2019 Albertine Prize Announced

At a ceremony in New York, the winner of the 2019 Albertine Prize was announced this evening: Disoriental by Négar Djavadi, translated by Tina Kover. The Albertine Prize is unique in that the winner is chosen by the reading public (voting online) from a list of finalists selected by a panel of judges. Kover’s translation of Djavadi’s novel is a very worthy recipient of this honor. The prize comes with a $10,000 purse split (quite unevenly, alas: 80:20) between author and translator.

This year, the French Cultural Services gave out a second set of prizes too, the Prix Albertine Jeunesse in three categories, honoring the best Francophone kids’ books available in English translation. These readers choice awards were voted on by readers in three age categories:

  • 3-6 years old: The Lonely Little Ghost by Bénédicte Guettier, translator not credited (ed. Casterman, 2008)
  • · 7-9 years old: The Tiger Prince by Chen Jiang Hong, translated by Alyson Waters (ed. École des loisirs, 2005)
  • ·  10-11 years old: Cloud Chaser by Anne-Fleur Drillon and Eric Puybaret, translated by Lisa Rosinsky (ed. Margot, 2014)

Lamentably, the translators of these books are not credited in the announcement on LitHub, nor on Albertine’s website announcement of the shortlist. Please do better, Albertine! Sometimes children’s books are translated anonymously by members of the production team, but at least one of these winning translations was made by a respected translator of “adult” books, while the other is a YA author in her own right.

Congratulations to all the translators whose work was honored tonight!

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