About this programme

​​​The M.Phil. in Literary Translation at Trinity College Dublin is an award-winning master’s degree designed for individuals who are passionate about literary and creative translation, whether they aim to pursue a career in the translation industry, literary publishing, academia, media, or international organisations. It is ideal for linguists, writers, and those with a strong interest in cross-cultural communication who want to refine their practical translation skills while deepening their understanding of translation theory and history. 

​This programme welcomes applicants working with a wide variety of languages, with English as our common language. Its broad definition of “literature” includes not only novels and poetry but also video games, comics, speeches, subtitles, and songs. 

​Career Paths and Opportunities 

​Graduates of the MPhil in Literary Translation are highly sought after in the translation industry due to their ability to produce creative, high-quality translations. The programme prepares students for careers as: 

• Professional literary translators
• Editors and publishers in the literary field
• Specialists in media and audio-visual translation (subtitling, dubbing, localisation)
• ​Translation project managers
• Researchers and academics in translation studies
• Language and cultural consultants for international organisations and NGOs
• Professionals in the public sector, education, and cultural institutions

​With direct access to the translation industry through professional workshops, team projects, and networking events, as well as training in advanced translation tools like Phrase Cloud, students graduate ready to meet the growing global demand for skilled, creative translators. ​

How this degree will benefit me

There is a strong and growing demand for highly-trained translators with the creativity and linguistic prowess to create aesthetically appealing work. Such translators are already sought out not only in the field of literature, but also in the private and public sector, in international organisations, media, and education. We have close ties with many such organisations, and give our students regular opportunities to interact with them.

The MPhil in Literary Translation develops eight key competences that build the practical, professional, and theoretical skill base of students:

1. Transfer competence
   The ability to identify issues in translating texts, and to formulate strategies to achieve identified goals.
2. Language competence
   The ability to use many variations of both the source and target languages to a very high level of competency.
3. Textual competence
   The ability to distinguish and reproduce literary genres and styles.
4. Heuristic competence
   The ability to gather the linguistic and thematic knowledge needed to translate.
5. Literary-cultural competence
   The ability to apply knowledge about differences between source and target cultures, literary movements and genres while producing translations.
6. Professional competence
   The ability to gather knowledge and understanding of working in the field of literary translation.
7. Evaluative competence
   The ability to assess and evaluate translation choices and translations’ impacts.
8. Research competence
   The ability to conduct methodical and rigorous research in translation studies.

Working Languages

English is the common language for all of our students and students must have a demonstrably very high level of English. We do our best to accommodate as broad a range of working languages as possible for our student translators. Our students regularly work with the following languages:

• Arabic
• Bulgarian
• Catalan
• Chinese
• Croatian
• Czech
• French
• German
• Greek (ancient and modern)
• Hungarian
• Irish
• Italian
• Japanese
• Latin
• Polish
• Portuguese
• Russian
• Spanish
• Turkish

Why study this degree at Trinity?

Located in the heart of multicultural Dublin, Trinity College provides a uniquely rich environment for studying and researching translation. Trinity has fostered many literary giants over the centuries such as Nobel Prize winner, Samuel Beckett, and has one of the best records for teaching languages in the world. Trinity was even the first university in the world to introduce the study of modern continental languages in 1776.

Our students are taught by translation theorists and language specialists with a highly diverse range of research interests. They also have direct contact with practising translators through our Literary Translator in Residence Scheme, and busy programme of events.

The MPhil in Literary Translation offers an unrivalled degree of freedom. Our students customise their own programmes, follow their own research interests in assignments and dissertations, translate what and how they want to translate in portfolios, and focus on honing the professional skills that are most valuable to them.
Trinity students are highly valued by the translation industry. We organise workshops with our industry partners throughout the year, and offer a long list of opportunities to network and collaborate from the beginning until well after the end of the degree.

Trinity College Dublin is a proud member of the PETRA-E network, of more than 21 institutions from across Europe, which work together to improve education and training in literary translation. The MPhil in Literary Translation makes direct use of the PETRA-E framework in its design, planning, and assessment.

We would like to thank Phrase for granting us free access to their platform through the Phrase Academic Edition. Phrase Cloud is a complete translation platform that includes translation memory, integrated machine and human translation, terminology management, and both online and desktop Computer Aided Translation tools. Our students are trained to use this powerful translation software and to evaluate its feasibility for literary projects.

Programme Contacts

Interested candidates are welcome to contact the School's Postgraduate Office for further information, or ​​James Hadley, Programme Director, MPhil in Literary Translation.