Jardín de Palabras
A Literary Translation Retreat
San Andrés Huayapam, Oaxaca, Mexico
7–14 June 2026
Immerse yourself in literature and the Spanish language on this week-long literary translation retreat with translator Ellen Jones in the beautiful foothills of the Sierra Juárez.
This retreat is aimed at prose translators at different stages in their careers. Perhaps you have just finished your degree and want to get started in literary translation, perhaps you are an established interpreter or a translator of legal texts looking to move into the literary sphere, or perhaps you are an experienced literary translator and simply need some time away to immerse yourself in Spanish and receive feedback on an ongoing project.
The retreat will be held in the picturesque village of San Andrés Huayapam, just twenty minutes from the historical centre of Oaxaca de Juárez. Nestled in the foothills of the Sierra Juárez, Huayapam has wonderful access to nature as well as a thriving gastronomical scene - the village is famous for its tejate, a refreshing prehispanic drink made with cacao, corn, and mamey fruit stones. In addition to daily translation workshops, during your week here you will meet members of the local literary scene such as writers, translators, and editors, and be offered a range of optional cultural and outdoor activities such as coffee and mezcal tastings, hikes and biking excursions.
The retreat will take place during Oaxaca’s low season, which means the weather will be pleasantly warm with rain possible in the afternoons.
A typical day on the retreat will look as follows:
Group breakfast (the most important meal of the day for Oaxacans!) at Balbina Café y Cocina in the centre of Huayapam
Morning translation workshop
Group transport into the Centro histórico for a few hours at your own disposal
Reconvene in the late afternoon at Café Café, in the Centro histórico, for our second translation workshop of the day
Evening book presentation
Optional group transport back to Huayapam
The Workshop Leader
Ellen Jones is a writer, editor, and literary translator from Spanish with a PhD from Queen Mary University of London. Her recent and forthcoming translations include Balún Canán by Rosario Castellanos (Pushkin 2026), Imagine Breaking Everything by Lina Munar Guevara (Peirene 2025), This Mouth is Mine by Yásnaya Elena A. Gil (2024, winner of a PEN Translates Award), and The Remains by Margo Glantz (shortlisted for the Warwick Prize for Women in Translation 2023 and the Oxford-Weidenfeld Prize 2024). Her monograph, Literature in Motion: Translating Multilingualism Across the Americas is published by Columbia University Press (2022). Her short fiction has appeared in Litro Magazine, Slug and The London Magazine. She has taught literature and translation at Queen Mary University of London, Goldsmiths, University of London, and the National Autonomous University of Mexico.
The Workshops
The retreat includes fifteen hours of translation workshops, focussing on literary prose (short stories, novels, personal essay, memoir) written in Spanish. The group is limited to a maximum of eight participants.
Morning sessions will require no preparation. They will cover challenging translation topics such as dialogue, slang, and dialect writing, as well as practical aspects of the work of literary translation, such as pitching and negotiating. We will look at a range of writing from across Latin America, and the sessions will be adapted to the experience level and interests of group members.
Afternoon sessions will focus on participants’ own translation projects. Participants will read their peers’ draft translations in advance and then we will discuss them in detail as a group.
The workshops are designed to encourage collaboration and peer learning. You’ll receive the encouragement, support and fellowship of the whole group while being led by a seasoned literary translator and teacher.
During the week each participant will also receive 30 minutes of one-to-one discussion with Ellen about a piece of work of their choice.
The Workshop Spaces
1. Balbina Café y Cocina, Mártires 100-B, San Andrés Huayapam
Balbina is a family-run business located in gorgeous sub-tropical garden in the centre of Huayapam, five minutes walk from your accommodation. They combine speciality coffee (roasted on site) with traditional Oaxacan home cooking. You will eat breakfast here every morning and the space will be available to you all day, every day, with coffee, tea, and juice included in the price of the retreat.
2. Café Café, Calle Porfirio Díaz, esq. M. Bravo, Centro Histórico de Oaxaca
Café Café is an organic speciality coffee shop in the heart of the Centro histórico, just two blocks from the Iglesia de Santo Domingo. Enjoy the gorgeous view from its rooftop terrace, with coffee, tea, and juice all day, every day included in the price of the retreat.
The Accommodation
Your home for the week will be Huayapam Yuu Lodge, a rustic hotel with a pool and gorgeous views of the mountains. Each participant will have their own private ensuite room with a desk, and there is a communal lounge that can also be used for working and relaxing. Spa facilities are available for an extra cost. If you are interested in sharing a room with a friend or partner who is not taking part in the retreat, please let us know.
The Application Process
The retreat is open to those working on prose translations of any literary genre (short stories, novels, personal essay, memoir).
To apply, please send a cover letter to jardin [dot] huayapam [at] gmail [dot] com outlining what your literary translation experience is so far to date and what you hope to gain from attending the retreat, along with a sample translation (no longer than 400 words) of a prose work from Spanish into English. Please indicate whether you would like to apply for a bursary and if so briefly explain your circumstances.
Applications are welcome until 31 December 2025 or get in touch via jardin [dot] huayapam [at] gmail [dot] com to express your interest and find out more.
You can also follow us on Instagram @jardin_retreat.
The Cost
The retreat is priced on a sliding scale from 22000 MXN to 28500 MXN, depending on your own self-assessed ability to pay, with every peso over 23000 MXN (around 1250 USD or 930 GBP) helping to fund two partial bursaries (50%) for participants who for financial reasons would be otherwise unable to attend. Please note that if you receive a bursary we will ask you to write a one-page report on your experience of the retreat.
The cost includes:
7 nights’ accommodation in a private ensuite room
15 hours of translation workshops
30 minutes one-to-one discussion with Ellen about your project
Welcome dinner at Balbina Café y Cocina
Breakfast every day at Balbina Café y Cocina
Writing space, coffee, tea, and juice at Balbina Café y Cocina and Café Café, all day every day
Literary presentations, events, and meet-ups
Transport to and from the Centro histórico every day
Not included:
Flights to and from Oaxaca
Transport to and from the airport
Lunches and dinners (except for the first night)
Optional excursions and activities
Tips
If you are accepted, a 50% deposit will be due on 1 February 2026, with the rest of your fee (dependent on where you are on the sliding scale) payable on 1 June, one week before the retreat begins.
Cancellation Policy
Deposit is 50% refundable if you cancel between 1 February and 31 April 2025. If someone from the waitlist takes your place, your deposit is 90% refundable.
There is no refund if you cancel (for any reason) on or after 1 May 2025, unless someone takes your place from the waiting list, in which case we will refund you 90% of what you have paid.