MFA Students Learn the Business of Literary Translation
This past summer, two of our MFA students in Literary Translation gained real-world experience through internships with organizations in the literary translation field. Grace Ashton worked with Swan Isle Press, a small nonprofit publisher specializing in literature in translation, while Luisa Bocconcelli joined the editorial team at Words Without Borders, an online magazine for international literature. Their experiences offer a window into the world of translation publishing and demonstrate the hands-on learning that sets our program apart.
Honing Editorial Skills
Both Grace and Luisa were immediately immersed in the careful work that defines translation publishing. Working closely with publisher David Rade at Swan Isle, Grace helped get the press’s fall title ready for publication, providing her own editorial suggestions and witnessing the intense back and forth between the translator and editors, as they discussed the details of style and word choice. Reading manuscripts submitted for publication proved equally educational. As Grace puts it, David Rade’s insight into “the pros and cons of each submission helped me more clearly understand what is important in a translation”—knowledge that immediately sharpened her own critical evaluation skills.
At Words Without Borders, Luisa honed her editorial expertise by writing SEO teasers: brief, compelling summaries that make literary works discoverable through internet search. She often drafted multiple options for each piece, learning to balance literary sophistication with digital marketing needs. Among her successful teasers was this description of a Montenegrin short story: “Lena Ruth Stefanović traces the tensions of newly independent Montenegro, where protocol and policy clash with echoes of the past.” Writing these teasers proved particularly challenging for poetry. Distilling a poem’s content to a line or two reminded Luisa of classroom discussions at BU about the challenges involved in translating poetry. About one poem for Pride Month, she wrote: “In Hendri Yulius Wijaya’s lyrical meditation, the butterfly becomes a mirror for class, queerness, and kinship.” This skill, she realized, would serve any translator working in today’s digital publishing environment.
Understanding the Business Side
Beyond editorial work, both interns gained insights into the practical aspects of literary translation. At Words Without Borders, Luisa drafted agreements and invoices while communicating directly with international authors and translators.
For a series of short stories by Afghan women published in parallel with the original Dari, she tackled the technical challenge of formatting a right-to-left language to align “in length and size with the English translation.” Such hands-on problem-solving taught her that successful literary translation requires both linguistic expertise and practical publishing knowledge.
Grace contributed to three grant applications at Swan Isle Press. For these projects, she researched the press’s history and impact in the field of Spanish literature in translation, learning “about the traits that are valued in a non-profit press and how publishers can advocate for the work they do.” Grace also learned about distribution by studying correspondence with University of Chicago Press, which markets and distributes Swan Isle titles, familiarizing herself with “marketing and reviews, printing, book storage, sales, and more.”
Creative Collaboration and Decision-Making
Both internships emphasized collaborative creativity. Grace was surprised to discover that cover design at Swan Isle required “much more involvement from all sides” than she had assumed, participating in image selection meetings and learning how “small presses offer greater creative freedom for writers and translators and the responsibilities that that entails.”
A highlight of Luisa’s experience at WWB was working on “The First Read,” curated excerpts designed to generate excitement about upcoming novels in translation. After reading the opening fifty pages of three texts and selecting excerpts, she was thrilled when her choices aligned with her supervisor’s selections. “I was excited that Nina’s decision validated my own,” she noted, a moment that confirmed her developing editorial instincts.
Professional Networks and Mentorship
Perhaps most importantly, both students built professional connections. Luisa worked closely with Susan Harris, the Editorial Director, and Nina Perrotta, the Editor and Development Manager at Words Without Borders. Grace attended meetings with the Community of Literary Magazines and Presses, gaining firsthand insight into the world of small literary presses. She learned about distribution through Swan Isle’s partnership with University of Chicago Press, understanding “marketing and reviews, printing, book storage, sales, and more.” She particularly valued David Rade’s “thoughtful, insightful mentorship that challenged me to continue to develop my understanding of literature in all its forms and to maintain my values and standards.”
Looking Forward
Both students emerged from their internships with renewed passion for the field. As Grace observed, “The people and organizations I met during my internship gave me hope for the future through their passion and dedication to literature.” Luisa echoed this sentiment, noting that her time with Words Without Borders “has further convinced me of the joys of literary translation.”
These internship experiences exemplify our program’s commitment to bridging academic study with professional practice. By partnering with organizations like Swan Isle Press and Words Without Borders, we ensure our students graduate not just with strong translation skills, but with real understanding of how literary translation functions in today’s publishing landscape—and the networks to help them succeed in it.
September 27, 2025
J. Keith Vincent
Director
The MFA in Translation summer internship program is made possible through partnerships with leading translation publishers and generous support from the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, the Boston University Center for the Humanities, the Department of World Languages & Literatures, the Office of the Associate Dean of Humanities, the Department of Classical Studies, and the Center for the Study of Europe. We are grateful to David Rade at Swan Isle Press and the editorial team at Words Without Borders for their mentorship of our students.