Literary translations from most languages spoken on the Balkan peninsula into Arabic are next to absent, while classical or religious texts translated into the other direction, from Arabic, prevail. And even if the two regions share historical and cultural connections and recent experience of social turbulences, artistic exchanges reflecting on these links rarely happen. The project organisers believed that the reason for this lies in the absence of literary translators who are capable of translating directly from the languages concerned and of acting as intercultural mediators as well as in the lack of information.

Based on these observations, the organisers of Translation Collider 1 set out to open new channels of exchange, pioneer a new approach of working, and promote secular quality literature that would otherwise remain unknown to publishers and audiences.

These aims were reached by exploring and promoting shared social and cultural themes as they are reflected in contemporary prose written in Arabic, Turkish, Bulgarian, Croatian, Slovene, Bosnian, etc.

The project was undertaken by Next Page (Bulgaria) in cooperation with Sefsafa (Egypt) and KalemKultur (Turkey) and is centred around an international residency for translators and editors to co-produce new translations from and into Arabic as well as a joint publication.

Participants included translators with a proven track record and a commitment to cultural mediation, editors with a passion for literature, writers, students and book industry professionals.