Warwick Prize for Women in Translation

The Warwick Prize for Women in Translation is an annual award for work by a female author translated into English and published by a UK-based or Irish publisher during the previous calendar year. The prize was established in 2017 "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 prize is open to works of fiction, poetry, literary non-fiction, and fiction for children or young adults. Only works written by a woman are eligible; the gender of the translator is immaterial. The £1,000 prize is divided evenly between the author and her translator(s), or goes entirely to the translator(s) in cases where the writer is no longer living. The prize is funded and administered by the University of Warwick.

The prize was established following research conducted by the University of Warwick which revealed a significant gender imbalance in translated literature published in the UK, where only about a third of translated works were written by women. The award was founded to specifically address and improve these statistics.

Establishment and criteria Founded by translation scholar Chantal Wright, the prize responded to data showing translated fiction accounted for only 3.5% of UK publications but 7% of sales — with women heavily underrepresented. Eligible works include fiction, poetry, literary non-fiction, and children’s/young adult literature written by a woman in any language, published in print by a UK or Irish publisher between 1 April and 31 March.

Impact and reception Submissions have grown from 58 entries in 2017 to 145 in 2025 across 34 languages. The Three Percent Translation Database records a rise from ~28% female-authored translations in 2015 to ~33% in 2025. Some critics argue single-gender prizes risk “ghettoising” women writers, despite increased visibility.

Recipients Year Author Translator(s) Title Original language Publisher (UK/Ireland) Result Ref. 2017 Yoko Tawada Susan Bernofsky Memoirs of a Polar Bear Japanese(translated from German) Portobello Books Winner 2018 Daša Drndić Celia Hawkesworth Belladonna Croatian Istros Books Winner 2019 Annie Ernaux Alison L. Strayer The YearsLes Années French Fitzcarraldo Editions Winner 2020 Nino Haratischwili Charlotte Collins & Ruth Martin The Eighth Life (For Brilka)Das achte Leben (Für Brilka) German Scribe UK Winner 2021 Judith Schalansky Jackie Smith An Inventory of LossesVerzeichnis einiger Verluste German MacLehose Press Winner 2022 Marit Kapla Peter Graves Osebol Swedish Allen Lane Joint winner 2022 Geetanjali Shree Daisy Rockwell Tomb of Sand Hindi Tilted Axis Press Joint winner 2023 Deena Mohamed Deena Mohamed Your Wish Is My Command Arabic Granta Books Winner 2024 Nelly Sachs Andrew Shanks Revelation Freshly Erupting German Carcanet Press Winner 2025 Johanna Ekström & Sigrid Rausing Sigrid Rausing And the Walls Became the World All AroundOch väggarna förvandlades till världen runtomkring Swedish Granta Books Winner

References

External links

zh:沃里克女性翻譯獎

Recipients +Award winners, shortlists, and longlistsYear AuthorTranslator(s) Title Result 2017 Memoirs of a Polar BearWinner Second-hand TimeShortlistSwallow Summer and Zosia Krasodomska-JonesClementine Loves Red , 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 Swallowing Mercury LonglistLife Begins on FridayEva SleepsMirror, Shoulder, Signal Fever DreamRecord of a Night Too Brief Mårbacka2018 Belladonna Winner FlightsShortlist Go, Went, Gone River BangLonglist Hair Everywhere Land of Smoke Letti Park Maybe Esther 1947 Of Dogs and Walls Vernon Subutex One2019 Winner DisorientalShortlist Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead Katalin Street with Elhum ShakerifarNegative of a Group Photograph People in the RoomBrother In IceLonglistConvenience Store WomanPicnic in the StormSeason of the ShadowShadows on the TundraThick of ItZuleikha2020 and Ruth MartinWinner, edited by Boel Westin and Letters from ToveRunner-upLake Like a MirrorShortlistWhite HorseHappiness, As SuchThirteen Months of SunriseAbigailDependencyLonglistIsabellaPixelSummer of Reckoning and Fiona Macintosh and Magdalena Edwards and Fleur JeremiahThings that Fall from the SkyVivian2021Jackie SmithWinnerStrange Beasts of ChinaRunner-UpMelanie MauthnerOur Lady of the NileShortlist and Sam BettBreasts and EggsIn Memory of MemoryWar of the Beasts and the AnimalsEllis Island: A People's HistoryLonglistNot a NovelPeople From My NeighborhoodGroveLittle Dancer Aged FourteenArid DreamsMinor Detail2022 Osebol: Voices from a Swedish Village Winner Tomb of SandBrickmakersShortlistMarzahn, Mon AmourMen Don’t CryThree SummersWhen I Sing, Mountains DanceLonglistPlanet of ClaySlime: A Natural History and Ian McCullough MacDonaldThings Remembered and Things ForgottenTo Love A Woman and Jean SpracklandWhy I No Longer Write Poems2023Your Wish Is My CommandWinnerHighly commendedShortlistBarcodeCocoonWhat Have You Left Behind?ThuậnChinatownLonglistForbidden NotebookOwlish and Emma Ramadanti amo2024Revelation Freshly EruptingWinnerKairosSpecial mention and e. yaewonGreek LessonsShortlistSleepless and Margaret Jull CostaToo Much of Life: Complete ChroniclesWhite NightsÆdnan: An EpicLonglistDeath of the Red Rider: A Leningrad ConfidentialEdo’s SoulsHoly Winter 20/21Marianna SircaMild Vertigo and Anam ZafarYoghurt and Jam (or How My Mother Became Lebanese)2025 and And the Walls Became the World All AroundWinnerDésirée Congo ShortlistFrancis Bacon’s NannyMy Secret LifeToo Great A Sky and Paige Aniyah MorrisWe Do Not PartDjinnsLonglistThe EmpusiumHungry for WhatLies and SorceryPhantom Pain WingsTranslation of the RouteUn AmorVanishing Points

See also

List of literary awards honoring women

References