Six books have been shortlisted for the 2026 Warwick Prize for Women in Translation, the University of Warwick announced, marking the prize’s 10th year and a record 164 submissions from 37 languages.
According to a statement, the shortlist was chosen from a longlist of 13 titles spanning 12 languages. Independent publishers dominate the selection. The £1,000 prize, shared equally between author and translator or translators, will be awarded at a London ceremony on November 16.
This year’s judges are Arifa Akbar, Véronique Tadjo and Boyd Tonkin. The shortlisted works are: 48kg. by Batool Abu Akleen, translated from Arabic by the author with Graham Liddell, Wiam El-Tamami, Cristina Viti and Yasmin Zaher (Tenement Press/Penguin Press); Eye of the Monkey by Krisztina Tóth, translated from Hungarian by Ottilie Mulzet (Seven Stories Press UK); Girl, 1983 by Linn Ullmann, translated from Norwegian by Martin Aitken (Hamish Hamilton); Lili Is Crying by Hélène Bessette, translated from French by Kate Briggs (Fitzcarraldo Editions); Troubled Waters by Ichiyo Higuchi, translated from Japanese by Bryan Karetnyk (Pushkin Press); and White Moss by Anna Nerkagi, translated from Russian by Irina Sadovina (Pushkin Press).
“I was struck by the high quality of books in this year’s submission as a whole. As a result, it was all the harder to select a shortlist from such high calibre and wide-ranging voices, cultures, styles and subject matter. I believe we have some extraordinary books here, some of which I hope will go on to become modern classics of writing in translation.I am so pleased that female writers are at the forefront of such experimentation and originality,” Akbar said.
Tadjo described it as “a truly beautiful shortlist, bringing together literary innovation, the power of poetry, and the vitality of literature today”. She added: “It is a privilege to be part of a jury celebrating such imaginative, moving and inspiring work.”
For Tonkin, “Our shortlist, which takes readers from Russia’s far north and a dystopian Hungary to 19th-century Japan and war-ravaged Gaza, is richly varied in genre, in style, in setting.It encompasses fiction, long and short, and poetry; rediscovered classics, and ultra-contemporary voice”
The prize, founded in 2017, aims to increase the visibility of international women’s writing in English translation for readers in the UK and Ireland.
An online event to discuss the shortlist takes place this evening, November 9, from 7pm to 8pm GMT. Writer and translator Maureen Freely will speak with Charlotte Collins and Ruth Martin, joint winners of the 2020 prize.