Black In Multiple Languages (General Attendee)
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Black in Multiple Languages: A Free Virtual Translation Symposium April 17 to 18, 2026
Curated by Gbenga Adesina, PhD
PLEASE NOTE: This form is for general attendance registration. If you would like to apply for a translation workshop, please follow the separate workshop application link. Applying for a workshop automatically registers you for general attendance.
About the Symposium Black in Multiple Languages Symposium is a free two-day virtual gathering of poets, scholars, and translators exploring Black expression across linguistic, cultural, and hemispheric contexts. This symposium considers the shared notions of Black being, Black joy, and expression in multiple languages.
Curatorial Invocation: Think of a dream in which scholars, poets, and psalmists gather to meditate on Blackness not as a category of asphyxiating containment, but as a garden of ancestral flowers, an orchard of clustered red bottlebrush shrubs, pomegranate trees, trees of Libson limes, Satsuma Mandarins, date palms, mangoes, and guavas. Each fruit on these trees contains a seed that contains the last fragment of an almost extinct language. Imagine that these poets, scholars, and psalmists are gathered in this orchard around a map which contains not the names of countries, but names of different languages, languages which contain fragments of other languages, which contain fragments of other pasts and therefore other futures. Languages which contain stolen ancestors and lost migrants, and return them, however briefly, to those they are stolen from. Each poet suddenly hears what their name means, but in a different language.
Symposium Schedule
April 17, 2026 Keynote Featuring Poet John Keene 9:20 AM to 10:30 AM EST
Panel A 10:45 AM to 12:15 PM EST Our panel conversations bring together poets, scholars, and translators who work across Black languages and global diasporic traditions. Across multiple panels, speakers will reflect on their multilingual practices and the creative, ethical, and cultural questions that shape translation. Each session includes brief presentations followed by a moderated conversation and audience Q and A. Panel titles and full descriptions will be announced closer to the symposium.
Translation Workshops (application and 15 dollar fee required)* 12:45 PM to 2:30 PM EST *Applying for a translation workshop will automatically register you for general attendance.
ntro to Translation No prior translation experience is required. This session is designed for participants who are interested in learning how translation works, the practical, ethical, and imaginative logistics of moving poems across languages. Led by Pelumi Adejumo, this workshop offers an accessible entry point into translation as a creative and intellectual practice.
Participants will explore foundational concepts, experiment with guided prompts, and engage in conversation about what it means to translate within a Black diasporic literary tradition.
Application requirement:
A brief application including a 250 word statement describing your interest in translation and how you hope to benefit from the workshop.
Advanced Translation This session is intended for translators with demonstrated experience, those who are already working on literary translation projects or who have an established practice. Led by Gregory Pardlo, the workshop offers space for deeper discussions of craft, shared challenges, ethical considerations, and generative mentorship.
Participants will reflect on their ongoing projects, explore advanced strategies, and engage in collaborative thinking about translation across Black languages and global Black traditions.
Application requirement: A brief application including a 250-word statement describing your current translation practice, projects, and what you hope to gain from the advanced session.
April 18, 2026 Panel B 10:45 AM to 12:15 PM EST Our panel conversations bring together poets, scholars, and translators working across Black languages and global diasporic traditions. Across multiple panels, speakers will reflect on their multilingual practices and the creative, ethical, and cultural questions that shape translation. Each session includes brief presentations followed by a moderated conversation and audience Q and A. Panel titles and full descriptions will be announced closer to the symposium.
A Multilingual Poetry Performance 11:30 AM to 1:30 PM EST Our multilingual performance brings together all of the featured poets who write and think across several languages. Each poet will read original work in the languages they carry, without necessarily requiring English translation. As part of the performance ritual, poets will introduce one another by sharing brief translations of a fellow artist’s work, creating a chain of connection across languages and lineages.