Earn your MFA in Literary Translation
The Master of Fine Arts program in literary translation requires 48 semester hours of graduate credit, including a thesis. Students must maintain a cumulative grade-point average (GPA) of at least 2.75. They typically complete the program and graduate in two to three years.
Translators in the program focus on creating works that can convey the distinctness of the original languages and the immediacy of contemporary languages, whether poetry, fiction, or drama. Students consider ideas of literariness, style, cultural politics, authority, and how these come into play in the relationships between authors and their texts, authors and translators, translations and readers, and in the media landscapes in which these circulate.
At the core of the MFA program are the workshops, TRNS:7460–Translation Workshop, IWP:5205–International Translation Workshop, and TRNS:6555–Translator in Residence Workshop, which every student must take for a minimum of 12 semester hours of credit. Depth in the literature and culture of the source language, creative writing (translation is considered a writing art), translation theory and history, and contemporary literary theory are basic curricular requirements, supplemented with elective courses in which students may develop an area of special interest in consultation with their advisors.
During the first year, each student has an advisory committee of two faculty members: one from the translation program, who is the student's primary advisor; and one from another academic area in the Department of Languages, Linguistics, Literatures, and Cultures or from one of the MFA writing programs. A third member joins the committee during the second year, when a student submits the thesis proposal. At least one member of the committee should be competent in the student’s source language.
| Course type | Hours |
|---|---|
| Core courses and workshops | 36 |
| Electives | 9 |
| MFA thesis | 3 |
| Total hours | 48 |
Engaged practice
We live and work in an increasingly interconnected world where virtually every form of exchange—from goods and information to values and ways of seeing—has come to depend on translation. MFA students are therefore encouraged to seek service and outreach opportunities, and overseas research and practical experience.
MFA thesis
Students earn 3 semester hours for the thesis, which is a translated collection of poems, literary essays, short stories, a short novel, or a drama with an introduction that sets the work in appropriate context.
The introduction should include a critical discussion of issues and problems related to the translation; it should present a rationale for the translator’s approach and strategies, based on interpretation, analysis of the leading features, structure, style, or authorial objectives of the source text. The source text should be a work that has not been translated previously or, at the discretion of the advisory committee, a work whose previous translation is judged to be outdated or inadequate in some respect.
An oral defense of the thesis examines the student’s translation and the introductory essay in detail.
Create your academic path
You'll find degree overviews, requirements, course lists, academic plans, and more to help you plan your education and explore your possibilities.
Current course list
The MyUI Schedule displays registered courses for a particular session and is available to enrolled students. The list view includes course instructors, time and location, and features to drop courses or change sections.