I am a  German-to-English translator based in York, a couple of hours south of Gateshead. I specialise in the translation of fashion, e-commerce, marketing and tourism texts. Find me on Twitter @CatWolterman.

Northern England is a great place to be a translator

I have found the north of England to be a very supportive place in which to start my career as a freelance translator. It was in 2011, during my MA at the University of Leeds, when I first realised that the north of England was home to a thriving community of translators and interpreters. Towards the end of my studies, I was introduced to ITI’s Yorkshire regional group, Yorkshire Translators and Interpreters (YTI); I soon became an active member, later taking on the role of social media secretary for one year.

Through YTI, I found out about Tweet Up North. ‘Tweet ups’ for translators and interpreters started out in London and are now taking place across Europe, bringing translators together and offering an insight into the ways in which professional linguists can use social media as a business tool. There will be a Tweet Up North event at the ITI Conference, so watch this space.

More recently, I have started attending a monthly Jelly day in York, which is chance for freelance translators to meet up over a coffee, bringing their laptops along if they want to get some work done in the company of others or simply having a chat with other translators.

Being part of the vibrant, active network of translators in the North has played a big part in my career to date.

Looking forward to #ITIConf15 in Gateshead

Translators from around the UK and from other parts of the world can look forward to a warm welcome from this community when they arrive in Gateshead for the ITI Conference in April.

With so many excellent speakers already announced for the ITI Conference 2015, some difficult decisions will no doubt have to be made about which presentations to attend. There are a few I definitely don’t want to miss: Ros Schwartz’s pre-conference master class on the overlap between literary and commercial translation, Percy Balemans’ presentation on translating for the world of fashion, and John Evans’ talk on inspiring the next generation of translators and interpreters. Outside of the conference, I hope to have time to pay another visit to Gateshead’s outstanding BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art.

I am very much looking forward to being part of what promises to be a world-class translation event right here in the North.