The LINGUAFRANCA Transnational Literary Agency was founded in Paris in October 2017. It is run by an Executive Board consisting of Marianne Corvellec (President), Maria Grazia Negro (Secretary) and Patrick Williamson (Treasurer); and by a Committee of writers, researchers and translators based in France and Italy – Laura Accerboni, Fulvio Caccia, Monique Calinon, Roméo Fratti, Mia Lecomte, Davide Napoli, Gioia Panzarella, Laura Toppan and Sarah Ventimiglia – all of whom are attentive to transcultural issues and have long been involved in transnational literature. They will be supported by an international group of external associates going forward.

This agency has four main activities: reflection, action, communication and translation/revision, and will exploit what French philosopher Pierre Lévy calls “collective intelligence” to the full in order to create a transnational literary space. This structure will be involved in organising festivals, readings and writing workshops, and above all facilitating translation/revision projects. This agency will be unique in the close attention paid to the text, to give it a voice beyond language, which characterises the best results of cross-literature transfer in our century.

LINGUAFRANCA aims to promote multilingualism and transnational literature, and thus contribute to building a more democratic and inclusive political awareness, which would be a foundation stone for globalized cultural diversity

The transnational literary agency takes the form of an association under French law. It thus comprises full members and associate members. Membership conditions consist of co-option and payment of an annual membership fee. Each full member has a voting right. Associate members are also co-opted but do not have voting rights. Nevertheless, they may be granted a voting right upon a decision by the Committee or following a proposal from the Executive Board and will thus become full members. The agency may also accept, under the same conditions, institutional members representing writers or creators’ associations or networks. In this case, the amount of the annual subscription will set accordingly.