The National Translation Award is awarded annually by the American Literary Translators Association for literary translators who have made an outstanding contribution to literature in English by masterfully recreating the artistic force of a book of consummate quality. Since 2015 the prize has been awarded separately in categories of prose and poetry. Established in 1998, the NTA is the only prize for a work of literary translation into English to include a full evaluation of the source language text. As of 2025, the award is worth $4,000 given to the translator. The award is usually given to translations of previously untranslated contemporary works or first-time translations of older works, but important re-translations have also been honored. The winning translators and books are featured at the annual conference of the American Literary Translators Association.
The ALTA also awards the Lucien Stryk Asian Translation Prize, Italian Prose in Translation Award, the Spain-USA Foundation Translation Award, the ALTA First Translation Prize, and the ALTA Travel Fellowships.
Winners
National Translation Award 2007-2014 YearGenreTranslatorWorkLanguage2007Prose Joel Agee The Selected Writings of Friedrich Dürrenmatt by Friedrich Dürrenmatt (University of Chicago) German 2008Drama Richard Wilbur The Theatre of Illusion by Pierre Corneille (Harvest Books) French 2009Poetry Norman R. Shapiro French Women Poets of Nine Centuries: The Distaff and the Pen by Multiple (Johns Hopkins University Press) French2010Prose Alex Zucker All This Belongs to Me by Petra Hůlová (Northwestern University Press) Czech 2011Poetry Lisa Rose Bradford Between Words: Juan Gelman's Public Letter by Juan Gelman (Coimbra Editions) Spanish2012Poetry Sinan Antoon In the Presence of Absence by Mahmoud Darwish (Archipelago) Arabic2013Prose Philip Boehm The Hunger Angel by Herta Müller (Picador) German2014Poetry Eugene Ostashevsky & Matvei Yankelevich An Invitation for Me to Think by Alexander Vvedensky (NYRB Poets) Russian
National Translation Award 2015-Current
2015 marked the first year in which two separate National Translation Awards were given, one for poetry and one for prose.
YearGenreTranslatorWorkLanguageJudges2015Poetry Pierre Joris Breathturn into Timestead by Paul Celan (FSG) FrenchLisa Rose Bradford, Stephen Kessler, Diana Thow2015Prose William Hutchins New Waw, Saharan Oasis by Ibrahim al-Koni (University of Texas) Arabic Pamela Carmell, Jason Grunebaum, Anne Magnan-Park2016Poetry Hilary Kaplan Rilke Shake by Angélica Freitas (Phoneme Media) PortugueseAdriana Jacobs, Karen Kovacik, Cole Swensen2016Prose Elizabeth Harris Tristano Dies: A Life by Antonio Tabucchi (Archipelago) Italian Karen Emmerich, Andrea Labinger, Marian Schwartz2017Poetry Daniel Borzutzky Valdivia by Galo Ghigliotto (co.im.press) SpanishAni Gjika, Katrine Øgaard Jensen, Gregory Racz2017Prose Esther Allen Zama by Antonio di Benedetto (NYRB Classics) SpanishCarol Apollonio, Ottilie Mulzet, Eric M. B. Becker2018Poetry Katrine Øgaard Jensen Third-Millennium Heart by Ursula Andkjær Olsen (Action Books) DanishKareem James Abu-Zeid, Jennifer Feeley, Sawako Nakayasu2018Prose Charlotte Mandell Compass by Mathias Énard (New Directions) FrenchEsther Allen, Tess Lewis, Jeremy Tiang2019Poetry Bill Johnston Pan Tadeusz: The Last Foray in Lithuania by Adam Mickiewicz (Archipelago) PolishAnna Deeny Morales, Cole Heinowitz, Sholeh Wolpe2019Prose Karen Emmerich What’s Left of the Night by Ersi Sotiropoulos (New Vessel Press) GreekBonnie Huie, Charlotte Mandell, Jeffrey Zuckerman2020Prose Jordan StumpThe Cheffe: A Cook's Novel by Marie NDiaye (A.A. Knopf)French Amaia Gabantxo, Emmanuel D. Harris II, and William Maynard Hutchins2020Poetry Jake Levine, Soeun Seo, and Hedgie ChoiHysteria by Kim Yi-deumKoreanIlya Kaminsky, Lisa Katz, and Farid Matuk2021ProseTejaswini NiranjanaNo Presents Please: Mumbai Stories by Jayant KaikiniKannadaJennifer Croft, Anton Hur, Annie Janusch2021PoetryGeoffrey BrockAllegria by Giuseppe UngarettiItalianSinan Antoon, Layla Benitez-James, Sibelan Forrester2022ProseMartin AitkenThe Morning Star by Karl Ove KnausgaardNorwegianSuzanne Jill Levine, Arunava Sinha, Annie Tucker2022PoetryD. M. BlackPurgatorio by Dante AlighieriItalianHélène Cardona, Boris Dralyuk, Archana Venkatesan2023ProseNguyễn An LýChinatown by ThuậnVietnameseNatascha Bruce, Shelley Frisch, Jason Grunebaum, Sawad Hussain, Lytton Smith2023PoetryRobyn CreswellThe Threshold by Iman MersalArabicPauline Fan, Heather Green, Shook2024ProseJamie RichardsThe Hunger of Women by Marosia CastaldiItalianPhilip Boehm, Shelley Fairweather-Vega, Will Forrester, Joon-Li Kim, poupeh missaghi2024PoetryCole SwensenAnd the Street by Pierre AlferiFrenchKazim Ali, Ronnie Apter, Mary Jo Bang2025ProseBarbara RomaineSand-Catcher by Omar Khalifah ArabicGeorge Henson, Hoyoung Moon, Ilze Duarte, Manjushree, Thapa, Peter, Constantine 2025PoetryDaniel OwenDocument Shredding Museum by Afrizal Malna IndonesianConor Bracken, Dongshin Chang, Rachel Galvin
Lucien Stryk Asian Translation Prize
Since 2009 the Lucien Stryk Asian Translation Prize is awarded at the same time as the NTA by the ALTA and recognizes the best translation into English of book-length Asian poetry or source texts from Zen Buddhism published in the previous calendar year. It is named for Lucien Stryk, an American Zen poet and translator. The winning translator is awarded $6,000.
Year Translator Book and author Language 2010Red Pine In Such Hard Times: The Poetry of Wei Ying-wu by Wei Ying-wu Chinese 2011 Charles Egan Clouds Thick, Whereabouts Unknown: Poems by Zen Monks of China Chinese 2012 Don Mee Choi All the Garbage of the World, Unite! by Kim Hyesoon Korean 2013 Lucas Klein Notes on the Mosquito by Xi Chuan Chinese 2014 Jonathan Chaves Every Rock a Universe: The Yellow Mountains and Chinese Travel Writing Chinese 2015 Eleanor Goodman Something Crosses My Mind by Wang Xiaoni Chinese 2016 Sawako Nakayasu The Collected Poems of Chika Sagawa by Chika Sagawa Japanese 2017 Jennifer Feeley Not Written Words by Xi Xi Chinese 2018 Bonnie Huie Notes of a Crocodile by Qiu Miaojin Chinese 2019 Don Mee Choi Autobiography of Death by Kim Hyesoon Korean 2020 Jake Levine, Soeun Seo, and Hedgie Choi Hysteria by Kim Yi-deum Korean 2021Archana VenkatesanEndless Song by NammāḻvārTamil2022Jae KimCold Candies by Lee Young-juKorean2023Wong MayIn the Same Light: 200 Poems for Our Century From the Migrants & Exiles of the Tang DynastyChinese2024Wen-chi Li and Colin BramwellDecapitated Poetry by Ko-hua ChenChinese2025Colin LeemarshallJust Like by Lee SumyeongKorean
Italian Prose in Translation Award
Since 2015 the Italian Prose in Translation Award (IPTA) recognizes the importance of contemporary Italian prose (fiction and literary non-fiction) and promotes the translation of Italian works into English. This $5,000 prize will be awarded annually to a translator of a work of Italian prose (fiction or literary non-fiction) published in the previous calendar year.
Year Translator Book and author Language 2015 Anne Milano Appel Blindly by Claudio Magris Italian2016 Ann Goldstein The Story of the Lost Child by Elena Ferrante Italian 2017 Matthew Holden We Want Everything by Nanni Balestrini Italian 2018 Elizabeth Harris For Isabel, A Mandala by Antonio Tabucchi Italian 2019 Simon Carnell and Erica Segre The Eight Mountains by Paolo Cognetti Italian 2020 Frederika Randall I Am God by Giacomo Sartori Italian 2021Stephen TwilleyDiary of a Foreigner in Paris by Curzio MalaparteItalian & French2022Anna Chiafele and Lisa PikePenelope by Silvana La SpinaItalian2023Michael F. MooreThe Betrothed by Alessandro ManzoniItalian
References
External links The National Translation Award