The SoA has today (2 November 2023) announced the judges for the eight awards making up the 2023 Translation Prizes.
The shortlists for the 2023 Translation Prizes are due to be announced on Friday 1 December, with the award ceremony taking place early next year.
‘Quintessential Japanese-ness’
Cat and the City novelist Nick Bradley, translation scholar Dr Nozomi Abe and writer and literary critic Maya Jaggi will judge the inaugural Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation (GBSF) Translation Prize for translations of full-length Japanese-language works into English.
The prize was established in 2022 in conjunction with the GBSF to enhance an appreciation of Japanese culture with British audiences, and in turn bring a new, English-speaking audience to writers and translators working with Japanese.
Nozomi said, ‘More and more contemporary literature from Japan is available in English every year thanks to hard-working translators and innovative publishers. Which is why it was all the more delightful to read the amazing, fresh off the press, translation work of this competition.
‘The entries include many high-quality translations that are themselves great works of art, retaining poignant foreignness and quintessential Japanese-ness with finesse and sensitivity. All very impressive!’
‘Broadening our bibliodiversity’
The prize ceremony will take place in early 2024. Other prizes being awarded on the night include the Saif Ghobash Banipal Prize for translations from Arabic and the TA First Translation Prize, given for a debut literary translation into English.
Cultural relations expert Tony Calderbank, who is judging the Saif Ghobash Banipal Prize alongside Francophone translator Ros Schwartz, Cairo University professor Sarah Enany, and Gingko CEO Barbara Schwepcke, praised ‘the skill and dedication’ of the translators on the longlist.
‘I have been reading Arabic literature for over 40 years, but judging [the award] has provided me with an unprecedented opportunity to explore the work of some of the most creative and talented authors writing in Arabic today’, he said.
TA First Translation prize judge and Charco Press co-founder Carolina Orloff said, ‘I am utterly delighted and proud to have been asked to be a judge for this prize, which is particularly close to my heart for what it means to translators and to independent publishers. I am also in awe of all the amazing talent out there producing such superb literary translations, while expressing their commitment to broadening our bibliodiversity. It is a real honour to be a part of this.’
Carolina is judging the prize alongside lawyer-turned-translator Mui Poopoksakul and English PEN’s Will Forrester.
‘Remarkable linguistic colour’
The Goethe-Institut Award is given every two years for a literary translation work has not yet been published in print. The 2023 prize will be awarded for the best translation from German, of extracts from Hund, Wolf, Schakal by Behzad Karim Khani.
The submissions are being judged blind by Translators Association (TA) co-chair Rebecca DeWald and senior translation lecturer Dr Christophe Fricker.
Speaking of the experience, Christophe said, ‘[it] is a powerful reminder that any two translations can be both very different and very good. I was pleased to see remarkable linguistic colour in the descriptions of places and people, and a whole range of approaches to the translation of slang.’
Also awarded for translations from German, the Schlegel-Tieck Prize is being judged by TA committee member Anju Okhandiar, literature and migration lecturer Florian Stadtler and Sofia Khan is Not Obliged novelist Ayisha Malik.
Ayisha said, ‘It’s been an utter joy reading this translated fiction. The breadth and diversity of form has been so impressive and wonderful, but most importantly, the prize shows how important it is to have awards that recognise the work translators put in to cross the divide of language.’
‘The prism of translation’
Bestselling author Jane MacKenzie (Daughter of Catalonia), associate professor Dr Constance Bantman and former The Sunday Times Arts and Leisure managing editor David Mills make up the judging team for the Scott Moncrieff Prize, for translations from French.
Constance said, ‘Being a judge for the Scott Moncrieff Translation prize has been a transformative experience. Not only have I discovered or re-read wonderful books spanning many genres and themes; it has been particularly rewarding to explore these through the prism of translation and the translator’s craft.’
Similarly, Premio Valle Inclán judge and lecture in Romanticism Dr Valentina Aparicio thought that judging has been a ‘wonderful experience’ so far.
‘I not only got to discover authors and texts I had not read before, but also had the chance to experience them both in the original Spanish and in English. This gave me a much fuller experience of the texts, and a better understanding of the sheer complexity of translating both a language and a culture for a different audience.’ she said.
Valentina is judging alongside poet Juana Adcock and I’ll Go to Bed at Noon novelist Gerard Woodward.
Awarded biennially for translations from Swedish, the Bernard Shaw Prize is being judged by the Guardian books reporter Alison Flood, Hey Dolly author Amanda Svensson and translator and publicist Nichola Smalley.
Nichola said, ‘It’s been a true privilege to read and consider my colleagues’ work in the process of judging the Bernard Shaw Prize. The standard of entries has been so high and makes me feel hugely optimistic for the future of Swedish literature in English.’
