What We’re Looking For & How to Submit

What We’re Looking For

Jill! is a virtual Women+ in Translation reading series that spotlights women, trans, and/or nonbinary translators or translators of women, trans, and/or nonbinary authors.

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Since its inception in 2019, Jill! has spotlighted the work of 102 translators, working in 30 languages. We’ve featured poetry translated from Amharic, Arabic, Bangla, B/C/S, Danish, Mapuzungun, Old English, Serbian, Sinhala, and Ukrainian; prose translated from Brazilian Portuguese, Dutch, Finnish, Italian, Tamil, and Québécois French; a traditional puppet play from Korean, a French meditation on ‘Trumpspeak;’ a novel that supported the #MeToo movement in Taiwan; work from the Uzbek, Palestinian, Yugoslav, and Afro-Italian diasporas; a novel from New Caledonia detailing the indigenous Kanak uprising against French colonial rule in the 1980s; and so much more. In 2023, we showcased writing for children and young people from around the world during September’s #WorldKidLitMonth for the third year running. The year before, we introduced spotlight series guest-curated by Jill! alumni, an initiative that expanded our reach and richness immensely.

We want to continue to celebrate a wide array of international poetry, prose, narrative non-fiction and performance, so please consider sending us your readings for April 2024 and beyond! And if you know any translators who are doing great and interesting work that fits our mission, please encourage them to send their videos, too — no matter what stage of their career.

As ever, we're working to continue expanding our representation in 2024, not only in terms of the languages we feature, but also the translators we highlight. We are particularly interested in receiving video readings from translators of color, Indigenous translators, translators working in rural areas, emerging/student translators, working-class translators, and translators with disabilities.

2024 Calls for Submissions

Ongoing Series and Calls for Submissions
(Accepted on a Rolling Basis, All Year)

Individual Readings!

We always welcome individual readings that fit our primary mission, at any time of year. Scroll down to see the full submissions guidelines.

Guest-Curated Series:

In 2024, we are seeking series guest-curated by any interested translator, whether they’ve previously read for Jill! or not. If you have ideas for a themed series of readings (min. two readings, max eight), email us with the subject line: Jill! Guest Series 2023. For examples of previous guest-curated series, check out our YouTube channel.

Spotlight on Trans & Nonbinary Translators and Authors:

In 2023, we launched a spotlight on the work of trans and nonbinary translators and authors. This spotlight is ongoing. See our targeted call for submissions here.

Spotlight on Writing from Palestine and the Palestinian Diaspora:

In light of the ongoing atrocities occurring in Gaza, Jill! will continue to solicit new readings that lift up the voices of Palestinian writers. Again, there is no set submission deadline for this series, as we'll be posting videos as we receive them. See our targeted call for submissions here.

Cotranslators & Translator Teams:

If translating alone is difficult but rewarding, translating as a pair or team presents a whole new set of challenges and benefits. In this ongoing series, we're celebrating the duos (or trios, quartets, etc) that work together to make it work.

Deadlined Calls for Submissions

Writing About Food & Hunger - SUBMISSION DEADLINE: APRIL 20

We're looking for writing that makes your mouth water and work that understands what it means to be hungry. Videos still need to fit Jill!’s primary mission, but outside of that parameter, what you read is up to you, as is the format of the reading itself. (A reading and a recipe, perhaps?)

WorldKidLitMonth2024 - SUBMISSION DEADLINE: AUGUST 15

Jill! has celebrated September's #WorldKidLitMonth three years running and we're not about to stop. Videos still need to fit Jill!’s primary mission, but outside of that parameter, what you read is up to you, as is the format of the reading itself. You can share picture books, graphic novels, comics, YA fiction, poetry, nonfiction, or performance for children — or whatever work you might have that fits the bill. There’s a lot of potential to do exciting, out-of-the box things with virtual kid lit readings, and we welcome your creativity in this regard. Check our website to see our general submissions guidelines for more information about suggested length, what we’ll need from you when you submit your reading, etc.

Jill! remains a series that highlights work in English translation, but submissions are welcomed from translators working anywhere in the world. We’d love to receive readings from a broad range of languages as-yet to be represented in our series, including but not limited to: Albanian, American Sign Language, Armenian, Basque, Burmese, Catalan, Creole, Galician, Gaelic, Gikuyu, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Indonesian, Irish, Khmer, Kurdish, Laotian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Malay, Mongolian, Polish, Punjabi, Scots, Swahili, Thai, Turkish, Uhygur, Vietnamese, Welsh, Xhosa, Yiddish, Yoruba.

We would also welcome English translations of writers working in Indigenous languages of the Americas, translations of writers from formerly colonized countries, translations of exophonic and immigrant writers, self-translations, children’s literature, and writing in genres beyond narrative fiction and poetry.

How to Submit

It’s easy! Here are the basic guidelines:

  • Please email your videos (or links to Google+ / Dropbox / etc. files) to jillreadingNYC@gmail.com with the subject line: Virtual Jill! reading.

  • Translations must be into English.

  • Either the translator or the author being read should be a woman, trans, or nonbinary person. 

  • The video should be about 5 - 15 mins total (20 max)

  • Please start by introducing yourself and the author you've translated, any background you want to share about the piece, and then a short reading in the original language and your translation.

  • When you submit your reading via email, please include:

    • a one or two-line quote from your reading that we can use as a 'teaser' on Instagram (Previous examples here.)

    • a one or two-line introduction to (or summary of) the work being read

    • your bio and the bio of your author (please include your pronouns)

    • your location (optional)

    • title of the work being read

    • country/region reading/author hail from

    • the Instagram handles and Facebook profiles you and your author use, if either/both of you want to be tagged in posts when your video is published

    • links to published work, your website, or anything else you want shared alongside your video reading

FYI: We will add a Jill! info card at the end of your reading. No other edits will be made without discussing it with you first. Likewise, if we have any other concerns or questions about your submission, we’ll be in touch.

Videos are generally posted once a week on the Jill! YouTube channel in the order they are received, but exact posting timelines depend on a wide variety of scheduling concerns and factors. We will confirm our posting schedule with you when you submit.

We can't wait to see what you have to share: please share this call widely and with anyone you think will be interested!