Translating YA and Middle Grade Literature: A Primer

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Is translating YA and middle grade literature really that different from translating literature for adults? How does one craft a compelling and unique voice when translating for children? What are the pitfalls when translating dialogue for this age group? What other challenges does the translator face when navigating between two languages and cultures for younger readers? How does one pitch such books? With the announcement of the new Children's Booker highlighting the importance of young audiences, now is the time to try your hand at translating Arabic YA into English (no knowledge of Arabic necessary), with award-winning translator, Sawad Hussain, as your guide.

Sawad Hussain is a PEN Award-winning translator from the Arabic. She has been shortlisted for The Warwick Prize for Women in Translation, the Saif Ghobash Banipal Prize and the National Book Award for Translation, and longlisted for the Moore Prize in Human Rights Writing, among others. A former co-chair of the Translators' Association in the UK, Sawad has also served as a judge for the Palestine Book Awards and the 2023 National Translation Award. She has run translation workshops under the auspices of Shadow Heroes, Africa Writes, Shubbak Festival, the Yiddish Book Center, the British Library and the National Centre for Writing. In 2024, she became the first translator-in-residence for "Wasafiri", and was the Spring 2025 translator-in-residence at PIIRS, Princeton University.