In collaboration with the Foundation for Art and Culture NRW, the Europäisches Übersetzer-Kollegium launched an international program in December 2007. Twice a year, different German-speaking writers will have the opportunity to work with their foreign translators on their current book for several days. 

Many books present literary translators with such specific problems in language and content that they can be translated ideally only in direct contact with the author. How else would a translator directly recognize all the associations conjured up by a sentence like Zaimoglu's: "Gesegnet sei der Tag, an dem der Teufel sein Hinterbein brach" (Blessed be the day on which the devil broke his hind leg)? 

With this particular project, the Foundation for Art and Culture NRW would like to assist the work of literary translators, so that mistakes and misunderstandings can be avoided in the transferral of language and culture. It also supports the reception of German literature abroad and in general wishes to help raise the quality of translated literature.

By invitation of the Europäisches Übersetzer-Kollegium and the Foundation for Art and Culture NRW, the German-speaking Turkish author Feridun Zaimoglu opened the series of "Atrium Talks in Straelen" with his novel Leyla. In July 2008 Julia Franck, winner of the 2007 Deutscher Buchpreis, met the translators of her novel "Die Mittagsfrau".