Women's Writing

This special issue of Women’s Writing seeks to explore the multifaceted realm of women’s translation, spanning from the Middle Ages through the long nineteenth century. Over the past few decades, scholars have produced important insights on the worlds of women’s translation; however, much work remains. In the introduction to the 2023 special edition on translation studies in PMLA, A.E.B. Coldiron argues, “[T]ranslations constitute points of cultural and historical contact too generative to ignore” (419). Coldiron contends the future of literary studies demands scholars acknowledge the significance of translation: “Insisting on more-than-monolingual inquiry will necessarily yield literary criticism at once more precise and more expansive. Literary-cultural specialists who ignore translation, or who treat it instrumentally, do so at their peril, missing the bigger picture” (430). Given this imperative, our special issue seeks contributions that further the discussion of women writers and translation. We invite proposals for essays that engage with translation in a broad sense, including cultural translation, intralingual translation, and transmedia translation.

Topics may include but are not limited to:

• translation and gender theory
• mediating translations
• collaborative translation
• reception of translation
• patronage and translation
• paratextual material
• the materiality of translation
• women writers’ contributions to translation theory
• religious translation and commentary
• translation and history
• coterie publication of translation
• translation and prose fiction
• commercial profit and translation
• women’s education and translation
• authorship and originality
• anonymity and women’s translation
• networks around women translators
• translation and genre experimentation
• politics and translation
• translation and travel writing
• periodical publication of women’s translation

Please submit abstracts of 250 to 300 words with a short biographical statement by 15 September 2024 using this link: https://forms.gle/ms9t2gdssY1NMyXR6

If accepted, author manuscripts will be due for peer review by 15 July 2025. Please note that acceptance of an abstract does not guarantee inclusion in the special issue. All manuscripts will undergo anonymized peer review. The special issue is expected to be published in summer 2026.

Instructions for Authors