At the Beijing International Book Fair, bestselling author and BIBF Reading Ambassador Liu Zhenyun (l.) announced the winner of the new prize with organizer Alicia Liu, CEO & Founder Singing Grass.
By Andrew Richard Albanese, Editor-in-Chief
At the 2026 Beijing International Book Fair, Jenny Lu, a doctoral student from the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia, was announced as the winner of the inaugural Voices of Today Literary Translation Award for Chinese/English literary translators.The announcement was made by international bestselling author and BIBF Reading Ambassador Liu Zhenyun. For the contest, entrants were tasked with translating a passage of Liu Zhenyun’s latest novel, Salty Jokes.
Two runners-up were also announced: Yaqi Xi, a researcher and associate tutor from Warwick University, in the U.K., and Alexis Wu, a literary translator and historical linguist from the University of Michigan, in the U.S. Wu, the winning translator will receive a £1,500 award, and each runner-up will receive £500.
As Publishing Perspectives reported in February, the award, chartered by cultural communications agency Singing Grass and U.K.-based Chinese literary charity Paper Republic, seeks to champion “translators as vital cultural connectors,” and to bring “contemporary Chinese literature into sharper focus for English-language readers worldwide.”
Organizers said the competition attracted over 100 entries from 14 countries, which were judged by an international jury of translation experts, including Paper Republic trustee Nicky Harman, Esther Tyldesley, and Amanda Ruiqing Flynn.
In a statement, Wu said winning the first-ever Voices of Today Literary Translation Award was meaningful.
“Literary translation tends to work in the background, which is partly its nature, so to see it celebrated like this is something I’ll carry with me,” Wu said. “I’m especially glad the prize begins with Chinese fiction, and with a writer like Liu Zhenyun, whose work deserves a wide readership.”