We’re delighted to join the Instituto Cervantes Manchester in celebrating International Translation Day 2026 with a roundtable discussion in which we will explore the process of translating literature from minority languages into English.

To mark the occasion, they are inviting representatives from three pioneering publishing houses dedicated to bringing rarely translated voices into the spotlight. Thanks to the vision of these publishers and the skill of their translators, readers can access global literary masterpieces from cultures beyond their own.

As well as a discussion into the art of translation itself, guests will unpack the broader landscape of publishing translated literature in the UK and Ireland today. The conversation will tackle the orchestration between artistic voice and linguistic fidelity as well as discuss the editorial vision required to champion underrepresented texts. Above all, it will highlight the lasting cultural value of these works, and the vital role translation plays today.

This event is open to anyone interested in literature, translation, or the publishing industry, whether you’re a reader, writer, translator, or simply curious.

The event will be in English.

Writer, playwright and Aosdána member Rosaleen McDonagh joins Emilie Pine to discuss her debut novel, Contentious Spaces. Set within a close-knit Traveller community facing eviction from its halting site, it is an unflinching story of family, identity, grief and resilience – and of people fighting to preserve their homes, history and dignity.

What happens when home is no longer secure? Rosaleen McDonagh’s debut novel, Contentious Spaces, follows a Traveller family facing eviction and the uncertainty of what comes next. Through the lives of its characters, the novel explores family, belonging, grief, resilience and the complicated relationship between people and place.

Rosaleen joins Maureen Kennelly for a wide-ranging conversation about the novel, her writing practice and the experiences and questions that sit behind the work. Expect an intimate discussion about home, identity, community and the stories we carry with us.

In collaboration with Misleór Festival and the Mick Lally Theatre, Druid.

Join us in Chapters Bookstore for the launch of a new podcast series, ‘Taking the Long Road’, on 18 September as part of Dublin Culture Night. Hosted by award-winning author, curator, and activist Oein DeBhairduin, this series will explore the harmful legacy of the Commission on Itineracy Report, 1963 and its impact on the Traveller community, Ireland’s indigenous ethnic community. The series will be launched by Oein in conversation with leading human rights activist, cultural consultant and theatre maker Catherine Joyce.

The event is part of Skein’s ‘Thinking Aloud, Thinking Together’ initiative, which encompasses cross-disciplinary discussions between artists, writers and thinkers, touching on current points of connection and concern in contemporary culture.

Oein DeBhairduin is a writer, activist and educator with a passion for preserving the beauty of Traveller tales, sayings, retellings and historic exchanges. Oein is the author of the award-winning ‘Why the moon travels’. His other works are ‘Weave’, ‘The Slug and the Snail’ and ‘Twiggy Woman’. He is the Curator of Traveller Culture with the National Museum of Ireland and seeks to pair community activism with cultural celebration, recalling old tales with fresh modern connections and, most of all, he wishes to rekindle the hearth fires of a shared kinship.

Catherine Joyce is a leading Traveller human rights activist and spokesperson. She has represented the community at the United Nations and was appointed by the Irish government to the Task Force on Travelling community and its National Monitoring Committee and is the manager of Blanchardstown Travellers Development Group. She is a cultural consultant and theatre maker collaborating on The Trailer of Bridgit Dinnigan and The Rose Tattoo and films Worlds Apart and Float like a Butterfly. Catherine received the people of the year award in 1991 from the Rehab Group.