The longlists for the 2018 National Translation Award that were announced back in July have just been followed up by shortlists! The NTA in Poetry and Prose is given out each year by the The American Literary Translators Association (ALTA) at its annual convention. This year’s judges are Kareem James Abu-Zeid, Jennifer Feeley, and Sawako Nakayasu for poetry, and Esther Allen, Tess Lewis, and Jeremy Tiang for prose. Each prize comes with a purse of $2,500. The awards will be announced at the ALTA Conference in Bloomington, IN (Oct. 31 – Nov. 3).
Behold the shortlists:
The 2018 NTA Shortlist in Poetry (in alphabetical order by title):
Directions for Use by Ana Ristović, translated from the Serbian by Steven Teref and Maja Teref
(Zephyr Press)
Hackers by Aase Berg, translated from the Swedish by Johannes Göransson
(Black Ocean)
I Remember Nightfall by Marosa di Giorgio, translated from the Spanish by Jeannine Marie Pitas
(Ugly Duckling Presse)
The Odyssey by Homer, translated from the Greek by Emily Wilson
(W. W. Norton & Company)
Sonic Peace by Kiriu Minashita, translated from the Japanese by Spencer Thurlow and Eric Hyett
(Phoneme Media)
Third-Millennium Heart by Ursula Andkjær Olsen, translated from the Danish by Katrine Øgaard Jensen
(Action Books)
The 2018 NTA Shortlist in Prose (in alphabetical order by title):
Compass by Mathias Énard, translated from the French by Charlotte Mandell
(New Directions)
Dandelions by Yasunari Kawabata, translated from the Japanese by Michael Emmerich
(New Directions)
Ghachar Ghochar by Vivek Shanbhag, translated from the Kannada by Srinath Perur
(Penguin Books)
The Impossible Fairy Tale by Han Yujoo, translated from the Korean by Janet Hong
(Graywolf Press)
Old Rendering Plant by Wolfgang Hilbig, translated from the German by Isabel Fargo Cole
(Two Lines Press)
Swallowing Mercury by Wioletta Greg, translated from the Polish by Eliza Marciniak
(Transit Books)
For more information on the shortlisted books and the NTA, visit the ALTA website. To enjoy the excitement of the prize ceremony, register now for the ALTA Conference!