The Society of Authors (SoA) has announced the shortlists for the eight prizes to be awarded at the 2024 Translation Prizes ceremony, on 12 February 2025.
A prize fund of over £30,000 will be shared among the winners, celebrating translations of prose, poetry and non-fiction, and spanning a range of genres. We are pleased that the prizes will once again be awarded at the Knowledge Centre at the British Library, continuing our longstanding collaboration.
A winning translation from Dutch into English will be celebrated with the Vondel Translation Prize this year, a triennial prize last awarded in 2022. Our judges described the five shortlisted translations – each with ‘an unforgettable first-person narrator’ – as demonstrating ‘exceptional skill, unflinching integrity, and above all, flair’. The biennial John Florio Prize also returns after a year out, celebrating translations from Italian. The shortlisted translations cover ‘themes of family, identity, conflict and confidence’, and were described by the judges as ‘dynamic as they are ambitious in their literary prowess’.
Translations from 12 languages will be celebrated, including first translations from Eastern Armenian, Kazakh and Uyghur for our TA First Translation Prize. Joining our long-running prizes for European languages, The Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation Translation Prize returns for a second year, celebrating translations from Japanese into English.
All shortlisted books are available to buy on our Bookshop.org page.
John Florio Prize
Themes of family, identity, conflict and confidence splash across the pages of these novels in various shapes, with both author and translator working meticulously to deliver stories that demand the reader’s attention.
Judge Maame Blue
A biennial award for translations into English of full–length Italian language works of literary merit and general interest generously sponsored by the Italian Cultural Institute. The winner is awarded £3,000 and a runner–up is awarded £1,000. This year’s judges are Maame Blue, Jamie McKendrick, and Sandra Silipo.
The shortlist:
Brian Robert Moore for a translation of A Silence Shared by Lalla Romano (Pushkin Press)
Jenny McPhee for a translation of Lies and Sorcery by Elsa Morante (New York Review Books Classics)
Leah Janeczko for a translation of Lost on Me by Veronica Raimo (Virago)
John Cullen and Gregory Conti for a translation of The Colour Line by Igiaba Scego (HopeRoad Publishing)
Premio Valle Inclán
The selection shows a range of excellent translation work that is being done at both established and independent publishing houses today, covering from archival work on Spanish Early Modern chronicles to contemporary Latin American weird narratives. The works on this shortlist reveal the versatility of these skilled translators, who have brought to English-language readers volumes that are truly worthy of being made accessible to wider global audience.
Judge Valentina Aparicio
An annual prize for translations into English of full–length Spanish language works of literary merit and general interest. The winner is awarded £3,000 and a runner–up is awarded £1,000. This year’s judges are Valentina Aparicio, Gaby Sambuccetti and Gerard Woodward.
The shortlist:
Kit Maude for a translation of Cousins by Aurora Venturini (Faber)
Clayton Lehmann and Ángela Helmer for a translation of Francisco López de Gómara’s General History of the Indies by Francisco López de Gómara (University Press of Colorado)
Christina MacSweeney for a translation of Fury by Clyo Mendoza (Seven Stories Press UK)
Chris Andrews, Edith Grossman and Alastair Reid for a translation of Maqroll’s Prayer and Other Poems by Álvaro Mutis (New York Review Books Poets)
Chris Andrews for a translation of You Glow in the Dark by Liliana Colanzi (New Directions)
Saif Ghobash Banipal Prize
Strikingly, five of the six short-listed entries are authored by women. Furthermore, three of them deal explicitly with motherhood and the mother-child relationship, while a fourth charts the psychological collapse of a father and mother whose child is kidnapped. That said, all the works reflect universal concerns through specific local contexts and visions.
The Saif Ghobash Banipal Prize judges
An annual award, established by Banipal Magazine and the Banipal Trust for Arab Literature and sponsored by the Saif Ghobash family in memory of their husband and father, the late Saif Ghobash, for published translations from Arabic of full–length works of imaginative and creative writing of literary merit and general interest. The winner is awarded £3,000. This year’s judges are Raphael Cohen (chair), Michael Caines, Laura Watkinson, and Nariman Youssef.
The shortlist:
Kay Heikkinen for a translation of Before the Queen Falls Asleep by Huzama Habayeb (MacLehose Press)
Sawad Hussain for a translation of Edo’s Souls by Stella Gaitano (Dedalus)
Nada Faris for a translation of Lost in Mecca by Bothayna Al-Essa (DarArab For Publishing and Translation)
Katharine Halls for a translation of Rotten Evidence by Ahmed Naji (McSweeney’s)
Robin Moger for a translation of Traces of Enayat by Iman Mersal (And Other Stories)
Nadiyah Abdullatif and Anam Zafar for a translation of Yoghurt and Jam (or How my Mother Became Lebanese) by Lena Merhej (Balestier Press)
Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation Translation Prize
This year we even saw a broadening of genre with memoir and non-fiction titles sitting alongside fiction. While the judging was difficult, it was a pleasure to read all the submitted works, and I’m so pleased to see Japanese writing getting the attention it deserves in Britain.
Judge Nick Bradley
An annual award for translations into English of full–length Japanese–language works of literary merit and general interest generously supported by the Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation. The winner is awarded £3,000 and a runner–up is awarded £1,000. This year’s judges are Nozomi Abe, Nick Bradley and Maya Jaggi.
The shortlist:
Lisa Hofmann-Kuroda and Allison Markin Powell for a translation of Kappa by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa (New Directions)
Brian Bergstrom for a translation of Slow Down: How Degrowth Communism Can Save the Earth by Kōhei Saitō (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, Orion Publishing Group Ltd)
David Boyd for a translation of The Factory by Hiroko Oyamada (Granta Publications)
Masaya Saito for a translation of The Kobe Hotel: Memoirs by Sanki Saitō (Isobar Press)
Alison Watts for a translation of What You Are Looking For Is in the Library by Michiko Aoyama (Doubleday, Penguin Random House)
Kendall Heitzman for a translation of Nails and Eyes by Kaori Fujino (Pushkin Press)
Schlegel-Tieck Prize
The genius of these books ranging from poetry to prose reveal the authors uncompromising imagination, linguistic variations maintaining subtlety and flawlessness of style and register.
Judge Anju Okhandiar
An annual award for translations into English of full–length German works of literary merit and general interest. The winner is awarded £3,000 and a runner–up is awarded £1,000. This year’s judges are Gabriel Gbadamosi, Anju Okhandiar and Shaun Whiteside.
The shortlist:
Michael Hofmann for a translation of Every Man for Himself and God Against All: A Memoir by Werner Herzog (The Bodley Head, Vintage – Penguin Random House UK)
Imogen Taylor for a translation of Glorious People by Sasha Salzmann (Pushkin Press)
Michael Hofmann for a translation of Kairos by Jenny Erpenbeck (Granta Publications)
Gillian Davidson for a translation of Library for the War-Wounded by Monika Helfer (Bloomsbury Publishing)
Andrew Shanks for a translation of Revelation Freshly Erupting: Collected Poetry by Nelly Sachs (Carcanet Press)
Scott Moncrieff Prize
From a witty and poetic retelling of collective tragedy to the minutiae of post-industrial landscapes, from a self-deprecating exploration of insomnia to childhood adventures and adolescent disillusionment – emotion, wonder and the power of language hold pride of place in this year’s shortlist.
Judge Constance Bantman
An annual award for translations into English of full–length French works of literary merit and general interest generously sponsored by the Institut français du Royaume-Uni. The winner is awarded £3,000 and a runner–up is awarded £1,000. This year’s judges are Constance Bantman, David Mills and Shumona Sinha.
The shortlist:
Natasha Lehrer for a translation of As Rich as the King by Abigail Assor (Pushkin Press)
Mark Polizzotti for a translation of Kibogo by Scholastique Mukasonga (Daunt Books Publishing)
Penny Hueston for a translation of Sleepless by Marie Darrieussecq (Fitzcarraldo Editions)
Joyce Zonana for a translation of The Child and the River by Henri Bosco (New York Review Books Classics)
Patrick McGuinness and Stephen Romer for a translation of The Day’s Ration: Selected Poems by Gilles Ortlieb (Arc Publications)
TA First Translation Prize
The artistry, attention to detail, adventurousness, devotion, and pure hard work that has gone into each one of these translations shines through so powerfully. Every one of these books is urgent in its own way, telling stories that must be heard, in voices unique and unforgettable.
Judge Clare Richards
An annual prize for a debut literary translation into English generously endowed by Daniel Hahn and Jo Heinrich. The winner is awarded £3,000 and a runner–up is awarded £1,000. The prize is shared between the translator and their editor. This year’s judges are Rahul Bery, Gesche Ipsen, and Clare Richards.
The shortlist:
Deanna Cachoian-Schanz and editor Tatiana Ryckman for a translation from Eastern Armenian of A Book, Untitled by Shushan Avagyan (Tilted Axis Press)
Dias Novita Wuri and editor Marika Webb-Pullman for a translation from Indonesian of Birth Canal by Dias Novita Wuri (Scribe Publications)
James Young and editor Stella Sabin for a translation from Portuguese of The Love of Singular Men by Victor Heringer (Peirene Press)
Mirgul Kali and editor Deborah Smith for a translation from Kazakh of To Hell with Poets by Baqytgul Sarmekova (Tilted Axis Press)
Joshua L. Freeman and editors Bea Hemming and Jenny Dean for a translation from Uyghur of Waiting to be Arrested at Night by Tahir Hamut Izgil (Jonathan Cape, Vintage, PRH)
Vondel Translation Prize
All five books have an unforgettable first-person narrator whose voice has been rendered in English with authenticity, immediacy, and an unerring sense of timing. The shortlisted translators have tackled these idiosyncratic works and challenging themes with exceptional skill, unflinching integrity, and above all, flair.
The judges
A triennial prize for a translation into English of a full-length Dutch work of literary merit and general interest sponsored and administered by the Dutch Foundation for Literature. The winner is awarded €5,000. This year’s judges are David Doherty, Claire Lowdon and Susan Massotty.
The shortlist:
David McKay for a translation of We Slaves of Suriname by Anton de Kom (Polity Press)
Emma Rault for a translation of We Had to Remove This Post by Hanna Bervoets (Picador)
Kristen Gehrman for a translation of The History of My Sexuality by Tobi Lakmaker (Granta Books)
Michele Hutchison for a translation of My Heavenly Favourite by Lucas Rijneveld (Faber)
Sam Garrett for a translation of Falling is like Flying by Manon Uphoff (Pushkin Press)
