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Warwick Prize for Women in Translation longlist revealed

16 titles have been longlisted for the Warwick Prize for Women in Translation, a new prize that aims 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. The 2017 prize is being judged by:

  • Boyd Tonkin, Special Adviser, Man Booker International Prize
  • Susan Bassnett, Emeritus Professor of Comparative Literature at the University of Warwick
  • Amanda Hopkinson, Visiting Professor in Literary Translation, City, University of London

The competition received a total of 58 eligible entries. The longlisted titles include 11 works of prose fiction, 2 poetry collections, 2 children’s books and one work of literary non-fiction, and cover 12 languages, with German, Polish and Dutch being the most represented. 12 publishers have had their titles included on the list, with Portobello, Pushkin Press and Pushkin Children’s Books having multiple nominees.

Belarusian Nobel Laureate Svetlana Alexievich is among the longlistees, for Second-hand Time, translated by Bela Sheyavich, which chronicles the demise of Communism in the Soviet Union via documentary interviews. Award-winning translator of Portuguese and Spanish, Margaret Jull Costa, who won the 2017 Best Translated Book Award, is longlisted for The Art of Being a Tiger, the collected poems of Ana Luísa Amaral. Longlisted title Fever Dream by Samanta Schweblin, translated by Megan McDowell, was also shortlisted for the 2017 Man Booker International Prize.

The shortlist for the prize will be announced in early October. The winner will be announced in an evening ceremony at the Warwick Arts Centre on Wednesday 15 November.

  • For further information about the prize, please contact Chantal Wright at womenintranslation at warwick dot ac dot uk dot

The full list of longlisted titles is as follows:

  • The Art of being a Tiger by Ana Luísa Amaral, translated from Portuguese by Margaret Jull Costa (Liverpool University Press, 2016)
  • The Song of Seven by Tonke Dragt, translated from Dutch by Laura Watkinson (Pushkin Children’s Books, 2016)
  • Clementine Loves Red by Krystyna Boglar, translated from Polish by Antonia Lloyd-Jones and Zosia Krasodomska-Jones (Pushkin Children’s Books, 2016)
  • Second-hand Time by Svetlana Alexievich, translated from Russian by Bela Shayevich (Fitzcarraldo Editions, 2016)
  • Life Begins on Friday by Iona Pârvulescu, translated from Romanian by Alistair Ian Blyth (Istros Books, 2016)
  • Memoirs of a Polar Bear by Yoko Tawada, translated from German by Susan Bernofsky (Portobello Books, 2016)
  • The Fox was ever the Hunter by Herta Müller, translated from German by Philip Boehm (Portobello Books, 2016)
  • Eva Sleeps by Francesca Melandri, translated from Italian by Katherine Gregor (Europa Editions, 2016)
  • Mirror, Shoulder, Signal by Dorthe Nors, translated from Danish by Misha Hoekstra (Pushkin Press, 2017)
  • Swallowing Mercury by Wioletta Greg, translated from Polish by Eliza Marciniak (Portobello Books, 2017)
  • Fever Dream by Samanta Schweblin, translated from Spanish by Megan McDowell (Oneworld Publications, 2017)
  • Swallow Summer by Larissa Boehning, translated from German by Lyn Marven (Comma Press, 2016)
  • The Dutch Maiden by Marente de Moor, translated from Dutch by David Doherty (World Editions, 2016)
  • Record of a Night Too Brief by Hiromi Kawakami, translated from Japanese by Lucy North (Pushkin Press, 2017)
  • Mårbacka by Selma Lagerlöf, translated from Swedish by Sarah Death (Norvik Press, 2016)
  • The Coast Road by Ailbhe Ní Ghearbhuigh, translated from Irish by Michael Coady, Peter Fallon, Tom French, Alan Gillis, Vona Groarke, John McAuliffe, Medbh McGuckian, Paul Muldoon, Michelle O’Sullivan, Justin Quinn, Billy Ramsell, Peter Sirr and David Wheatley (The Gallery Press, 2016)

13 September 2017

 

Contact:

Tom Frew, Senior Press and Media Relations Manager – University of Warwick:

E: a.t.frew@warwick.ac.uk
M: +44(0)7785433155