On 9 - 10 June 2022 the members of the consortium Binnenlandse vogels, buitenlandse nesten have organized in Brussels an international symposium “Cultural policy, international publishers and the circulation of Dutch literature in translation”. Speakers from departments of Dutch and translation studies from all over the world presented the results of their research on the international distribution of Dutch literature with the particular focus on the role of two important but little-studied intermediary groups in the dissemination of Dutch literature in translation: foreign publishing houses on the one hand, and the governmental bodies that formulate and implement international literature policy on the other. The presentations covered the topics of the importance of literary awards in the circulation of literature (e.g. Sara van Meerbergen & Annika Johansson talked about The Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award), the personal choices of publishers (e.g. Irmak Ugur’s presentation on the presence of Grunberg’s Van work in Turkish), and the ideology behind the translations (e.g. Mareli Swart on Guus Kuijer’s Polleke in Afrikaans). The symposium closed with a roundtable discussion between makers of Dutch literature in translation – representatives of organizations, translation houses and translators themselves.

On our website you can find more articles related to this topic, including articles on Promotion, Publishers, or other the relation between literature and society.

(Małgorzata Dowlaszewicz)