PEN Translation Prize

Last updated

The PEN Translation Prize (formerly known as the PEN/Book-of-the-Month Club Translation Prize through 2008) is an annual award given by PEN America (formerly PEN American Center) to outstanding translations into the English language. It has been presented annually by PEN America and the Book of the Month Club since 1963. It was the first award in the United States expressly for literary translators. [1] A 1999 New York Times article called it "the Academy Award of Translation", stating that the award is thus usually not given to younger translators. [2]

Contents

The distinction comes with a cash prize of USD $3,000. Any book-length English translation published in the United States during the year in question is eligible, irrespective of the residence or nationality of either the translator or the original author. [3]

The award is separate from the similar PEN Award for Poetry in Translation.

The PEN Translation Prize was called one of "the most prominent translation awards." [4] The award is one of many PEN awards sponsored by International PEN affiliates in over 145 PEN centres around the world. The PEN American Center awards have been characterized as being among the "major" American literary prizes. [5]

Winners

PEN Translation Prize winners [6]
YearTranslatorAuthorTitleOriginal titleLanguageRef.
1963 Archibald Colquhoun Federico de Roberto The ViceroysI ViceréItalian
1964 Ralph Manheim Günter Grass The Tin Drum Die BlechtrommelGerman
1965 Joseph Barnes Konstantin Paustovsky The Story of a LifeПовесть о жизниRussian
1966 Geoffrey Skelton and Adrian Mitchell Peter Weiss Marat/Sade German
1967 Harriet de Onis João Guimarães Rosa Sagarana: The Duel Sagarana, o DueloPortuguese
1968 Vladimir Markov and Merrill Sparks (eds.)Modern Russian Poetry—Russian
1969 W. S. Merwin Selected Translations 1948-1968—Various [7] [8]
1970 Sidney Alexander Francesco Guicciardini The History of ItalyStoria d'ItaliaItalian
1971 Max Hayward Nadezhda Mandelstam Hope Against HopeВоспоминанияRussian
1972 Richard Winston and Clara Winston Letters of Thomas Mann—German
1973 J. P. McCullough The Poems of Sextus Propertius—Latin
1974 Hardie St. Martin and Leonard Mades José Donoso The Obscene Bird of Night El obsceno pájaro de la nocheSpanish
1975 Helen R. Lane Juan Goytisolo Count Julian Reivindicación del conde don JuliánSpanish
1976 Richard Howard E. M. Cioran A Short History of Decay Précis de décompositionFrench
1977 Gregory Rabassa Gabriel García Márquez The Autumn of the Patriarch El otoño del patriarcaSpanish
1979 Adrienne Foulke Leonardo Sciascia One Way or AnotherTodo modoItalian
1979 Charles Wright Eugenio Montale The Storm and Other PoemsLa bufera e altroItalian
1980 Charles Simic Vasko Popa Homage to the Lame Wolf—Serbian
1981 John E. Woods Arno Schmidt Evening Edged in GoldAbend mit GoldrandGerman
1982 Hiroaki Sato and Burton Watson From the Country of Eight Islands: An Anthology of Japanese Poetry—Japanese
1983 Richard Wilbur Molière Four Comedies: The Misanthrope, Tartuffe, The Learned Ladies, The School for Wives Le Misanthrope, Tartuffe, Les Femmes savantes, L'école des femmesFrench
1984 William Weaver Umberto Eco The Name of the Rose Il nome della rosaItalian
1985 (prose) Helen R. Lane Mario Vargas Llosa The War of the End of the World La guerra del fin del mundoSpanish
1985 (verse) Seamus Heaney Sweeney Astray Buile ShuibhneIrish
1986 (prose) Barbara Bray Marguerite Duras The Lover L'AmantFrench
1986 (verse) Dennis Tedlock Popol Vuh: The Mayan Book of the Dawn of Life Popol voh Quiché
1987 John E. Woods Patrick Süskind Perfume: The Story of a Murderer Das Parfum: Die Geschichte eines MördersGerman
1988 Madeline Levine and Francine Prose Ida Fink A Scrap of Time Skrawek czasuPolish [9]
1989 Matthew Ward Albert Camus The Stranger L'ÉtrangerFrench
1990 William Weaver Umberto Eco Foucault's Pendulum Il pendolo di FoucaultItalian
1991 Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky Fyodor Dostoevsky The Brothers Karamazov Братья КарамазовыRussian
1992 David Rosenberg A Poet's Bible Hebrew
1993 Thomas Hoisington Ignacy Krasicki The Adventures of Mr. Nicholas Wisdom Mikołaja Doświadczyńskiego przypadkiPolish
1994 Bill Zavatsky and Zack Rogow André Breton EarthlightClair de terreFrench
1995 Burton Watson Selected Poems of Su Tung-p'o—Chinese
1996 Stanisław Barańczak and Clare Cavanagh Wisława Szymborska View With a Grain of SandWidok z ziarnkiem piaskuPolish
1997 Arnold Pomerans The Letters of Vincent van Gogh —Dutch
1998 Peter Constantine Thomas Mann Six Early Stories—German
1999 Michael Hofmann Joseph Roth The Tale of the 1002nd NightDie Geschichte von der 1002. NachtGerman [10]
2000 Richard Sieburth Gérard de Nerval Selected Writings—French
2001 Tiina Nunnally Sigrid Undset The CrossKorsetNorwegian [11]
2002 Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky Leo Tolstoy Anna Karenina Анна КаренинаRussian
2003 R. W. Flint Cesare Pavese The Moon and the Bonfires La Luna e i falòItalian
2004 Margaret Sayers Peden Antonio Muñoz Molina SepharadSefaradSpanish
2005 Tim Wilkinson Imre Kertész Fatelessness SorstalanságHungarian
2006 Philip Gabriel Haruki Murakami Kafka on the Shore 海辺のカフカJapanese
2007 Sandra Smith Irène Némirovsky Suite française French
2008 Margaret Jull Costa Eça de Queirós The Maias Os Maias: Episódios da Vida RomânticaPortuguese [12]
2009 Natasha Wimmer Roberto Bolaño 2666 Spanish [13]
2010 Michael Henry Heim Hugo Claus WonderDe verwonderingDutch [14] [15]
2011 Ibrahim Muhawi Mahmoud Darwish Journal of an Ordinary Griefيوميات الحزن العاديArabic [16]
2012 Bill Johnston Wiesław Myśliwski Stone Upon StoneKamień na kamieniuPolish [17]
2013 Donald O. White Albert Vigoleis Thelen The Island of Second SightDie Insel des zweiten GesichtsGerman [18] [19] [20]
2014 Joanne Turnbull and Nikolai Formozov Sigizmund Krzhizhanovsky Autobiography of a CorpseАвтобиография трупаRussian [21] [22] [23]
2015 Denise Newman Naja Marie Aidt BaboonBavianDanish [24] [25] [26]
2016 Katrina Dodson Clarice Lispector The Complete StoriesTodas as CrónicasPortuguese [27] [28] [29] [30]
2017 Tess Lewis Maja Haderlap Angel of Oblivion Engel des VergessensGerman [31] [32]
2018 Len Rix Magda Szabó Katalin StreetKatalin utcaHungarian [33] [34] [35] [36]
2019 Martin Aitken Hanne Ørstavik LoveKjærlighetNorwegian [37] [38]
2020 Allison Markin Powell Hiromi Kawakami The Ten Loves of Nishinoニシノユキヒコの恋と冒険Japanese [39] [40]
2021 Emma Ramadan Abdellah Taïa A Country for DyingUn pays pour mourirFrench [41] [42] [43] [44]
2022 Julia Sanches Mariana Oliver Migratory BirdsAves migratoriasSpanish [45] [46]
2023 Tiffany Tsao Budi Darma People from BloomingtonOrang-orang BloomingtonIndonesian [47]
2025 Brian Robert Moore Michele Mari VerdigrisVerderameItalian [48]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "PEN honors Norwegian translations". Norway.com (Norway's official website in the USA). 2001. Archived from the original on February 19, 2012. Retrieved August 27, 2012.
  2. ↑ Lewine, Edward (January 17, 1999). "MAKING IT WORK; The Man Who Tracked Down Chekhov". New York Times. Archived from the original on September 26, 2015. Retrieved August 27, 2012.
  3. ↑ "Pen Translation Prize". PEN America . Archived from the original on 2 February 2017. Retrieved 27 January 2017.
  4. ↑ Wechsler, Robert (1998). "Performing Without a Stage". Performing Without a Stage: The Art of Literary Translation. Catbird Press. pp. 278–279.
  5. ↑ Bendixen, Alfred (2005). "Literary Prizes and Awards". The Continuum Encyclopedia of American Literature. Continuum International Publishing Group. p. 689. Archived from the original on 2023-02-24. Retrieved 2016-10-19.
  6. ↑ "PEN Translation Prize". PEN America . 2020-06-10. Archived from the original on 2023-02-25. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
  7. ↑ "Rediscover: W.S. Merwin". Shelf Awareness . March 19, 2019. Archived from the original on 2023-01-30. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
  8. ↑ "Obituary Note: W.S. Merwin". Shelf Awareness . March 18, 2019. Archived from the original on 2022-01-24. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
  9. ↑ "Rediscover: Blue Angel". Shelf Awareness . February 20, 2018. Archived from the original on 2022-07-19. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
  10. ↑ Rosen, Judith; Reid, Calvin (1999-04-26). "1999 PEN Book Prizes Presented in Boston and N.Y." Publishers Weekly . Archived from the original on 2023-02-27. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
  11. ↑ "Rediscover: Kristin Lavransdatter". Shelf Awareness . August 23, 2019. Archived from the original on 2022-01-20. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
  12. ↑ "2008 PEN Translation Prize". PEN America . Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved August 1, 2014.
  13. ↑ "2009 PEN Translation Prize". PEN America . Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved August 1, 2014.
  14. ↑ "2010 PEN Translation Prize". PEN America . Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved August 1, 2014.
  15. ↑ "Awards: PEN Literary Winners". Shelf Awareness . September 23, 2010. Archived from the original on 2021-05-06. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
  16. ↑ "2011 PEN Translation Prize". PEN America . Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved August 1, 2014.
  17. ↑ "2012 PEN Translation Prize". PEN America . Archived from the original on June 7, 2014. Retrieved August 1, 2014.
  18. ↑ Kellogg, Carolyn (August 14, 2013). "Jacket Copy: PEN announces winners of its 2013 awards". Los Angeles Times . Archived from the original on August 16, 2013. Retrieved August 14, 2013.
  19. ↑ "2013 PEN Translation Prize". PEN America . Archived from the original on March 26, 2014. Retrieved August 1, 2014.
  20. ↑ "Awards: PEN Literary". Shelf Awareness . August 15, 2013. Archived from the original on 2022-11-27. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
  21. ↑ Charles, Ron (July 30, 2014). "Winners of the 2014 PEN Literary Awards". Washington Post . Archived from the original on May 9, 2015. Retrieved August 1, 2014.
  22. ↑ "2014 PEN Translation Prize". PEN America . Archived from the original on July 10, 2014. Retrieved August 1, 2014.
  23. ↑ "Awards: PEN Literary". Shelf Awareness . July 31, 2014. Archived from the original on 2020-08-15. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
  24. ↑ Kellogg, Carolyn (May 13, 2015). "PEN announces award-winners and shortlists". LA Times . Archived from the original on May 15, 2015. Retrieved May 14, 2015.
  25. ↑ "2015 PEN Literary Award Winners". PEN America . Archived from the original on May 16, 2015. Retrieved May 14, 2015.
  26. ↑ "Awards: PEN Literary; New Children's Author". Shelf Awareness . May 14, 2015. Archived from the original on 2021-09-26. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
  27. ↑ Galehouse, Maggie (March 1, 2016). "PEN Literary Award winners announced". Chron. Archived from the original on March 2, 2016. Retrieved March 2, 2016.
  28. ↑ "2016 PEN Literary Award Winners". PEN America . March 1, 2016. Archived from the original on March 1, 2016. Retrieved March 2, 2016.
  29. ↑ Maher, John (2016-04-12). "Morrison, Coates, Redniss Win 2016 PEN Awards". Publishers Weekly . Archived from the original on 2022-08-18. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
  30. ↑ "Awards: Windham-Campbell; PEN Literary". Shelf Awareness . March 2, 2016. Archived from the original on 2022-08-19. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
  31. ↑ "2017 PEN America Literary Awards Winners - PEN America". PEN America . 2017-03-27. Archived from the original on 2017-08-02. Retrieved 2017-08-02.
  32. ↑ "Awards: Los Angeles Times; PEN Literary". Shelf Awareness . February 23, 2017. Archived from the original on 2022-05-23. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
  33. ↑ Maher, John (February 21, 2018). "Long Soldier, Zhang, Le Guin Win At 2018 PEN Literary Awards". Publishers Weekly . Archived from the original on February 22, 2018. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
  34. ↑ "The 2018 PEN America Literary Awards Winners". PEN America . February 20, 2018. Archived from the original on February 21, 2018. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
  35. ↑ Anderson, Porter (January 31, 2018). "Industry Notes: PEN America's Finalists". Publishing Perspectives. Archived from the original on February 22, 2018. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
  36. ↑ "Awards: PEN America Literary; L.A. Times Book Finalists". Shelf Awareness . February 22, 2018. Archived from the original on 2022-10-01. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
  37. ↑ Maher, John (2019-02-27). "'Daring Works' Fêted at 2019 PEN America Literary Awards". Publishers Weekly . Archived from the original on 2022-09-24. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
  38. ↑ "PEN America Literary Award Winners Honored". Shelf Awareness . February 27, 2019. Archived from the original on 2022-12-26. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
  39. ↑ Reid, Calvin (2020-03-04). "Writers Li, Lok, de Waal Win Big at PEN Lit Awards". Publishers Weekly . Archived from the original on 2022-12-06. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
  40. ↑ "PEN America Literary Award Winners Honored". Shelf Awareness . March 4, 2020. Archived from the original on 2022-08-19. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
  41. ↑ "2021 PEN America Literary Awards Given to Top Literary Stars of the Year, Lifelong Luminaries of Literary Excellence". PEN America . 2021-04-08. Archived from the original on 2021-04-27. Retrieved 2021-04-27.
  42. ↑ Reid, Calvin (2021-04-08). "Gay, Wang, Ehrenreich, Hartman Win at 2021 PEN Lit Awards". Publishers Weekly . Archived from the original on 2022-12-05. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
  43. ↑ Anderson, Porter (2021-04-09). "PEN America's 2021 Winners Include Translators Emma Ramadan, Steve Bradbury". Publishing Perspectives. Archived from the original on 2022-09-04. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
  44. ↑ "Emma Ramadan's PEN Translation Win". Shelf Awareness . April 12, 2021. Archived from the original on 2023-02-24. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
  45. ↑ "Julia Sanches Wins PEN Translation Prize for Migratory Birds". Transit Books . 2022-03-01. Archived from the original on 2023-02-27. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
  46. ↑ Stewart, Sophia (2022-03-01). "Hernández, Choi, Renkl, Peters, and Miles Win 2022 PEN Lit Awards". Publishers Weekly . Archived from the original on 2022-11-30. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
  47. ↑ Mem: 10118712. "Tsao wins US PEN Translation Prize | Books+Publishing" . Retrieved 2023-04-17.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  48. ↑ "2025 PEN America Literary Awards Winners" . Retrieved 2025-05-18.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.