The National Translation Award is given both for poetry (top row above) and prose

Of the 10 shortlisted titles for the National Translation Award, only one–John Ajvide Lindqvist’s ‘I Am Behind You’ (Text Publishing)–does not give cover credit to its translator, Marlaine Delargy. And in Women in Translation month, we see that in poetry, the translation work of three women and two men is shortlisted; in prose, four women and one man.–Porter Anderson

By Dennis Abrams | @DennisAbrams2

Winners To Be Announced in October

The award is in its 19th year. This is the third year in which there are separate prose and poetry honors.

The National Translation Award, promotional copy makes clear, is only US national award given for translated fiction, poetry, and literary nonfiction “that includes a rigorous examination of both the source text and its relation to the finished English work.” In that regard, the criteria for the prize include “the quality of the finished English-language book, and the quality of the translation.”

National Translation Award Shortlist: Poetry

Judges in poetry this year are Ani Gjika, Katrine Øgaard Jensen, and Gregory Racz.

Berlin • Hamlet
By Szilárd Borbély
Translated from the Hungarian by Ottilie Mulzet
(New York Review of Books)

Canto General
By Pablo Neruda
Translated from the Spanish by Mariela Griffor
(Tupelo Press)

The End of the Dark Era
By Tseveendorjin Oidov
Translated from the Mongolian by Simon Wickhamsmith
(Phoneme Media)

tasks
By Víctor Rodríguez Núñez
Translated from the Spanish by Katherine Hedeen
(co•im•press)

Valdivia
By Galo Ghigliotto
Translated from the Spanish by Daniel Borzutzky
(co•im•press)

National Translation Award Shortlist: Prose

This year’s prose judges are Carol Apollonio, Eric M. B. Becker, and Ottilie Mulzet.

I am Behind You
By John Ajvide Lindqvist
Translated from the Swedish by Marlaine Delargy
(Text Publishing)

No Knives in the Kitchens of This City
By Khaled Khalifa
Translated from the Arabic by Leri Price
(American University of Cairo Press)

The Party Wall
By Catherine Leroux
Translated from the French by Lazer Lederhendler
(Biblioasis)

A Whole Life
By Robert Seethaler
Translated from the German by Charlotte Collins
(Farrar, Straus, and Giroux)

Zama
By Antonio di Benedetto
Translated from the Spanish by Esther Allen
(New York Review of Books)

The awards are to be announced at ALTA’s annual conference, this year in Minneapolis, October 5 to 8. Each winner receives a cash award of $2,500.

You can learn more about each shortlisted entry in the National Translation Award here.
We invite you to join us in reminding colleagues of the importance of translator credit by using the hashtag #NameTheTranslator. And you can help highlight Women in Translation month with the hashtag #witmonth.