About us

Erica Hesketh (née Jarnes)

Erica Hesketh (née Jarnes)

Director

Erica Hesketh joined the Poetry Translation Centre from English PEN, where she managed the Writers in Translation programme. She previously worked as an editor at Bloomsbury Publishing, a literary events programmer at Southbank Centre, and the book campaigns director at The Pigeonhole. She is also a musician and poet, with poems in Ink, Sweat & Tears, harana poetry and The North among others. She is a trustee of Adverse Camber Productions, and serves on the editorial board of the translation journal In Other Words.

What I do:

As Director, I'm responsible for running and leading the charity, reporting to our board of trustees, liaising with funders and supporters, and developing partnerships to keep the PTC flourishing well into the future. I also commission and edit the PTC's list of incredible bilingual poetry collections. If you are interested to work with us, be published by us, book us for an event, or be part of our story by becoming a PTC supporter, please feel free to email me!

You can contact Erica at erica@poetrytranslation.org.

Bern Roche Farrelly

Bern Roche Farrelly

Participation Producer

Bern Roche Farrelly is a writer, dramaturg and producer with ten years of experience as an arts administrator. His work includes writing and directing Determine, a choose your own adventure style play set in a world without free will at The Yard Theatre in 2014. He produced The People Versus Democracy, an interactive theatre game for Hobo Theatre. Performed at London's Free Word Centre during the 2015 UK general Election the show was called 'A provocative piece of theatre' by RemoteGoat and received a five-star review from BritishTheatre.com. He was the dramaturg and producer of Freud The Musical, at the King's Head Theatre in 2016 & VAULT festival in 2018. He is a founding member of Working Birthday theatre company.

What I do

As Participation Producer, I manage the PTC’s collaborative translation workshops, our UNDERTOW development programme, the Queer Digital Residency and the Radical Approaches Reading Group. I also produce our Dual Poetry Podcast. If you are interested in running a poetry translation workshop in your community, I am the person to talk to.

You can contact Bern at bern@poetrytranslation.org.

Nick Chapman

Nick Chapman

Events Producer

Nick is an event producer who has been involved in the UK literary scene since interning with PEN International in 2010. Since then he has worked for the British Council, run International Translation Day and spent five years with visual arts organisation Artangel. Along with Sharmilla Beezmohun and Sarah Sanders, Nick runs Speaking Volumes, an organisation bringing attention to underrepresented writers and giving them a platform both here and overseas, most notably through their long-term Breaking Ground project for British writers of colour, and creating award-winning live work with individual artists.

What I do:

As Events Producer, I organise events and tours for the poets and translators whose work the Poetry Translation Centre publishes, working in partnership with organisations, venues and festivals all over the UK. If you would like to partner with us on an event, please get in touch.

You can contact Nick at nick@poetrytranslation.org.

Ellen McAteer

Ellen McAteer

Publications Manager

Ellen McAteer is a poet and songwriter. As well as working with the Poetry Translation Centre, she is General Manager of Poetry London, and founder of Tell It Slant poetry bookshop in Glasgow. Her poetry pamphlet Honesty Mirror, published by Red Squirrel in 2020, won First Prize in the New Writer magazine pamphlet competition judged by Helen Mort. She has been a visiting lecturer at the Glasgow School of Art and on the University of Oxford Creative Writing MSt, a mentee of Rachel Long under an Arts Council DYCP grant, and of the Clydebuilt Verse Apprenticeship Scheme, under Alexander Hutchison, and has just completed an MA in Creative and Life Writing at Goldsmiths.

What I do:

As Publishing Manager, I develop and maintain the PTC’s key relationships with co-publishers, retailers and distributors. I also manage the biennial Sarah Maguire Prize for new books of poetry in translation from beyond Europe. If you are interested in buying or stocking our books, featuring our prize shortlist, or entering the prize, I am the person to talk to.

You can contact Ellen at ellen@poetrytranslation.org.

Ecre Karadag

Marketing and Communications Manager

Ecre Karadag is a translator and marketer with an arts and community engagement background. She has an MA Translation degree from SOAS, University of London and most recently an MA in Japanese Studies from Sophia University, Tokyo. While studying in Tokyo, she was head of editorial and rights at The COMM, a multilingual Japanese street fashion magazine that has been recognised in Vogue, i-D, Glamour and the 2020 British Fashion Awards. As well as working at the PTC and as a Japanese-English translator, Ecre works at Fitzrovia Community Centre, supporting their fundraising, monitoring and evaluation and runs a weekly community poetry group there with poet and translator Yvonne Green.

What I do:

As Marketing and Communications Manager, I oversee the PTC’s communications strategy, social media accounts and website and work with our poets, translators and partners to promote our workshops, publications and events through digital campaigns. If you would like to discuss anything marketing, digital and promotion, please get in touch.

You can contact Ecre at ecre@poetrytranslation.org.

Cornelius Gibbons

Cornelius Gibbons

Programmes Officer

Cornelius Gibbons is an arts administrator and project coordinator based in London. He has an MA with distinction in Arts Administration and Cultural Policy from Goldsmiths, and a BA in Art History from the University of Birmingham. Having held various positions across the cultural sector, his primary aims are to facilitate and enable the production of arts and culture. He has a keen interest in the crossovers between film and poetry.

You can contact Cornelius at cornelius@poetrytranslation.org.

Sam Dodd

Sam Dodd

Operations Manager

Sam Dodd is a writer, editor and facilitator, and comes to us with a history of ops and office management spanning almost a decade at small literature orgs such as The Poetry Society, First Story, Prison Reading Groups, Free Word, and English PEN. Sam is also a writing mentor for Arkbound and a trustee for Spread the Word, and has project managed community engagement life writing project, CityLife Stories, since 2014.

What I do:

As Operations Manager I look after the day-to-day operations of the PTC, including bookkeeping, banking, HMRC, HR, Companies House, Charity Commission, budgets and financial reports; systems, suppliers and services; and board/governance organisation and administration.

You can contact Sam at sam@poetrytranslation.org.