The application for Fall 2026 is open
About the Program
Established in 2019, the BU Master of Fine Arts in Literary Translation provides intensive training for those interested in a career as a literary translator. Working with faculty who are themselves professional translators, students will engage with the theory and practice of literary translation while refining their stylistic and linguistic skills and expanding their knowledge of the field of Translation Studies.
The two-semester curriculum includes courses in translation history and theory, language-specific workshops, advanced literary study, and a unique course in English style for translators—the only one of its kind in any MFA program. Located in the heart of Boston’s vibrant literary scene, our program connects students directly with leading translators, editors, publishers, and writers through our legendary lecture series and the opportunity for summer internships with publishers.
The MFA program is administered by the Department of World Languages & Literatures and draws on faculty expertise in the Departments of Classics, Romance Studies, English, and Creative Writing. For Fall 2024, we are accepting students translating into English from twelve languages: Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Ancient Greek, Japanese, Korean, Latin, Persian, Russian, Spanish, and Turkish.
What can I expect to learn in the program?
Successful students graduating with an MFA in Literary Translation will demonstrate:
- a broad knowledge of the history of translation and Translation Studies as a discipline, and of the main ideas and debates in the field, from antiquity to the present;
- an advanced ability to translate texts of different genres and levels of difficulty;
- the ability to evaluate translations critically and to pinpoint the methods and strategies used by a translator in order to achieve different effects (e.g., domestication, foreignization, rusticization, archaism, etc.)
What can I do with an MFA in Literary Translation?
Graduates of MFA in Literary Translation will be equipped with the skills, connections, and portfolio to find translation work and to pursue a wide variety of international careers, not only in literary but also in technical, legal, and humanitarian fields. They will be well qualified to pursue literary careers or work as editors in literary publishing, as many Boston University Creative Writing MFA and PhD graduates have gone on to do, including Jhumpa Lahiri, Don Share, Zayd Dohrn, and Aviya Kushner, to name a few.
Learn more about the many amazing things our alumni have gone on to accomplish by browsing a list of our MFA Alumni.