BRIDGING THE DIVIDE: TRANSLATION AND THE ART OF EMPATHY consists of 10 monthly themed podcasts featuring 10 independent trade publishers, their authors and/or translators, posted on online journal The BookBlast Diary (audience location: 66% UK), for social media and traditional media dissemination. This 10x10 podcast series would showcase international literature offering different ways of seeing in themed audio soundbites, introducing the idea of writing in translation to readers, as well as to people who enjoy the full range of entertainment through their mobile phone. The series would break down the perceived view that literature is just for the highbrow reader. Each 45 minute recording could be listened to at home like a radio programme; in the car, the tube, or while exercising. An auditory teaser, the podcasts would compel users to buy the complete featured title (print, ebook or audio). Listeners would discover some of the best independent publishers at work today, and explore their lists to find more books to read for pleasure. The authentic themed conversations would be structured so the listener feels as though they are meeting a new friend. The podcast themes are topical, creative, informative, humorous, presenting diverse ideas to engage listeners, triggering debate both online and offline in person at various events held in London during the 10 months. DRAFT programme (April 2020–January 2021): BOOKSHOP launch | Carcanet Theme: Drinking, sex and death; Heaven by Manuel Vilas | Scribe Theme: Voices from the Margins; Tommy Wieringa, The Blessed Rita | HopeRoad/Small Axes Theme: Gay, gifted and black; Max Lobe, Far From Douala | Saqi Books Theme: Women on the Frontline; Maliha, Rise | Eland Books Theme: Travelling in Place; Nicolas Bouvier, So It Goes | CULTURAL CENTRE panel discussion | Pushkin Press Theme: Navigating Clashing Cultures; J.S. Margot, Mazel Tov | Dedalus Theme: How well do bestsellers travel? Beka Adamashvili, Bestseller | Granta Books Theme: Love, war and the riptide of history; Anna Kim, The Great Homecoming | Istros Books Theme: Between Empires; Goran Vojnović, The Fig Tree | Les Fugitives Theme: Civil Unrest and totalitarian language; Noemie Lefevre, The Poetics of Work | WORKSHOP (translation). A publicist and a digital marketer would promote the series. The audio technician has two decades of experience delivering quality IT projects. We are pitching for funding from various sources. BookBlast Ltd is contributing one third