National Book Award for Translated Literature

The National Book Award for Translated Literature is one of five annual National Book Awards recognising outstanding literary works of translation into English administered by the National Book Foundation. This award was previously given from 1967 to 1983 but did not require the author to be living and was for fiction only. It was reintroduced in its new version in 2018 and was open to living translators and authors, for both fiction and non-fiction.[1]

National Book Award for Translated Literature
Awarded forOutstanding literary work in translation.
LocationNew York City
First awarded1967-1983, 2018
WebsiteNational Book Foundation

The award recognises one book published by a U.S. publisher located in the United States from December 1 to November 30. The original text need not have been published in the year of the award submission, only the translated work. For the Translated Literature award neither author nor translator are required to be U.S. citizens.

Entries for the National Book Awards are open from March until May. A longlist is announced in September with the shortlist announced in October. The winner is announced in a ceremony in November. The prizes are split equally between the author and the translator.[2]

Awards edit

This list only covers the current version of the National Book Award for Translated Literature from its new inaugural addition in 2018. Winners from 1967 to 1983 are covered in the complete list of winners of the National Book Award.

  = winner.

2018 edit

The prize was judged by Karen Maeda Allman, Sinan Antoon, Susan Bernofsky, and Álvaro Enrigue and chaired by Harold Augenbraum. The longlist was announced on September 12.[3] The finalists were announced October 10.[4] The winner was announced on November 14.[5]

2018 National Book Award for Translated Literature honorees
Author Title Original Language Translator Country of Publication Publisher Result
Yoko Tawada The Emissary Japanese Margaret Mitsutani Japan-Germany New Directions Publishing Winner
Négar Djavadi Disoriental French Tina Kover Iran-France Europa Editions Finalists
Domenico Starnone Trick Italian Jhumpa Lahiri Italy Europa Editions
Olga Tokarczuk Flights Polish Jennifer Croft Poland Riverhead Books
Hanne Ørstavik Love Norwegian Martin Aitken Norway Archipelago Books
Roque Larraquy Comemadre Spanish Heather Cleary Argentina Coffee House Press Longlist
Dunya Mikhail The Beekeeper: Rescuing the Stolen Women of Iraq Arabic Max Weiss Iraq-US New Directions Publishing
Perumal Murugan One Part Woman Tamil Aniruddhan Vasudevan India Black Cat
Tatyana Tolstaya Aetherial Worlds Russian Anya Migdal Russia Alfred A. Knopf
Gunnhild Øyehaug Wait, Blink: A Perfect Picture of Inner Life Norwegian Kari Dickson Norway Farrar, Straus and Giroux

2019 edit

The prize was judged by Keith Gessen, Elisabeth Jaquette, Katie Kitamura, and Shuchi Saraswat and chaired by Idra Novey.[6] The longlist was announced on September 17.[7] Finalists were announced on October 8.[8] The winner was announced on November 20.

2019 National Book Award for Translated Literature honorees
Author Title Original Language Translator Country of Publication Publisher Result
László Krasznahorkai Baron Wenckheim's Homecoming Hungarian Ottilie Mulzet Hungary New Directions Publishing Winner
Khaled Khalifa Death is Hard Work Arabic Leri Price Syria Farrar, Straus and Giroux Finalists
Scholastique Mukasonga The Barefoot Woman French Jordan Stump Rwanda Archipelago
Yoko Ogawa The Memory Police Japanese Stephen Snyder Japan Pantheon Books
Pajtim Statovci Crossing Finnish David Hackston Finland Pantheon Books
Elaine Brum The Collector of Leftover Souls Portuguese Diane Grosklaus Whitty Brazil Graywolf Press Longlist
Nona Fernández Space Invaders Spanish Natasha Wimmer Chile Graywolf Press
Vigdis Hjorth Will and Testament Norwegian Charlotte Barslund Norway Verso Books
Olga Tokarczuk Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead Polish Antonia Lloyd-Jones Poland Riverhead Books
Naja Marie Aidt When Death Takes Something From You Give it Back Danish Denise Newman Denmark Coffee House Press

2020 edit

The prize was judged by Heather Cleary, John Darnielle, Anne Ishii, and Brad Johnson and chaired by Dinaw Mengestu. The longlist was announced on September 16[9] and the shortlist on October 6.[10] The winner was announced on November 18.[11]

2020 National Book Award for Translated Literature honorees
Author Title Original Language Translator Publisher Result
Miri Yu Tokyo Ueno Station Japanese Morgan Giles Riverhead Books / Penguin Random House Winner
Anja Kampmann High as the Waters Rise German Anne Posten Catapult Press Finalists
Jonas Hassen Khemiri The Family Clause Swedish Alice Menzies Farrar, Straus and Giroux / Macmillan Publishers
Pilar Quintana The Bitch Spanish Lisa Dillman World Editions
Adania Shibli Minor Detail Arabic Elisabeth Jaquette New Directions Publishing
Cho Nam-Joo Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 Korean Jamie Chang Liveright / W. W. Norton & Company Longlist
Perumal Murugan The Story of a Goat Tamil N. Kalyan Raman Black Cat / Grove Atlantic
Fernanda Melchor Hurricane Season Spanish Sophie Hughes New Directions Publishing
Linda Boström Knausgård The Helios Disaster Swedish Rachel Willson-Broyles World Editions
Shokoofeh Azar The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree Persian Anonymous Europa Editions

2021 edit

The prize was judged by Jessie Chaffee, Sergio de la Pava, Madhu H. Kaza, and Achy Obejas and chaired by Stephen Snyder. The longlist was announced on September 15 and the shortlist was announced on October 5. The winner was announced on November 17.[12]

2021 National Book Award for Translated Literature honorees[13]
Author Title Original Language Translator Publisher Result
Elisa Shua Dusapin Winter in Sokcho French Aneesa Abbas Higgins Open Letter Books Winner
Ge Fei Peach Blossom Paradise Chinese Canaan Morse New York Review Books Finalists
Nona Fernández The Twilight Zone Spanish Natasha Wimmer Graywolf Press
Benjamín Labatut When We Cease to Understand the World Spanish Adrian Nathan West New York Review Books
Samar Yazbek Planet of Clay Arabic Leri Price World Editions
Maryse Condé Waiting for the Waters to Rise French Richard Philcox World Editions Longlist
Bo-young Kim On the Origin of Species and Other Stories Korean Joungmin Lee Comfort and Sora Kim-Russell Kaya Press
Elvira Navarro Rabbit Island Spanish Christina MacSweeney Two Lines Press
Judith Schalansky An Inventory of Losses German Jackie Smith New Directions Publishing
Maria Stepanova In Memory of Memory Russian Sasha Dugdale New Directions Publishing

2022 edit

The prize was judged by Nick Buzanski, Veronica Esposito, Ann Goldstein (Chair), Rohan Kamicheril, and Russell Scott Valentino. The longlist was announced on September 14 and the shortlist was announced on October 4. The winner was announced on November 16.[14]

2022 National Book Award for Translated Literature honorees
Author Title Original Language Translator Publisher Result
Samanta Schweblin Seven Empty Houses Spanish Megan McDowell Riverhead Books / Penguin Random House Winner
Jon Fosse A New Name: Septology VI-VII Norwegian Damion Searls Transit Books Finalists
Scholastique Mukasonga Kibogo French Mark Polizzotti Archipelago Books
Mónica Ojeda Jawbone Spanish Sarah Booker Coffee House Press
Yoko Tawada Scattered All Over the Earth Japanese Margaret Mitsutani New Directions Publishing
Mohammed Hasan Alwan Ibn Arabi's Small Death Arabic William M Center for Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Texas at Austin Longlist
Shahriar Mandanipour Seasons of Purgatory Persian Sara Khalili Bellevue Literary Press
Olga Ravn The Employees Danish Martin Aitken New Directions Publishing
Saša Stanišić Where You Come From German Damion Searls Tin House Books
Olga Tokarczuk The Books of Jacob Polish Jennifer Croft Riverhead Books / Penguin Random House

2023 edit

Members of the prize jury are: Geoffrey Brock, Arthur Malcolm Dixon, Cristina Rodriguez, T. Denean Sharpley-Whiting, and Jeremy Tiang (Chair). The longlist was announced on September 13. The winner was announced on November 16, 2023.[15]

2023 National Book Award for Translated Literature honorees
Author Title Original Language Translator Publisher Result
Stênio Gardel The Words That Remain Portuguese Bruna Dantas Lobato New Vessel Press Winner
Bora Chung Cursed Bunny Korean Anton Hur Algonquin Books / Hachette Book Group Finalists
David Diop Beyond the Door of No Return French Sam Taylor Farrar, Straus and Giroux / Macmillan Publishers
Pilar Quintana Abyss Spanish Lisa Dillman World Editions
Astrid Roemer On a Woman's Madness Dutch Lucy Scott Two Lines Press
Juan Cárdenas The Devil of the Provinces Spanish Lizzie Davis Coffee House Press Longlist
Jenny Erpenbeck Kairos German Michael Hofmann Coffee House Press
Khaled Khalifa No One Prayed Over Their Graves Arabic Leri Price Farrar, Straus and Giroux / Macmillan Publishers
Fernanda Melchor This Is Not Miami Spanish Sophie Hughes New Directions Publishing
Mohamed Mbougar Sarr The Most Secret Memory of Men French Lara Vergnaud The Other Press

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "Book Awards Honor Translated Literature For The First Time Since 1983". NPR.org. Retrieved 2019-01-03.
  2. ^ "National Book Award Selection Process". National Book Foundation. Retrieved May 5, 2019.
  3. ^ "The 2018 National Book Awards Longlist: Translated Literature". New Yorker. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
  4. ^ "The 2018 National Book Awards Finalists Announced". National Book Foundation. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
  5. ^ "National Book Awards 2018 Winners". National Book Foundation. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
  6. ^ "2019 National Book Awards Judges". National Book Foundation. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
  7. ^ "The 2019 National Book Awards Longlist: Translated Literature". The New Yorker. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
  8. ^ "EXCLUSIVE: The 2019 National Book Awards Finalists". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
  9. ^ "2020 National Book Awards Longlist for Translated Literature". National Book Foundation. 2020-09-15. Retrieved 2020-09-16.
  10. ^ "National Book Awards 2020 shortlists announced". Books+Publishing. 2020-10-07. Retrieved 2020-10-07.
  11. ^ "To be announced". National Book Foundation. Retrieved 2020-10-07.
  12. ^ "2021 National Book Awards". National Book Foundation. 2021-10-05. Retrieved 2021-10-06.
  13. ^ "National Book Awards 2021". National Book Foundation. Retrieved November 17, 2021.
  14. ^ "National Book Awards 2022". National Book Foundation. Retrieved 2022-11-12.
  15. ^ "National Book Awards 2023". National Book Foundation. Retrieved 2023-11-17.