature in Brussels and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in London, as judge of the new EBRD International Literature Prize. I am constantly asked, what will happen to ELNet when Britain leaves the EU? We may not have been able to prevent Brexit or the demise of language learning in the UK, but we can help prevent a Brexit of the mind. I believe we will be needed more than ever, so Vote for European Literature! www.eurolitnetwork.com FAMOUS FRIENDS Clockwise from top left: Rosie at the BBC; with the poet Benjamin Zephaniah; with The Nordic Riveter; speaking with Deborah Levy at the V&A; talking to Margaret Atwood at Hay Festival 2018; and at the Cheltenham Literary Festival 2018