The Warwick Prize for Women in Translation is an annual award for work by a female author translated into English and published by a UK-based or Irish publisher during the previous calendar year. The prize was established in 2017 "to address the gender imbalance in translated literature and to increase the number of international women’s voices accessible by a British and Irish readership."[1] The prize is open to works of fiction, poetry, literary non-fiction, and fiction for children or young adults. Only works written by a woman are eligible; the gender of the translator is immaterial. The £1,000 prize is divided evenly between the author and her translator(s), or goes entirely to the translator(s) in cases where the writer is no longer living. The prize is funded and administered by the University of Warwick.[2][3]
The prize was established following research conducted by the University of Warwick which revealed a significant gender imbalance in translated literature published in the UK, where only about a third of translated works were written by women. The award was founded to specifically address and improve these statistics.[4]
The Warwick Prize for Women in Translation is an annual literary award established in 2017 by the University of Warwick to address the severe gender imbalance in translated literature published in the UK and Ireland, where women authors historically made up only about 30% of translated titles.[5][6] The £1,000 prize is shared equally between the writer and her translator(s) (or awarded fully to the translator if the author is deceased).[7]
Establishment and criteria
Founded by translation scholar Chantal Wright, the prize responded to data showing translated fiction accounted for only 3.5% of UK publications but 7% of sales — with women heavily underrepresented.[7] Eligible works include fiction, poetry, literary non-fiction, and children’s/young adult literature written by a woman in any language, published in print by a UK or Irish publisher between 1 April and 31 March.[7]
Impact and reception
Submissions have grown from 58 entries in 2017 to 145 in 2025 across 34 languages.[8] The Three Percent Translation Database records a rise from ~28% female-authored translations in 2015 to ~33% in 2025.[9] Some critics argue single-gender prizes risk “ghettoising” women writers, despite increased visibility.[10]
<--! Scope 1: limited to UK and Republic of Ireland publishers --> <--! Scope 2: limited to UK and Republic of Ireland publishers --> <--! Scope 3: open to writers/translators internationally -->
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