Any language - TA First Translation Prize

Any language – TA First Translation Prize

The TA First Translation Prize is an annual prize for a debut literary translation into English published in the UK and Ireland. The winner is awarded £3,000 and a runner-up is awarded £1,000. The Prize is shared between the translator and their editor.

It was established in 2017 and generously endowed by Daniel Hahn and Jo Heinrich, with support from the British Council.

The TA First Translation Prize is currently closed for submissions.
The prize will re-open for submissions in 2026.

‘So, it’s recognising new talent in the translation profession, but also those editors who take a chance on a debut and then work with them to make them better – a role we all depend on, but don’t acknowledge often enough.’

Daniel Hahn

The 2025 TA First Translation Prize shortlist

Rijula Das and editor Sunandini Banerjee for a translation from Bengali of Beggars’ Bedlam by Nabarun Bhattacharya (Seagull Books)

Yana Ellis and editor Dženana Vucic for a translation from Bulgarian of The Wolves of Staro Selo by Zdravka Evtimova (Héloïse Press)

Gwendolyn Harper and editors John Siciliano and Rory Williamson for a translation from Spanish of A Last Supper of Queer Apostles by Pedro Lemebel (Pushkin Press)

Antonella Lettieri and editor Richard Village for a translation from Italian of Your Little Matter by Maria Grazia Calandrone (Foundry Editions)

Sheela Mahadevan and editor Christine Dunbar for a translation from French of Lakshmi’s Secret Diary by Ari Gautier (Columbia University Press)

Maggie Zebracka and editors Mark Tardi and Aina Marti-Balcells for a translation from Polish of QUEENLESS by Mira Marcinów (Héloïse Press)

“The range of nominated books was vast, and I found myself bounced from continent to continent, from Eastern European peasant life, to sexual mores in 1930s Indochina. It was joyful, but also dizzying. Whittling it down to a shortlist involved hard decisions, and I knew I would be forced to say goodbye to some very fine works of literature. Together, these stories demonstrate the power and the glory of world literature, and the importance of translation in reenergising English prose writing.”

— Anthony McGowan, 2025 TA First Prize judge

If you are interested in any of the books here please visit: Bookshop.org. A percentage of all book sales will be donated to the SoA Access Fund.

2024 (presented in 2025)

Winner: Deanna Cachoian-Schanz and editor Tatiana Ryckman for a translation from Eastern Armenian of A Book, Untitled by Shushan Avagyan (Tilted Axis Press)
Runner-up: James Young and editor Stella Sabin for a translation from Portuguese of The Love of Singular Men by Victor Heringer (Peirene Press)

Shortlisted:
Dias Novita Wuri and editor Marika Webb-Pullman for a translation from Indonesian of Birth Canal by Dias Novita Wuri (Scribe Publications)
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)

2023 (presented in 2024)

Winner: Sophie Collins and editor Marigold Atkey for a translation of The Opposite of a Person by Lieke Marsman (Daunt Books)
Runner-up: Nguyễn An Lý and editor Deborah Smith for a translation of Chinatown by Thuận (Tilted Axis Press)
Shortlisted:
Tash Aw and editor Ellie Steel for a translation of A Woman’s Battles and Transformations by Édouard Louis (Penguin Random House)
Katharina Hall and editor Abigail Scruby for a translation of Punishment by Ferdinand von Schirach (Baskerville, John Murray)
Victor Meadowcroft and editors Juliet Mabey and Polly Hatfield for a translation of This World Does Not Belong to Us by Natalia García Freire (Oneworld Publications)
Johanne Sorgenfri Ottosen and editor Tom Conaghan for a translation of Awake by Harald Voetmann (Lolli Editions)
Claire Wadie and editor Gesche Ipsen for a translation of Of Saints and Miracles by Manuel Astur (Peirene Press)

2022 (presented in 2023)

Winner: Marta Dziurosz and editors Zeljka Marosevic and Sophie Missing for a translation of The Things I Didn’t Throw Out by Marcin Wicha (Daunt Books Publishing) Translated from Polish.
Runner Up: Jo Heinrich and editor Gesche Ipsen for a translation of Marzahn, Mon Amour by Katja Oskamp (Peirene Press) Translated from German.
Shortlisted:
Bethlehem Attfield and editor David Henningham for a translation of The Lost Spell by Yismake Worku (Henningham Family Press) Translated from Amharic.
Elena Pala and editor Federico Andornino for a translation of The Hummingbird by Sandro Veronesi (Weidenfeld and Nicolson, Orion) Translated from Italian.
Kat Storace and editor Jen Calleja for a translation of what will it take for me to leave by Loranne Vella (Praspar Press) Translated from Maltese.
Abigail Wender and editor Katy Derbyshire for a translation of The Bureau of Past Management by Iris Hanika (V&Q Books) Translated from German.

2021 (presented in 2022)

Winner: Jackie Smith and editor Bill Swainson for a translation of An Inventory of Losses by Judith Schalansky. (MacLehose Press)
Runner Up: Padma Viswanathan and editor Edwin Frank for a translation of São Bernardo by Graciliano Ramos. (New York Review Books)
Shortlisted: Jennifer Russell and editor Denise Rose Hansen for a translation of Marble by Amalie Smith. (Lolli Editions)
Lucy Rand and editor Sophie Orme for a translation of The Phone Box at the Edge of the World by Sophie Orme (Bonnier Books UK Ltd)
Rahul Bery and editor Federico Andornino for a translation of Rolling Fields by David Trueba. (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, Orion Publishing Group)
Simon Leser and editor Andrew Hsiao for a translation of Tomorrow They Won’t Dare to Murder Us by Joseph Andras. (Verso Books)

2020 (presented in 2021)

Winner: Nicholas Glastonbury and editor Saba Ahmed for a translation of Every Fire You Tend by Sema Kaygusuz (Tilted Axis Press). Translated from Turkish.
Runner-up: Nicholas Royle and editor Tim Shearer for a translation of Pharricide by Vincent de Swarte (Confingo Publishing). Translated from French.
Shortlisted: Laura Francis and editor Ka Bradley for a translation of The Collection by Nina Leger (Granta Books). Translated from French.
Annie McDermott and editor Lizzie Davis for a translation of Empty Words by Mario Levrero (And Other Stories). Translated from Spanish.
Ruth Diver and editor Elise Williams for a translation of The Little Girl on the Ice Floe by Adélaïde Bon (MacLehose Press). Translated from French.
Owen Good and editor Bishan Samaddar for a translation of Pixel by Krisztina Tóth (Seagull Books). Translated from Hungarian.

2019 (presented in 2020)

Winner: Morgan Giles for a translation of Tokyo Ueno Station edited by Saba Ahmed and originally written by Yu Miri in Japanese (Tilted Axis Press)
Runner-up: Charlotte Whittle for a translation of People in the Room edited by Bella Bosworth and originally written by Norah Langé in Spanish (And Other Stories)
Shortlisted: Sarah Booker for a translation of The Iliac Crest edited by Lauren Rosemary Hook and originally written by Cristina Rivera Garza in Spanish (And Other Stories)
Natascha Bruce for a translation of Lonely Face edited by Jeremy Tiang and originally written by Yeng Pway Ngon in Chinese (Balestier Press)
Ellen Jones for a translation of Trout, Belly Up edited by Fionn Petch and Carolina Orloff and originally written by Rodrigo Fuentes in Spanish (Charco Press)
William Spence for a translation of The Promise: Love and Loss in Modern China edited by Tomasz Hoskins and originally written by XinRan in Mandarin (I.B. Tauris)

2018 (presented in 2019)

Winner: Janet Hong for her translation of The Impossible Fairytale edited by Ethan Nosowsky and originally written by Han Yujoo in Korean (Tilted Axis Press)
Shortlistees:
Gini Alhadeff for her translation of I Am the Brother of XX edited by Barbara Epler and originally written by Fleur Jaeggy in Italian (And Other Stories)
Fionn Petch for his translation of Fireflies edited by Annie McDermott and originally written by Luis Sagasti in Spanish (Charco Press)
Alex Valente for his translation of Can You Hear Me? edited by Federico Andornino and originally written by Elena Varvello in Italian (Two Roads Books)

2017 (presented in 2018)

Winner: Bela Shayevich for her translation of Second-hand Time edited by Jacques Testard and originally written by Svetlana Alexievich in Russian (Fitzcarraldo Editions)
Shortlistees:
Jeffrey Zuckerman for his translation of Eve Out of Her Ruins, edited by Cécile Menon and Angeline Rothermundt and originally written by Ananda Devi in French (Les Fugitives)
Francesca Barrie for her translation of Notes on a Thesis, edited by Claire Bullock and originally written by Tiphanie Rivière in French (Jonathan Cape)
Eliza Marciniak for her translation of Swallowing Mercury, edited by Max Porter and Ka Bradley and originally written by Wioletta Greg in Polish (Portobello Books)
Mui Poopoksakul for her translation of The Sad Part Was, edited by Deborah Smith and originally written by Prabda Yoon in Thai (Tilted Axis Press)
Elisabeth Jaquette for her translation of The Queue, edited by Sal Robinson and Taylor Sperry and originally written by Basma Abdel Aziz in Arabic (Melville House)

Anthony McGowan

Anthony McGowan has written critically acclaimed and award-winning fiction and non-fiction for adults, teenagers and younger children. The author of over 40 books, his recent work includes The Art of Failing: Notes from the Underdog (2017), a humorous account of the writer’s life; How to Teach Philosophy to Your Dog (2019), a quirky introduction to philosophy; and Lark (2019), the culmination of his YA quartet, The Truth of Things, which won the 2020 CILIP Carnegie Medal. He has a PhD in philosophy, and has taught creative writing at London Met, Royal Holloway, and the Faber Academy.

Stella Sabin

Stella Sabin is co-publisher at Peirene Press. She started at Peirene in 2018 and took over the press with James Tookey in 2022. She is the commissioning editor of over a dozen books, including Marzahn, Mon Amour by Katja Oskamp (tr. Jo Heinrich), which won the Dublin Literature Award in 2023, and The Love of Singular Men by Victor Heringer (tr. James Young), which was awarded the Jabuti Prize for ‘best Brazilian book published abroad’. She has a background in radio production and has made factual documentaries and audiobooks for the BBC and independent clients.

Anam Zafar

Anam Zafar is an award-winning translator, editor and creative workshop facilitator. She translates from Arabic and French into English. She appears on the 100 Inspiring Muslims: Next Generation Edition list (Emerald Network/Aziz Foundation). In 2025 she won an inaugural PEN Presents x International Booker Prize for her sample of the Palestinian novella Playing with Soldiers by Tariq Asrawi. Other work includes a co-translation of Josephine Baker’s memoir Fearless and Free, with Sophie Lewis (Penguin Random House/Tiny Reparations) and a co-translation with Nadiyah Abdullatif of Yoghurt and Jam, Lena Merhej’s graphic memoir (Balestier Press). Her work has won a PEN Translates Award, been shortlisted for the Saif Ghobash Banipal Prize for Arabic Literary Translation and been longlisted for the Warwick Prize for Women in Translation. A volunteer for World Kid Lit, Anam is also on the Editorial Board for The Linguist magazine and a member of Translators for Access, an independent working group. She is based in Birmingham, UK.

Daniel Hahn

Daniel Hahn is a writer, editor and translator. He is on the boards of Modern Poetry in Translation, English PEN and The Children’s Bookshow (as chair), on the committee of the Translators Association (former chair) and the board of governors of his local primary school. He’s also on the Council of the Society of Authors and the Council of Shakespeare’s Globe, as well as a number of advisory groups (And Other Stories, Cheltenham Literature Festival, Public Lending Right, etc.).

Find out more about why Daniel sponsored the prize here.

Jo Heinrich

Jo Heinrich translates from French and German; her translation of Marzahn, Mon Amour by Katja Oskamp won the 2023 Dublin Literary Award and was runner-up for the 2022 Translators Association First Translation Prize. She lives just outside Bristol with her family. Find out more about Jo on her website here.

Members' Area

Not a member?

Join the SoA