For almost a century, ever since I founded them, Contemporary Literature Press, The MA Programme for the Translation of the Contemporary Literary Text, and its eZine, Translation Café, have been translating poetry. Quite a lot of it. Before anything else, we have been translating contemporary Romanian poetry. Contemporary literature is the main direction of our MA programme. We have also translated British poetry. We were lucky to be able to organise masterclasses with English publishing houses such as Bloodaxe Books, as well as with quite a number of British poets, whom we met with the help of the poet and literary agent Anne Stewart.
              At this point, we have come to be well known in Romania. We are grateful, in this respect, for the help of the Romanian Writers' Union, the Romanian Cultural Institute, and the National Museum of Romanian Literature. Last but not least, we have always been supported by the University of Bucharest, which is the Alma Mater for myself—to begin with—and for MTTLC, for Contemporary Literature Press, and the eZine Translation Café, as well. Contemporary Literature Press is, above everything else, the online literary publishing house of our University.
               This volume, dedicated to Nicolae Silade, begins a series of translations from contemporary Romanian poets—and I do not mean just the very well known poets. We aim at discovering those poets who have so far been ignored by literary critics.
               We will publish these books as parallel texts, and they will also include interviews with the translated poets. They will mostly be translated by those graduate students who are interested in translating Romanian literature into English. Most of them will defend their graduation papers translating Romanian poets in collaboration with English poets, under the guidance of their MTTLC teachers.
               Our graduate students have already translated a lot of Romanian poets. I have done so myself, and have published my translations at various publishing houses in Romania and abroad.
               Christmas is near. I am hoping to offer this series of books as an editorial gift, a debut, to my younger colleagues, the future translators who are still students, as well as to the poets they will translate. May those graduates find a beautiful career in Romanian culture. Hopefully, these first books, which they have the opportunity of publishing while attending MTTLC, at our publishing house or translation magazine, will guide them towards the profession they desire.

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                De un sfert de veac, de când le–am înființat, Editura Contemporary Literature Press, Masteratul pentru Traducerea Textului Literar Contemporan și revista acestuia, Translation Café, traduc poezie. Multă poezie. înainte de toate, am tradus poezie contemporană românească. Specificul programului masteral era traducerea literaturii contemporane. Am tradus și poezie britanică, am avut șansa de a face câteva masterclass–uri cu edituri englezești [Bloodaxe Books], cu poeți englezi—mai ales cu ajutorul poetei și agentei literare Anne Stewart.
              Am ajuns, în acest moment, să fim cunoscuți, chiar foarte cunoscuți, în România. Suntem recunoscători pentru ajutorul Uniunii Scriitorilor, Institutului Cultural Român, al Muzeului Național al Literaturii Române, și, deloc în ultimul rând, al Universității din București, care, pentru noi, toți cei care lucrăm la Masterat, la Editură, la revistă, este Alma Mater. Contemporary Literature Press este, în primul rând, Editura online pentru literatură a Universității noastre.
               Cu acest volum, dedicat poetului Nicolae Silade, începem o serie de traduceri din poeții români contemporani, și nu mă refer aici numai la poeții consacrați. Ne propunem să descoperim și poeții pe care critica literară îi ignoră.
               Volumele vor fi bilingve și vor cuprinde, de asemenea, interviuri cu poeții traduși. Ele vor fi traduse în mare parte de masteranzi. Mulți dintre masteranzi își vor scrie Disertația de absolvire traducând poeți români, în colaborare cu poeți englezi [pentru stilizare], și sub coordonarea profesorilor Masteratului.
               Au tradus multă poezi românească masteranzii noștri. Am tradus și eu mulți poeți, publicați fie online, fie pe hârtie, la alte edituri din țară și din străinătate.
               Le doresc succes mai tinerilor mei colegi. Sper ca, acum, în apropierea Crăciunului, să le facem acest cadou editorial, atât lor cât și poeților traduși de ei. Am demarat această serie de cărți în speranța că ele vor deschide micilor noștri masteranzi o posibilă carieră în lumea culturală românească.

Translation Café started in the year 2007, as the magazine of the MA Programme for the Translation of the Contemporary Literary Text (MTTLC), at the University of Bucharest.

The eZINE consists of translations made by graduate students of MTTLC, as a prolongation of their activity in class. They are meant to give the graduates a taste of their future profession, and also to increase their sense of responsibility for a translation they sign under their own name. The result often goes into a volume published by Contemporary Literature Press, http://editura.mttlc.ro/

The texts are translated from or into English, and belong to all literary genres – fiction, poetry, literary criticism, drama, essay. The focus is on Modern Literature, broadly meaning the 20th and the 21st centuries: Romanian, British, American among others.