What is translation? By exploring its theory and history, case studies across genres, and an experimental module on the process and product of translation, the MALT 2026 cohort has been delving into the breadth and depth of translation in the search for answers to this ultimate question. The collection showcases a wide range of fascinating endeavours in drama, poetry, and prose, as the cohort aims to build bridges between authors and readers, across cultures and languages. In this anthology, a French tragedy with a pinch of satire that raises the question of what war really achieves, a series of Japanese surrealistic contemporary poems in which a Fukushima-born author reflects on his inner self, and a German novel set in a migrant camp for East Germans before the fall of the Berlin Wall appear in their English translations.
Through poetry, we witness language at its most playful and most exciting. The vitality of language is endlessly apparent in this anthology, whose contents span nature and urbanity, nostalgia and hope, place and displacement, communal and individual identity, and the beating pulse of language constantly finding new ways to speak. The poetry cohort work in various ways, from traditional forms such as sonnets and sestinas to wild and transgressive new forms. These poems are as various as they are vibrant. Page by page, we move through moments of wit and humour, to tension and tenderness; from birds to the piano to the operation table. With a foreword from acclaimed poet and writer Ella Frears, this anthology highlights a new generation of exciting poets, united by their study at the University of East Anglia
Translation foreword and introduction by Cecilia Rossi: Cecilia Rossi is Associate Professor in Literature and Translation at the University of East Anglia, where she convenes the MA in Literary Translation and works for BCLT as Postgraduate and Professional Liaison. Her latest translation, The Last Innocence and The Lost Adventures (Alejandra Pizarnik) was published by Ugly Duckling Presse and shortlisted for the National Translation Awards for Poetry (ALTA) in 2020.
Poetry foreword by Ella Frears: Ella Frears is a poet and artist originally from Cornwall, now based in London. She’s the author of Shine, Darling, shortlisted for the Forward Prize and the T. S. Eliot Prize, and Goodlord, a hybrid workwhich takes the form of one long email to an estate agent, also shortlisted for the Forward Prize. She was a Royal Literary Fund Fellow at The Courtauld, and a Poetry Fellow at the University of East Anglia. Frears’ poems have been translated into Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Greek, Turkish, Slovak, and Cornish. She hosts Tears for Frears, a chat and music show on Soho Radio.
