The Best Translated Book Award (BTBA) was created in 2007 by Three Percent, the international literature website of New York's University of Rochester. It is awarded in two categories: fiction and poetry. The inaugural awards in 2008 were chosen by popular vote of readers, while in the past two years the winners were chosen by a panel of judges.
All original translations published in the U.S. are qualified for the award. Re-translations and reprints are not eligible. The entries are judged for the "complete package" of the book, not only for the translation but for the work of the original writer, translator, editor, and publisher.
Below is the list of winners and finalists for the BTBA fiction category.
2010
Winner:
The Confessions of Noa Weber by Gail Hareven (Israel, Melville House)
Translated from the Hebrew by Dalya Bilu
Finalists:
Anonymous Celebrity by Ignácio de Loyola Brandão (Brazil, Dalkey Archive Press)
Translated from the Portuguese by Nelson Vieira
The Discoverer by Jan Kjærstad (Norway, Open Letter)
Translated from the Norwegian by Barbara Haveland
Ghosts by César Aira (Argentina, New Directions)
Translated from the Spanish by Chris Andrews
Memories of the Future by Sigizmund Krzhizhanovsky (Russia, New York Review Books)
Translated from the Russian by Joanne Turnbull
Rex by José Manuel Prieto (Cuba, Grove Books)
Translated from the Spanish by Esther Allen
The Tanners by Robert Walser (Switzerland, New Directions)
Translated from the German by Susan Bernofsky
The Twin by Gerbrand Bakker (Netherlands, Archipelago Books)
Translated from the Dutch by David Colmer
The Weather Fifteen Years Ago by Wolf Haas (Austria, Ariadne Press)
Translated from the German by Stephanie Gilardi and Thomas S Hansen
Wonder by Hugo Claus (Belgium, Archipelago Books)
Translated from the Dutch by Michael Henry Heim
2009
Winner:
Tranquility by Attila Bartis
Translated from the Hungarian by Imre Goldstein (Archipelago)
Finalists:
2666 by Roberto Bolaño (Farrar, Straus & Giroux)
Translated from the Spanish by Natasha Wimmer
Nazi Literature in the Americas by Roberto Bolaño (New Directions)
Translated from the Spanish by Chris Andrews
Voice Over by Céline Curiol (Seven Stories)
Translated from the French by Sam Richard
The Darkroom of Damocles by Willem Frederik Hermans (Overlook)
Translated from the Dutch by Ina Rilke
Yalo by Elias Khoury (Archipelago Books)
Translated from the Arabic by Peter Theroux
Senselessness by Horacio Castellanos Moya (New Directions)
Translated from the Spanish by Katherine Silver
Unforgiving Years by Victor Serge (New York Review Books)
Translated from the French by Richard Greeman
Bonsai by Alejandro Zambra (Melville House)
Translated from the Spanish by Carolina De Robertis
The Post-Office Girl by Stefan Zweig (New York Review Books)
Translated from the German by Joel Rotenberg
Sources:
BTBA
Wikipedia
2010 translated fiction shortlist
2010 translated poetry finalists
I find this list very useful. From this year's shortlist, I read Discoverer, Confessions of Noa Weber and Memories of the future - all excellent books. I would like to try out more.
ReplyDeleteMe, too! I read only 'Ghosts' this year. And 2 Bolaños last year. Most of these titles are really hard to find in stores. But I'll still hunt for them.
ReplyDelete