Best Translated Book Award

From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
Jump to: navigation, search
Best Translated Book Award
Awarded for Best original translation of a work of fiction and poetry into English
Sponsor Amazon.com
Country United States
Host Three Percent
Reward $5,000
First awarded 2008
Last awarded Active
Official website besttranslatedbook.org

The Best Translated Book Award is an American literary award that recognizes the previous year's best original translation into English, one book of poetry and one of fiction. It was inaugurated in 2008 and is 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 are announced leading up to the award.

The award takes 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 is "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.

Awards

The first awards were given in 2008 for books published in 2007. The Best Translation Book Awards are inconsistently dated by the presentation year (used here) and the publication year (one year earlier).[3]

Blue ribbon = winner.

2008

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

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.[6]

Fiction shortlist

Poetry shortlist

  • Blue ribbon For the Fighting Spirit of the Walnut by Takashi Hiraide, translated from the Japanese by Sawako Nakayasu. (New Directions)
  • Essential Poems and Writings by Robert Desnos, translated from the 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 the French by Cole Swensen. (Burning Deck)
  • As It Turned Out by Dmitry Golynko, translated from the Russian by Eugene Ostashevsky, Rebecca Bella, and Simona Schneider. (Ugly Duckling)
  • Poems of A.O. Barnabooth by Valery Larbaud, translated from the French by Ron Padgett & Bill Zavatsky. (Black Widow)
  • Night Wraps the Sky by Vladimir Mayakovsky, translated from the 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 the Swedish by Jennifer Hayashida. (Ugly Duckling)
  • EyeSeas by Raymond Queneau, translated from the French by Daniela Hurezanu and Stephen Kessler. (Black Widow)
  • Peregrinary by Eugeniusz Tkaczyszyn-Dycki, translated from the Polish by Bill Johnston. (Zephyr)
  • Eternal Enemies by Adam Zagajewski, translated from the Polish by Clare Cavanagh. (Farrar, Straus & Giroux)

2010

The award was announced March 10, 2010 at Idlewild Books.[7] 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."[8]

Fiction shortlist

Poetry shortlist

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

2011

On January 27, 2011, the 25-title fiction longlist was announced. On March 24 the shortlists were announced (10-fiction, 5-poetry),[9] and the winning titles were announced at the PEN World Voices Festival on April 29 by Lorin Stein.[10]

Fiction shortlist

Poetry shortlist

  • Blue ribbon The Book of Things by Aleš Šteger, translated from the Slovenian by Brian Henry (BOA Editions) [12]
  • Geometries by Eugene Guillevic, translated from the French by Richard Sieburth (Ugly Ducking)
  • Flash Cards by Yu Jian, translated from the Chinese by Wang Ping and Ron Padgett (Zephyr Press)
  • Time of Sky & Castles in the Air by Ayane Kawata, translated from the Japanese by Sawako Nakayasu (Litmus Press)
  • Child of Nature by Luljeta Lleshanaku, translated from the Albanian by Henry Israeli and Shpresa Qatipi (New Directions)

2012

On February 28, 2012, the 25-title fiction longlist was announced.[13] On April 10, 2012, the 10 finalists were announced in fiction and 6 poetry.[14] The winners were announced on May 4.[15] Each winning book received $10,000 of prize money divided among the author and translators, the second year a cash prize was awarded with the sponsorship of Amazon.com.

Fiction shortlist

Poetry shortlist

2013

On March 5, 2013, the fiction longlist was announced. On April 10, 2013, the poetry and fiction shortlists were announced.[17][18] The winners were announced May 6.[19]

Fiction shortlist

Fiction longlist

  • Atlas by Dung Kai-Cheung, translated from the Chinese by Anders Hansson and Bonnie S. McDougall (Columbia University Press; China)
  • Kite by Dominique Eddé, translated from the French by Ros Schwartz (Seagull Books; Lebanon)
  • We, The Children of Cats by Tomoyuki Hoshino, translated from the Japanese by Brian Bergstrom and Lucy Fraser (PM Press; Japan)
  • The Map and the Territory by Michel Houellebecq, translated from the French by Gavin Bowd (Knopf; France)
  • Basti by Intizar Husain, translated from the Urdu by Frances W. Pritchett (New York Review Books; Pakistan)
  • Mama Leone by Miljenko Jergović, translated from the Croatian by David Williams (Archipelago Books; Croatia)
  • Awakening to the Great Sleep War by Gert Jonke, translated from the German by Jean M. Snook (Dalkey Archive Press; Austria)
  • My Struggle: Book One by Karl Ove Knausgaard, translated from the Norwegian by Don Bartlett (Archipelago Books; Norway)
  • The Lair by Norman Manea, translated from the Romanian by Oana Sanziana Marian (Yale University Press; Romania)
  • Traveler of the Century by Andrés Neuman, translated from the Spanish by Nick Caistor and Lorenza Garcia (Farrar, Straus, and Giroux; Argentina)
  • Happy Moscow by Andrey Platonov, translated from the Russian by Robert Chandler and Elizabeth Chandler (New York Review Books; Russia)
  • With The Animals by Noëlle Revaz, translated from the French by Donald W. Wilson (Dalkey Archive Press; Switzerland)
  • Joseph Walser’s Machine by Gonçalo M. Tavares, translated from the Portuguese by Rhett McNeil (Dalkey Archive Press; Portugal)
  • Island of Second Sight by Albert Vigoleis Thelen, translated from the German by Donald O. White (Overlook; Germany)
  • Dublinesque by Enrique Vila-Matas, translated from the Spanish by Rosalind Harvey and Anne McLean (New Directions; Spain)


Poetry shortlist

2014

The fiction longlist was announced March 11, 2014,[20] the shortlist was announced April 14,[21][22] and the winners and two runner-ups in each category were announced April 28.[23]

Fiction shortlist, runner-ups and winner


Fiction longlist

  • Textile by Orly Castel-Bloom, translated from the Hebrew by Dalya Bilu (Israel; Feminist Press)
  • Sleet by Stig Dagerman, translated from the Swedish by Steven Hartman (Sweden; David R. Godine)
  • Her Not All Her by Elfriede Jelinek, translated from the German by Damion Searls (Austria; Sylph Editions)
  • Autobiography of a Corpse by Sigizmund Krzhizhanovsky, translated from the Russian by Joanne Turnbull (Ukraine; NYRB)
  • The Missing Year of Juan Salvatierra by Pedro Mairal, translated from the Spanish by Nick Caistor (Argentina; New Vessel Press)
  • The Infatuations by Javier Marías, translated from the Spanish by Margaret Jull Costa (Spain; Knopf)
  • In The Night of Time by Antonio Muñoz Molina, translated from the Spanish by Edith Grossman (Spain; Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
  • Through The Night by Stig Sæterbakken, translated from the Norwegian by Seán Kinsella (Norway; Dalkey Archive)
  • Commentary by Marcelle Sauvageot, translated from the French by Christine Schwartz Hartley & Anna Moschovakis (France; Ugly Duckling Presse)
  • The Whispering Muse by Sjón, translated from the Icelandic by Victoria Cribb (Iceland; FSG)
  • The Devil's Workshop by Jáchym Topol, translated from the Czech by Alex Zucker (Czech Republic; Portobello Books)
  • The End of Love by Marcos Giralt Torrente, translated from the Spanish by Katherine Silver (Spain; McSweeney’s)
  • Red Grass by Boris Vian, translated from the French by Paul Knobloch (France; Tam Tam Books)
  • City of Angels, or, The Overcoat of Dr. Freud by Christa Wolf, translated from the German by Damion Searls (Germany; FSG)
  • Sandalwood Death by Mo Yan, translated from the Chinese by Howard Goldblatt (China; University of Oklahoma Press)


Poetry shortlist, runner-ups and winner

2015

The longlist was announced April 7, 2015.[24][25] The shortlist was announced May 5, 2015.[26][27] The winners were announced May 27, 2015.[28]

Fiction shortlist and winner

Fiction longlist

  • Baboon by Naja Marie Aidt, translated from the Danish by Denise Newman (Denmark, Two Lines Press)
  • 1914 by Jean Echenoz, translated from the French by Linda Coverdale (France, New Press)
  • Street of Thieves by Mathias Énard, translated from the French by Charlotte Mandell (France, Open Letter Books)
  • Monastery by Eduardo Halfon, translated from the Spanish by Lisa Dillman and Daniel Hahn (Guatemala, Bellevue Literary Press)
  • Letters from a Seducer by Hilda Hilst, translated from the Portuguese by John Keene (Brazil, Nightboat Books)
  • Rambling On: An Apprentice’s Guide to the Gift of the Gab by Bohumil Hrabal, translated from the Czech by David Short (Czech Republic, Karolinum Press)
  • Works by Edouard Levé, translated from the French by Jan Steyn (France, Dalkey Archive Press)
  • Adam Buenosayres by Leopoldo Marechal, translated from the Spanish by Norman Cheadle and Sheila Ethier (Argentina, McGill-Queen’s University Press)
  • Last Words from Montmartre by Qiu Miaojin, translated from the Chinese by Ari Larissa Heinrich (Taiwan, NYRB)
  • Winter Mythologies and Abbots by Pierre Michon, translated from the French by Ann Jefferson (France, Yale University Press)
  • Our Lady of the Nile by Scholastique Mukasonga, translated from the French by Melanie Mauthner (Rwanda, Archipelago Books)
  • Talking to Ourselves by Andrés Neuman, translated from the Spanish by Nick Caistor and Lorenza Garcia (Argentina, FSG)
  • Granma Nineteen and the Soviet’s Secret by Ondjaki, translated from the Portuguese by Stephen Henighan (Angola, Biblioasis)
  • Paris by Marcos Giralt Torrente, translated from the Spanish by Margaret Jull Costa (Spain, Hispabooks)
  • Snow and Shadow by Dorothy Tse, translated from the Chinese by Nicky Harman (Hong Kong, East Slope Publishing)


Poetry shortlist and winner

Notes

  1. "EVENT: '2009 Best Translated Book Awards' to be Announced on Feb. 19", Feb 13, 2009
  2. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  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. 2007 long list
  6. "2009 Best Translated Book Winners"
  7. official 2010 BTBA Winners Press Release
  8. Chad Post. "Best Translated Book Award Winners (BTBA) 2010", March 10, 2010.
  9. 2011 Best Translated Book Award Finalists, Chad Post, March 23, 2011
  10. "2011 Best Translated Book Award Winners: Aleš Šteger’s "The Book of Things" and Tove Jansson’s "The True Deceiver"", Chad Post, Three Percent, April 29, 2011.
  11. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. And Here It Is: The BTBA 2012 Fiction Longlist, Chad Post, Three Percent, 28 Feb 2012.
  14. "2012 Best Translated Book Award Finalists: Fiction and Poetry", Chad Post, Three Percent, April 10, 2012.
  15. The 2012 Best Translated Book Award Winners, Chad Post, Three Percent, May 4, 2012.
  16. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links