ICI London supports
Publishers Panel: Italy and Beyond
Wednesday 5 November, 1-2pm, ONLINE
Ruth Clarke (Chair) with Kate Harvey (Akoya) and Richard Village (Foundry Editions)
What are publishers looking for when they acquire books in translation? How do Italian titles make their way into the Anglophone market—and what lies beyond Italy’s literary borders? In this panel discussion, publishers working closely with translated literature will share insights into their editorial choices, the role of the translator in shaping a book’s journey, and how international titles are positioned for English-language readers. With a focus on Italian literature but with an eye to the wider world, this conversation offers literary translators a valuable behind-the-scenes look at the publishing process—from pitch to publication—and the collaborative relationships that bring translated books to life.
Part of the BCLT Italian-English advanced translation workshop, in partnership with National Centre for Writing and the Italian Cultural Institute
To find out more and register click HERE
Ruth Clarke (Chair) is a literary translator from Italian, French and Spanish. She has translated an eclectic range of work by authors from Benin to Venezuela, including Evelina Santangelo’s haunting novel From Another World (Granta, 2021). Her work as an editor includes Abandonment by Erminia Dell’Oro, translated by Oonagh Stransky (Héloïse Press, 2024), which was shortlisted for the Oxford-Weidenfeld Prize. Ruth teaches on the MA in Translation Studies at Durham University and hosts the translated fiction book club at Collected, Durham. She also promotes translation through New Spanish Books and Translate Swiss Books, and is a founding member of The Starling Bureau, a collective of literary translators.
Kate Harvey is Publishing Director at Akoya. She is an international literary publisher with twenty years’ experience at Picador and Vintage. She has worked with writers from around the world, including Nobel, Pulitzer and Booker Prize winners and nominees.
Richard Village is the founder and editor of Foundry Editions, an independent press focussing on writing from and about the Mediterranean. Richard studied Spanish and Italian at Oxford and spent thirty years not working with books or languages at all. In 2022, he went back to UEA to start the MA in Literary Translation and, during that year, set up Foundry Editions. His translation of Esther García Llovet’s SPANISH BEAUTY was published in January 2025 and he is working on two translations for 2026.