It’s a friendly competition between two translators who are asked to translate the same text independently—and without consulting each other.
On the day of the slam, they present their finished work before an audience—and each other—and compare and discuss their strategies and choices. The audience is encouraged to ask questions, make comments, offer suggestions, and share their own translations.
Although the word “competition” suggests a win-lose situation, there are no winners or losers. In fact, the whole point is to share insights, compare viewpoints, and demonstrate that there is no “definitive” translation. And in so doing underscore the win-win nature of collaborative work among experts.
Our texts and our slammers’ names will be provided to attendees before UETF starts.
For more information on how translation slams work, check out this blog post and this article: Gained in Translation.