BEYOND BARRIERS AND DIVIDES

Public Writers and Easy Language: Writing and Translating for Specific Audiences

September 30, 2026

On 30 September 2026, the Department of Languages, Literatures, Communication, Education and Society and the Laboratory on Writing and Translation Studies at the University of Udine, with the support of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Translation, will host a Multilingual Workshop as part of the European Master’s in Translation programme . The DGT MLW is dedicated to two closely related themes: the role of the public writer or scrivener as a profession of the future, and easy language, understood as an accessible and inclusive form of communication. This event will provide an opportunity to reflect on the essential role of clear language in institutions and of language mediation in our contemporary societies.

For centuries, the scrivener has supported people who, for various reasons, encounter difficulties when they need to write, understand or interpret a document. Once found in town squares, markets or near government offices, they would offer their skills to those who did not have sufficient command of writing. Today, this role has not disappeared – quite the contrary: it has evolved to meet new social, administrative and digital needs. In the face of the ‘digital divide’ and the growing complexity of certain administrative procedures, the public writer can (once again) become a profession of the future, acting as a true mediator between citizens and institutions. This line of thinking ties in directly with the concept of ‘easy language’, which aims to make information understandable for vulnerable groups, such as people with disabilities, as well as those who struggle with reading or are learning a foreign language and are unfamiliar with administrative and specialised language.

This conference will bring these two perspectives into dialogue: on the one hand, a person who supports, explains and rephrases; on the other, a style of writing that seeks to make texts more accessible from the very outset. Researchers, professionals and language specialists will discuss the practices, experiences and challenges associated with linguistic accessibility, so that institutional communication, rather than acting as a barrier, becomes a genuine tool for autonomy, participation and citizenship.