Best_Translated_Book_Award

Best Translated Book Award

Best Translated Book Award

American literary award


The Best Translated Book Award was an American literary award that recognized the previous year's best original translation into English, one book of poetry and one of fiction. It was inaugurated in 2008 and was conferred by Three Percent, the online literary magazine of Open Letter Books, which is the book translation press of the University of Rochester. A long list and short list were announced each year leading up to the award.

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The award took into consideration not only the quality of the translation but the entire package: the work of the original writer, translator, editor, and publisher. The award was "an opportunity to honor and celebrate the translators, editors, publishers, and other literary supporters who help make literature from other cultures available to American readers."[1]

In October 2010 Amazon.com announced it would be underwriting the prize with a $25,000 grant.[2] This would allow both the translator and author to receive a $5,000 prize. Prior to this the award did not carry a cash prize.

In January 2023, the prize's initiator, Chad Post, announced on the Three Percent blog that the award, which had not been given out since 2020, would remain on "continued hiatus."[3]

Winners

Fiction

More information Year, Author ...

Poetry

More information Year, Author ...

Awards

The first awards were given in 2008 for books published in 2007. The Best Translation Book Awards are dated by the presentation year, with the book publication the previous year.[4]

Blue ribbon = winner.

2008

The award was announced January 4, 2008 for books published in 2007.[5] It was the first award and was based on open voting by readers of Three Percent, who also nominated the longlist.[6]

Fiction shortlist

Poetry shortlist

  • The Drug of Art: Selected Poems by Ivan Blatny, translated from Czech by Justin Quinn, Matthew Sweney, Alex Zucker, Veronika Tuckerova, and Anna Moschovakis. (Ugly Duckling)
  • The Dream of the Poem: Hebrew Poetry from Muslim and Christian Spain, 950–1492 edited and translated from Hebrew by Peter Cole. (Princeton)
  • The Collected Poems: 1956–1998 by Zbigniew Herbert, translated from Polish by Czesław Miłosz, Peter Dale Scott, and Alissa Valles. (Ecco)

2009

The award was announced February 19, 2009 for book published in 2008. There was a ceremony at Melville House Publishing in Brooklyn hosted by author and critic Francisco Goldman.[7]

Fiction shortlist

Poetry shortlist

  • Blue ribbon For the Fighting Spirit of the Walnut by Takashi Hiraide, translated from Japanese by Sawako Nakayasu. (New Directions)
  • Essential Poems and Writings by Robert Desnos, translated from French by Mary Ann Caws, Terry Hale, Bill Zavatsky, Martin Sorrell, Jonathan Eburne, Katherine Connelly, Patricia Terry, and Paul Auster. (Black Widow)
  • You Are the Business by Caroline Dubois, translated from French by Cole Swensen. (Burning Deck)
  • As It Turned Out by Dmitry Golynko, translated from Russian by Eugene Ostashevsky, Rebecca Bella, and Simona Schneider. (Ugly Duckling)
  • Poems of A.O. Barnabooth by Valery Larbaud, translated from French by Ron Padgett & Bill Zavatsky. (Black Widow)
  • Night Wraps the Sky by Vladimir Mayakovsky, translated from Russian by Katya Apekina, Val Vinokur, and Matvei Yankelevich, and edited by Michael Almereyda. (Farrar, Straus & Giroux)
  • A Different Practice by Fredrik Nyberg, translated from Swedish by Jennifer Hayashida. (Ugly Duckling)
  • EyeSeas by Raymond Queneau, translated from French by Daniela Hurezanu and Stephen Kessler. (Black Widow)
  • Peregrinary by Eugeniusz Tkaczyszyn-Dycki, translated from Polish by Bill Johnston. (Zephyr)
  • Eternal Enemies by Adam Zagajewski, translated from Polish by Clare Cavanagh. (Farrar, Straus & Giroux)

2010

The award was announced March 10, 2010 at Idlewild Books.[8] According to award organizer Chad Post, "On the fiction side of things we debated and debated for weeks. There were easily four other titles that could've easily won this thing. Walser, Prieto, Aira were all very strong contenders."[9]

Fiction shortlist

Poetry shortlist

  • Blue ribbon Elena Fanailova, The Russian Version. Translated from Russian by Genya Turovskaya and Stephanie Sandler. (Russia, Ugly Duckling Presse)
  • Nicole Brossard, Selections. Translated from French by various. (Canada, University of California)
  • René Char, The Brittle Age and Returning Upland. Translated from French by Gustaf Sobin. (France, Counterpath)
  • Mahmoud Darwish, If I Were Another. Translated from Arabic by Fady Joudah (Palestine, FSG)
  • Hiromi Ito, Killing Kanoko. Translated from Japanese by Jeffrey Angles. (Japan, Action Books)
  • Marcelijus Martinaitis, KB: The Suspect. Translated from Lithuanian by Laima Vince. (Lithuania, White Pine)
  • Heeduk Ra, Scale and Stairs. Translated from Korean by Woo-Chung Kim and Christopher Merrill. (Korea, White Pine)
  • Novica Tadic, Dark Things. Translated from Serbian by Charles Simic. (Serbia, BOA Editions)
  • Liliana Ursu, Lightwall. Translated from Romanian by Sean Cotter. (Romania, Zephyr Press)
  • Wei Ying-wu, In Such Hard Times. Translated from Chinese by Red Pine. (China, Copper Canyon)

2011

The longlist was announced January 27, 2011. The shortlist was announced March 24, 2011.[10] The winners were announced April 29, 2011 at the PEN World Voices Festival by Lorin Stein.[11]

Fiction shortlist

  • Blue ribbon The True Deceiver by Tove Jansson, translated from Swedish by Thomas Teal (New York Review Books) [12]
  • The Literary Conference by César Aira, translated from Spanish by Katherine Silver (New Directions)
  • The Golden Age by Michal Ajvaz, translated from Czech by Andrew Oakland (Dalkey Archive)
  • A Life on Paper by Georges-Olivier Châteaureynaud, translated from French by Edward Gauvin (Small Beer)
  • The Jokers by Albert Cossery, translated from French by Anna Moschovakis (New York Review Books)
  • Visitation by Jenny Erpenbeck, translated from German by Susan Bernofsky (New Directions)
  • Hocus Bogus by Romain Gary (writing as Émile Ajar), translated from French by David Bellos (Yale University Press)
  • On Elegance While Sleeping by Emilio Lascano Tegui, translated from Spanish by Idra Novey (Dalkey Archive)
  • Agaat by Marlene Van Niekerk, translated from Afrikaans by Michiel Heyns (Tin House)
  • Georg Letham: Physician and Murderer by Ernst Weiss, translated from German by Joel Rotenberg (Archipelago)

Poetry shortlist

  • Blue ribbon The Book of Things by Aleš Šteger, translated from Slovenian by Brian Henry (BOA Editions) [13]
  • Geometries by Eugene Guillevic, translated from French by Richard Sieburth (Ugly Ducking)
  • Flash Cards by Yu Jian, translated from Chinese by Wang Ping and Ron Padgett (Zephyr Press)
  • Time of Sky & Castles in the Air by Ayane Kawata, translated from Japanese by Sawako Nakayasu (Litmus Press)
  • Child of Nature by Luljeta Lleshanaku, translated from Albanian by Henry Israeli and Shpresa Qatipi (New Directions)

2012

The longlist was announced February 28, 2012.[14] The shortlist was announced April 10, 2012.[15] The winners were announced May 4, 2012.[16]

Fiction shortlist

Poetry shortlist

2013

The longlist was announced March 5, 2013. The shortlist was announced April 10, 2013.[18][19] The winners were announced May 6, 2013.[20]

Fiction shortlist

Poetry shortlist

  • Blue ribbon Wheel with a Single Spoke by Nichita Stănescu, translated from Romanian by Sean Cotter (Archipelago Books; Romania)
  • Transfer Fat by Aase Berg, translated from Swedish by Johannes Göransson (Ugly Duckling Press; Sweden)
  • pH Neutral History by Lidija Dimkovska, translated from Macedonian by Ljubica Arsovska and Peggy Reid (Copper Canyon Press; Macedonia)
  • The Invention of Glass by Emmanuel Hocquard, translated from French by Cole Swensen and Rod Smith (Canarium Books; France)
  • Notes on the Mosquito by Xi Chuan, translated from Chinese by Lucas Klein (New Directions; China)
  • Almost 1 Book / Almost 1 Life by Elfriede Czurda, translated from German by Rosmarie Waldrop (Burning Deck; Austria)

2014

The longlist was announced March 11, 2014,[21] the shortlist was announced April 14, 2014.[22][23] The winners and two runners-up in each category were announced April 28, 2014.[24]

Fiction shortlist, runners-up and winner

Poetry shortlist, runners-up and winner

  • Blue ribbon The Guest in the Wood by Elisa Biagini, translated from Italian by Diana Thow, Sarah Stickney, and Eugene Ostashevsky (Italy; Chelsea Editions)
  • Four Elemental Bodies by Claude Royet-Journaud, translated from French by Keith Waldrop (France; Burning Deck)
  • The Oasis of Now by Sohrab Sepehri, translated from Persian by Kazim Ali and Mohammad Jafar Mahallati (Iran; BOA Editions)
  • Relocations: 3 Contemporary Russian Women Poets by Polina Barskova, Anna Glazova, and Maria Stepanova, translated from Russian by Catherine Ciepiela, Anna Khasin, and Sibelan Forrester (Russia; Zephyr Press)
  • The Unknown University by Roberto Bolaño, translated from Spanish by Laura Healy (Chile, New Directions)
  • White Piano by Nicole Brossard, translated from French by Robert Majzels and Erín Moure (Canada; Coach House Press)
  • Murder by Danielle Collobert, translated from French by Nathanaël (France; Litmus Press)
  • In the Moremarrow by Oliverio Girondo, translated from Spanish by Molly Weigel (Argentina; Action Books)
  • Paul Klee's Boat by Anzhelina Polonskaya, translated from Russian by Andrew Wachtel (Russia; Zephyr Press)
  • His Days Go By the Way Her Years by Ye Mimi, translated from Chinese by Steve Bradbury (Taiwan; Anomalous Press)

2015

The longlist was announced April 7, 2015.[25][26] The shortlist was announced May 5, 2015.[27][28] The winners were announced May 27, 2015.[29]

Fiction shortlist and winner

  • Blue ribbon The Last Lover by Can Xue, translated from Chinese by Annelise Finegan Wasmoen (China, Yale University Press)
  • The Author and Me by Éric Chevillard, translated from French by Jordan Stump (France, Dalkey Archive Press)
  • Fantomas Versus the Multinational Vampires by Julio Cortázar, translated from Spanish by David Kurnick (Argentina, Semiotext(e))
  • Pushkin Hills by Sergei Dovlatov, translated from Russian by Katherine Dovlatov (Russia, Counterpoint Press)
  • Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay by Elena Ferrante, translated from Italian by Ann Goldstein (Italy, Europa Editions)
  • Things Look Different in the Light by Medardo Fraile, translated from Spanish by Margaret Jull Costa (Spain, Pushkin Press)
  • Harlequin's Millions by Bohumil Hrabal, translated from Czech by Stacey Knecht (Czech Republic, Archipelago Books)
  • The Woman Who Borrowed Memories by Tove Jansson, translated from Swedish by Thomas Teal and Silvester Mazzarella (Finland, NYRB)
  • Faces in the Crowd by Valeria Luiselli, translated from Spanish by Christina MacSweeney (Mexico, Coffee House Press)
  • La Grande by Juan José Saer, translated from Spanish by Steve Dolph (Argentina, Open Letter Books)

Poetry shortlist and winner

2016

The longlist was announced on March 29, 2016.[30] The shortlist was announced April 19, 2016.[31][32] The winners were announced May 4, 2016.[33]

Fiction shortlist and winner

Poetry shortlist and winner

  • Blue ribbon Rilke Shake by Angélica Freitas, translated from Portuguese by Hilary Kaplan (Brazil, Phoneme Media)
  • Empty Chairs: Selected Poems by Liu Xia, translated from Chinese by Ming Di and Jennifer Stern (China, Graywolf)
  • Load Poems Like Guns: Women's Poetry from Herat, Afghanistan, edited and translated from Persian by Farzana Marie (Afghanistan, Holy Cow! Press)
  • Silvina Ocampo by Silvina Ocampo, translated from Spanish by Jason Weiss (Argentina, NYRB)
  • The Nomads, My Brothers, Go Out to Drink from the Big Dipper by Abdourahman A. Waberi, translated from French by Nancy Naomi Carlson (Djibouti, Seagull Books)
  • Sea Summit by Yi Lu, translated from Chinese by Fiona Sze-Lorrain (China, Milkweed)

2017

The longlist for fiction and poetry was announced March 28, 2017.[34] The shortlist was announced April 19, 2017.[35] The winners were announced May 4, 2017.[36]

Fiction shortlist
  • Blue ribbon Chronicle of the Murdered House by Lúcio Cardoso, translated from Portuguese by Margaret Jull Costa and Robin Patterson (Brazil, Open Letter Books)
  • Among Strange Victims by Daniel Saldaña Paris, translated from Spanish by Christina MacSweeney (Mexico, Coffee House Press)
  • Doomi Golo by Boubacar Boris Diop, translated from Wolof and French by Vera Wülfing-Leckie and El Hadji Moustapha Diop (Senegal, Michigan State University Press)
  • Eve Out of Her Ruins by Ananda Devi, translated from French by Jeffrey Zuckerman (Mauritius, Deep Vellum)
  • Ladivine by Marie NDiaye, translated from French by Jordan Stump (France, Knopf)
  • Oblivion by Sergi Lebedev, translated from Russian by Antonina W. Bouis (Russia, New Vessel Press)
  • Umami by Laia Jufresa, translated from Spanish by Sophie Hughes (Mexico, Oneworld)
  • War and Turpentine by Stefan Hertmans, translated from Dutch by David McKay (Belgium, Pantheon)
  • Wicked Weeds by Pedro Cabiya, translated from Spanish by Jessica Powell (Dominican Republic, Mandel Vilar Press)
  • Zama by Antonio di Benedetto, translated from Spanish by Esther Allen (Argentina, New York Review Books)
Poetry shortlist
  • Blue ribbon Extracting the Stone of Madness by Alejandra Pizarnik, translated from Spanish by Yvette Siegert (Argentina, New Directions)
  • Berlin-Hamlet by Szilárd Borbély, translated from Hungarian by Ottilie Mulzet (Hungary, New York Review Books)
  • Of Things by Michael Donhauser, translated from German by Nick Hoff and Andrew Joron (Austria, Burning Deck Press)
  • Cheer Up, Femme Fatale by Yideum Kim, translated from Korean by Ji Yoon Lee, Don Mee Choi, and Johannes Göransson (South Korea, Action Books)
  • In Praise of Defeat by Abdellatif Laâbi, translated from French by Donald Nicholson-Smith (Morocco, Archipelago Books)

2018

The longlist for fiction and poetry was announced April 10, 2018.[37] The shortlist was announced May 15, 2018.[38] The winners were announced May 31, 2018.[39]

Fiction shortlist
  • Blue ribbon The Invented Part by Rodrigo Fresán, translated from Spanish by Will Vanderhyden (Argentina, Open Letter Books)
  • Suzanne by Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette, translated from French by Rhonda Mullins (Canada, Coach House)
  • Tómas Jónsson, Bestseller by Guðbergur Bergsson, translated from Icelandic by Lytton Smith (Iceland, Open Letter Books)
  • Compass by Mathias Énard, translated from French by Charlotte Mandell (France, New Directions)
  • Return to the Dark Valley by Santiago Gamboa, translated from Spanish by Howard Curtis (Colombia, Europa Editions)
  • Old Rendering Plant by Wolfgang Hilbig, translated from German by Isabel Fargo Cole (Germany, Two Lines Press)
  • I Am the Brother of XX by Fleur Jaeggy, translated from Italian by Gini Alhadeff (Switzerland, New Directions)
  • My Heart Hemmed In by Marie NDiaye, translated from French by Jordan Stump (France, Two Lines Press)
  • August by Romina Paula, translated from Spanish by Jennifer Croft (Argentina, Feminist Press)
  • Remains of Life by Wu He, translated from Chinese by Michael Berry (Taiwan, Columbia University Press)
Poetry shortlist
  • Blue ribbon Before Lyricism by Eleni Vakalo, translated from Greek by Karen Emmerich (Greece, Ugly Duckling Presse)
  • Hackers by Aase Berg, translated from Swedish by Johannes Goransson (Sweden, Black Ocean Press)
  • Paraguayan Sea by Wilson Bueno, translated from Portunhol and Guarani to Frenglish and Guarani by Erín Moure (Brazil, Nightboat Books)
  • Third-Millennium Heart by Ursula Andkjaer Olsen, translated from Danish by Katrine Øgaard Jensen (Denmark, Broken Dimanche Press)
  • Spiral Staircase by Hirato Renkichi, translated from Japanese by Sho Sugita (Japan, Ugly Duckling Press)
  • Directions for Use by Ana Ristović, translated from Serbian by Steven Teref and Maja Teref (Serbia, Zephyr Press)

2019

The longlist for fiction and poetry was announced April 10, 2019.[40] The shortlist was announced May 15, 2019.[41] The winners were announced May 29, 2019.[42]

Fiction shortlist
Poetry shortlist
  • Blue ribbon Of Death. Minimal Odes by Hilda Hilst, translated from Portuguese by Laura Cesarco Eglin (Brazil, co-im-press)
  • The Future Has an Appointment with the Dawn by Tanella Boni, translated from French by Todd Fredson (Cote D’Ivoire, University of Nebraska)
  • Moss & Silver by Jure Detela, translated from Slovenian by Raymond Miller and Tatjana Jamnik (Slovenia, Ugly Duckling)
  • Autobiography of Death by Kim Hyesoon, translated from Korean by Don Mee Choi (Korea, New Directions)
  • Negative Space by Luljeta Lleshanaku, translated from Albanian by Ani Gjika (Albania, New Directions)

2020

The longlist for fiction and poetry was announced April 1, 2020.[43] The shortlist was announced May 11, 2020.[44] The winners were announced May 29, 2020 in a public Zoom meeting.

Fiction shortlist
Poetry shortlist
  • Blue ribbon Time by Etel Adnan, translated from French by Sarah Riggs (Lebanon, Nightboat Books)
  • Aviva-No by Shimon Adaf, translated from Hebrew by Yael Segalovitz (Israel, Alice James Books)
  • Materia Prima by Amanda Berenguer, translated from Spanish by Gillian Brassil, Anna Deeny Morales, Mónica de la Torre, Urayoán Noel, Jeannine Marie Pitas, Kristin Dykstra, Kent Johnson, and Alex Verdolini (Uruguay, Ugly Duckling Presse)
  • Next Loves by Stéphane Bouquet, translated from French by Lindsay Turner (France, Nightboat Books)
  • Camouflage by Lupe Gómez, translated from Galician by Erín Moure (Spain, Circumference Books)

2021-present

The award went on hiatus in 2021.[45]


Notes

  1. "Amazon.com to Underwrite Open Letter's Best Translated Book Awards". The Daily Record. 2010-10-21. Retrieved September 25, 2012.
  2. Post, Chad. "To All the Posts I Didn't Write Last Year". Three Percent. Retrieved 13 April 2024.
  3. Three Percent has been inconsistent in naming the award, sometimes using the year in which the books were published, as in this example, other times naming it for the year in which the award is given (the following year), as in this official press release.
  4. "And the winner is..", post by Chad Post
  5. "Swedish novel, Slovenian poetry win $5,000 prizes". Associated Press. May 5, 2011.
  6. RD Pohl (May 11, 2012). "Steger's "The Book of Things" wins Best Translated Book Award for BOA Editions". Buffalo News.
  7. And Here It Is: The BTBA 2012 Fiction Longlist, Chad Post, Three Percent, 28 Feb 2012.
  8. The 2012 Best Translated Book Award Winners, Chad Post, Three Percent, May 4, 2012.
  9. "Books from Japan and Poland win translation awards". Associated Press. May 4, 2012.
  10. Chad W. Post (April 10, 2013). "2013 Best Translated Book Award: The Fiction Finalists". Three Percent. Retrieved April 11, 2013.
  11. Chad W. Post (April 10, 2013). "2013 Best Translated Book Award: The Poetry Finalists". Three Percent. Retrieved April 11, 2013.
  12. Chad W. Post (May 6, 2013). "2013 BTBA Winners: Satantango and Wheel with a Single Spoke". Three Percent. Retrieved April 28, 2014.
  13. Chad W. Post (March 11, 2014). "BTBA 2014 Fiction Longlist: It's Here!". Three Percent. Retrieved March 11, 2014.
  14. Chad W. Post (April 14, 2014). "2014 Best Translated Book Awards: Poetry Finalists". Three Percent. Retrieved April 16, 2014.
  15. Chad W. Post (April 14, 2014). "2014 Best Translated Book Awards: Fiction Finalists". Three Percent. Retrieved April 18, 2014.
  16. Chad W. Post (April 28, 2014). "BTBA 2014: Poetry and Fiction Winners". Three Percent. Retrieved April 28, 2014.
  17. Chad Post (April 7, 2015). "2015 Best Translated Book Award Fiction Longlist (Fiction)". Three Percent. Retrieved April 8, 2015.
  18. Chad Post (April 7, 2015). "2015 Best Translated Book Award Fiction Longlist (Poetry)". Three Percent. Retrieved April 8, 2015.
  19. Chad post (May 5, 2015). "2015 Best Translated Book Award Fiction Finalists". Three Percent. Retrieved May 28, 2015.
  20. Chad post (May 5, 2015). "2015 Best Translated Book Award Poetry Finalists". Three Percent. Retrieved May 28, 2015.
  21. Chad Post (May 27, 2015). "BTBA 2015 Winners: Can Xue and Rocío Cerón!". Three Percent. Retrieved May 28, 2015.
  22. "Three Percent: 2016 BTBA Fiction Longlist". www.rochester.edu. Retrieved 2016-05-03.
  23. "Announcing the 2017 BTBA Longlists for Fiction and Poetry". The Millions. March 28, 2017. Retrieved April 6, 2017.
  24. "And the Winners of the 2017 Best Translated Book Awards Are…". The Millions. May 4, 2017. Retrieved May 4, 2017.
  25. "ANNOUNCING THE BEST TRANSLATED BOOK AWARD 2018 LONGLIST". Bookriot. April 10, 2018. Retrieved May 5, 2019.
  26. "The 2018 Best Translated Book Award Finalists Have Been Announced". Literary Hub. May 15, 2018. Retrieved May 5, 2019.
  27. "And the Winners of the 2018 Best Translated Book Awards Are…". The Millions. May 31, 2018. Retrieved May 5, 2019.
  28. "Best Translated Book Awards Names 2019 Longlists". The Millions. April 10, 2019. Retrieved May 5, 2019.
  29. "Best Translated Book Awards Names 2019 Finalists". The Millions. 15 May 2019. Retrieved 15 May 2019.
  30. "And the Winners of the 2019 Best Translated Book Awards Are…". The Millions. 29 May 2019. Retrieved 29 May 2019.
  31. "Best Translated Book Awards Names 2020 Longlists". The Millions. 2020-04-01. Retrieved 2020-05-05.
  32. "Best Translated Book Awards Names 2020 Finalists". The Millions. 11 May 2020. Retrieved 11 May 2020.

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