Graphic novels, poetry and art history make up SoA Translation Prizes shortlists

Graphic novels, poetry and art history make up some of the Society of Authors’ Translation Prizes shortlists for 2019, with 31 translations from seven languages up for awards.

This year’s shortlist, described by judges as “masterful”, “remarkable and timely” and “unconventional”, includes novels and graphic novels, poetry, art history, short stories, and both modern and classic texts, in translations into English from Korean, Italian, German, French, Swedish, Spanish and Arabic.

This is the second year of the TA First Translation Prize for a debut literary translation. The £15,000 in prizes will be awarded in a ceremony at The British Library Knowledge Centre on 13th  February.

The full shortlists are below: 

THE TA FIRST TRANSLATION PRIZE
An annual £2,000 prize for a debut literary translation into English published in the UK. The prize is shared between the translator and their editor. This year’s judges are Daniel Hahn, Philip Gwyn Jones and Margaret Jull Costa.

• Gini Alhadeff and her editor Barbara Epler for a translation of I Am the Brother of XX by Fleur Jaeggy (And Other Stories), translated from Italian.
• Janet Hong and her editor Ethan Nosowsky for a translation of The Impossible Fairytale by Han Yujoo (Tilted Axis Press), translated from Korean.
• Fionn Petch and his editor Annie McDermott for a translation of Fireflies (Charco Press), translated from Spanish.
• Alex Valente and his editor Federico Andornino for a translation of Can You Hear Me? (Two Roads Books), translated from Italian.
 
THE JOHN FLORIO PRIZE (sponsored by the Italian Cultural Institute, ALCS and the Society of Authors.)
A biennial award of £2,000 for translations into English of full- length Italian works of literary merit and general interest. This year’s judges are Marta Arnaldi and Professor Ann Hallamore Caesar.

• Gini Alhadeff for her translation of I Am the Brother of XX by Fleur Jaeggy (And Other Stories)
• Jamie McKendrick for his translation of Within the Walls by Giorgio Bassani (Penguin Classics)
• Mario Petrucci for his translation of Xenia by Eugenio Montale (Arc Publications)
• Cristina Viti for her translation of Stigmata by Gëzim Hajdari (Shearsman Books)
• Cristina Viti for her translation of The World Saved by Kids by Elsa Morante (Seagull Books)

THE SCHLEGEL-TIECK PRIZE (Sponsored by the Goethe-Institut)
An annual award of £3,000 for translations into English of full- length German works of literary merit and general interest. This year’s judges are Dr Benedict Schofield and Dr Catherine Smale.

• Susan Bernofsky for her translation of Go, Went, Gone by Jenny Erpenbeck (Granta)
• Jen Calleja for her translation of Dance by the Canal by Kerstin Hensel (Peirene Press)
• Tony Crawford for his translation of Wonder Beyond Belief by Navid Kermani (Polity Press)
• Tess Lewis for her translation of Kruso by Lutz Seiler (Scribe)
• Stefan Tobler for his translation of The Old King in his Exile by Arno Geiger (And Other Stories)

THE SCOTT MONCRIEFF PRIZE (Sponsored by the Institut français du Royaume-Uni, ALCS and the Society of Authors.)
An annual award of £1,000 for translations into English of full- length French works of literary merit and general interest. This year’s judges are Dr. Ruth Cruickshank and Michèle Roberts.

• Aneesa Abbas Higgins for her translation of Seven Stones by Vénus Khoury-Ghata (Jacaranda Books)
• Sophie Lewis for her translation of Blue Self-Portrait by Noémi Lefebvre (Les Fugitives)
• Helen Stevenson for her translation of Black Moses by Alain Mabanckou (Profile Books) 
• Frank Wynne for his translation of Vernon Subutex 1 by Virginie Despentes (MacLehose Press)
• Sophie Yanow for her translation of Pretending is Lying by Dominique Goblet (New York Review Comics)

THE BERNARD SHAW PRIZE (Sponsored by the Embassy of Sweden and the Anglo-Swedish Literary Foundation.)
A triennial award of £2,000 for translations into English of full-length Swedish language works of literary merit and general interest. This year’s judges are Karin Altenberg and Helen Sigeland.
 
• Deborah Bragan-Turner for her translation of The Parable Book by Per Olov Enquist (MacLehose Press)
• Sarah Death for her translation of Wilful Disregard by Lena Andersson (Picador)
• John Irons for his translation of Selected Poems by Lars Gustafsson (Bloodaxe Books)
• Frank Perry for his translation of Bret Easton Ellis and the Other Dogs by Lina Wolff (And Other Stories)

THE PREMIO VALLE INCLÁN PRIZE (Sponsored by ALCS and the Society of Authors.)
An annual prize of £2,000 for translations into English of full-length Spanish language works of literary merit and general interest. This year’s judges are Dr. Katie Brown and Professor Francis Lough. 
 
• Simon Deefholts and Kathryn Phillips-Miles for their translation of Inventing Love by José Ovejero (Peter Owen Publishers)
• Daniel Hahn for his translation of In the Land of Giants by Gabi Martínez (Scribe)
• Megan McDowell for her translation of Seeing Red by Lina Meruane (Atlantic)
• Sarah Moses and Carolina Orloff for their translation of Die, My Love by Ariana Harwicz (Charco Press)
 

THE SAIF GHOBASH BANIPAL PRIZE (Sponsored by Omar Saif Ghobash and his family and the Banipal Trust for Arab Literature.)
An annual award of £3,000 for published translations from Arabic of full-length works of imaginative and creative writing of literary merit and general interest. This year’s judges are Pete Ayrton,Georgia de Chamberet, Dr. Fadia Faqir, and Dr. Sophia Vasalou.

The winner, Luke Leafgren for his translation of The President’s Gardens by Muhsin Al-Ramli (MacLehose Press), was announced by Banipal on 14th January and the prize will be awarded at the ceremony on 13th Feburary.

The shortlist:
• Ben Koerber for his translation of Using Life by Ahmed Naji (CMES Publications)
• Khaled Mattawa for his translation of Concerto al-Quds by Adonis (Yale University Press)
• Jonathan Wright for his translation of Frankenstein in Baghdad by Ahmed Saadawi (Oneworld)