The Society of Authors unveiled the winners of its prestigious Translation Prizes at a glittering ceremony held at the British Library, celebrating the art of literary translation and honouring the translators who bridge cultures through language, per societyofauthors.org. With a prize fund exceeding £30,000, this year’s awards recognised outstanding translations from eight languages, including a historic win for a debut translation from Eastern Armenian.
The TA First Translation Prize, awarded to a first-time literary translator, went to Deanna Cachoian-Schanz and editor Tatiana Ryckman for their “staggering and unforgettable” translation of A Book, Untitled by Shushan Avagyan. This is the first time a work translated from Eastern Armenian has won a prize at the awards. The judges praised the translation as a “feat and a triumph,” noting its ambition and complexity, which they believe will make it a cornerstone of translation studies worldwide.
The evening also celebrated translations from Italian, French, Spanish, German, Arabic, Japanese and Dutch, showcasing the diversity and richness of global literature. Jenny McPhee took home the John Florio Prize for her “patient and imaginative” translation of Elsa Morante’s Lies and Sorcery, while Masaya Saito won the Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation Translation Prize for his “sparkling” rendition of Sanki Saitō’s The Kobe Hotel: Memoirs.
Katharine Halls was awarded the Saif Ghobash Banipal Prize for her translation of Ahmed Naji’s Rotten Evidence, a poignant memoir of the Egyptian author’s imprisonment and his reflections on literature, oppression, and resilience. The judges described Halls’ work as capturing the emotional depth of Naji’s narrative, which oscillates between dark humor and profound despair.
The Vondel Translation Prize, a triennial award for Dutch literature, went to Kristen Gehrman for her translation of Tobi Lakmaker’s The History of My Sexuality. The judges lauded Gehrman’s “irresistible comic timing” and her ability to bring Lakmaker’s bold, irreverent voice to life in English.
Other notable winners included Chris Andrews, Edith Grossman, and Alastair Reid for their collaborative translation of Álvaro Mutis’ Maqroll’s Prayer and Other Poems, which won the Premio Valle Inclán, and Andrew Shanks, who received the Schlegel-Tieck Prize for his translation of Nelly Sachs’ Revelation Freshly Erupting: Collected Poetry.
The event, hosted in partnership with the British Library and sponsored by Amazon Literary Partnerships and the Hawthornden Foundation, highlighted the vital role of translators in bringing global voices to English-speaking audiences. As Society of Authors Chair Joanne Harris remarked, “Translators are the unsung heroes of literature, opening doors to worlds we might otherwise never encounter.”
The ceremony concluded with a call to celebrate and support literary translation, ensuring that the stories of diverse cultures continue to resonate across borders. For the winners, the awards are not just a recognition of their craft but a testament to the power of language to connect, inspire, and transform.
Winners and runners-up will share the £30,000 prize fund, with individual awards ranging from £1,000 to £5,000. The full list of winners and their works can be found on the Society of Authors’ website https://societyofauthors.org.
