Dr Dimitris Asimakoulas is an Associate Professor in the School of English Language and Literature at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. He has obtained a BA in English Language and Literature (National and Kapodistrian University of Athens) and a PhD in Translation Studies (University of Manchester). He has 22 years of teaching experience in UK Higher Education institutions (University of Manchester; University of Salford; University of Surrey) and 3 years in research posts (University of Manchester; University of Newcastle upon Tyne). His principal research interests include: sociology of translation, comic-book translation, audiovisual translation, media accessibility, and, more recently, creativity skills and the integration of generative artificial intelligence into translation practice and training.
His work has been supported by a series of awards that enabled projects with a focus on creative texts in translation and accessible format. Such funding includes a 2025 Pump‑Prime grant for research on AI‑mediated transcreation (University of Surrey; AH0239U) and a 2024 Faculty Teaching Award for workshops on generative AI in translation (University of Surrey; AH0112). Earlier support includes a 2022 pilot grant for an accessible comics project at The Cartoon Museum London (Arts and Humanities Research Council; Expanding Excellence in England; AN1999); a 2019 community outreach award that helped translate Watts Gallery texts into five languages: Greek, Italian, Norwegian, Spanish and Chinese (University of Surrey; AH0130) and a Santander mobility award for academic exchange in Brazil (Santander; KN9104I). Previous awards also funded fieldwork on comics translation in Greece (University of Surrey; AH0204), and a small British Academy grant (Ref. 110691). His doctoral studies have been supported by a PhD stipend from the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST) and the Public Benefit Foundation Alexander S. Onassis.
He is the author of the monograph Rewriting Humour in Comic Books: Cultural Transfer and Translation of Aristophanic Adaptations (Palgrave Macmillan, 2019), co-editor of Translation and Opposition (Multilingual Matters, 2011) and author of book chapters and articles in leading international journals/publishers. He has also helped co-design and deliver Continuous Professional Development courses with a focus on AI and Translation (a collaboration between the University of Surrey and the Institute for Translation and Interpreting in the UK and the European branch of the International Federation of Translators/Fédération Internationale des Traducteurs). He has served as subject lead (translation) for the TECHNE (Arts and Humanities Research Council) Doctoral Training Consortium (2013-2025), has supervised 16 PhD projects to completion (currently supervising 4 more) and examined 20 PhD students to date. He is also a Research Project Reviewer for the Hong Kong Research Grants Council (since 2010) and a reviewer for journals such as: Anglistica, The Translator, Meta, Target, Intralinea, Palgrave McMillan, Routledge, Alif, JosTrans, Journal of Pragmatics.
Selected publications:
Books:
2019 Monograph. Rewriting Humour in Comic Books: Cultural Transfer and Translation of Aristophanic Adaptations. Basingstoke: Palgrave McMillan. ISBN 978-3-030-19526-7 doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-19527-4
2011 Co-editor (with Margaret Rogers). Translation and Opposition. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.
Chapters in edited works:
2020 “Rewriting.” In Mona Baker and Gabriela Saldanha (eds) Routledge Encyclopedia of Translation Studies. London and New York: Routledge, 494-499. DOI: 10.4324/9781315678627
2011 “Systems and the Boundaries of Agency: Translation as a Site of Opposition.” In Dimitris Asimakoulas and Margaret Rogers (eds) Translation and Opposition. Bristol: Multilingual Matters, 1-36.
Articles in refereed journals:
2026 Asimakoulas, Dimitris and Guerberof-Arenas, Ana (2026) The double-helix of creative writing and translation: postgraduate translation students and tutors reflect on creativity, AI assistance and translation. The Interpreter and Translator Trainer, 1–18. https://doi-org.surrey.idm.oclc.org/10.1080/1750399X.2026.2635239
2025 Olga Davis, Muhammad Ahmed Saeed, Dimitris Asimakoulas, Sabine Braun. “Translating the visual into extended verbal description.” SKASE Journal of Translation and Interpretation 18(2): 93–116. https://doi: 10.33542/JTI2025-S-6 https://www.skase.sk/Volumes/JTI29/05.pdf
2024 Audio described comics in the museum. Meta. 69(1): 174-197. https://doi.org/10.7202/1113946ar
2024 Co-author with Ana Guerberof-Arenas. Creative skills development: training translators to write fiction in the era of AI. Hermes 63: 227-243. https://doi.org/10.7146/hjlcb.vi63.143078
2023 Your translated memory or mine? Comics audio description for the Cartoon Museum, London. Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics. DOI: 10.1080/21504857.2023.2277382
2018 “Synchrony Issues in Comics. Language transfer and gender-specific characterisation in English translations of Greek Aristophanic comics.” Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics. 9(4): 350-372. ISSN: 2150-4857 doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/21504857.2017.1355820
2016 “Aristophanes in Comic Books: Adaptation as Metabase.” Meta 61(3): 553-577. ISSN: 0026-0452 doi: https://doi.org/10.7202/1039219ar
2016 “How Balkan am I? Cultural Intimacy and Translation through an Albanian-Greek Lens.” Meta 61(2): 439-458. ISSN: 0026-0452 doi: https://doi.org/10.7202/1037767ar
