The National Book Award for Translated Literature, is one of five annual National Book Awards in the US, recognising outstanding literary works of translation into English and administered by the National Book Foundation. This award was previously bestowed from 1967 to 1983 but did not require the author to be living and was for works of fiction only. It was reintroduced in its current form in 2018 and is open to living translators and authors, for works of both fiction and non-fiction.
The award recognises one book published by a U.S. publisher located in the United States from December 1 of the previous year to November 30 in the award year. The original text need not have been published in the year of the award submission, only the translated work. For the Translated Literature award neither author nor translator are required to be U.S. citizens.
Entries for the National Book Awards are open from March until May. A longlist of ten books is announced in September with a shortlist of five following in October. The winner is announced at a ceremony in November. The prizes are split equally between the author and the translator.
Awards
This list only covers the current version of the National Book Award for Translated Literature from its reintroduction in 2018. Winners from 1967 to 1983 are covered in the complete list of winners of the National Book Award.
2018 The prize was judged by Karen Maeda Allman, Sinan Antoon, Susan Bernofsky, and Álvaro Enrigue and chaired by Harold Augenbraum. The longlist was announced on September 12. The finalists were announced October 10. The winner was announced on November 14, 2018. +2018 National Book Award for Translated Literature honoreesAuthorTitleOriginal languageTranslatorCountry of PublicationPublisherResultJapanese-New Directions PublishingWinnerDisorientalFrench-Europa EditionsFinalistsTrickItalianEuropa EditionsFlightsPolishRiverhead BooksLoveNorwegianArchipelago BooksComemadreSpanishCoffee House PressLonglistArabic-New Directions PublishingOne Part WomanTamilBlack CatAetherial WorldsRussianAlfred A. KnopfWait, Blink: A Perfect Picture of Inner LifeNorwegianFarrar, Straus and Giroux
2019 The prize was judged by Keith Gessen, Elisabeth Jaquette, Katie Kitamura, and Shuchi Saraswat and chaired by Idra Novey. The longlist was announced on September 17. Finalists were announced on October 8. The winner was announced on November 20, 2019. +2019 National Book Award for Translated Literature honoreesAuthorTitleOriginal languageTranslatorCountry of PublicationPublisherResultBaron Wenckheim's HomecomingHungarian New Directions PublishingWinnerDeath is Hard WorkArabic Farrar, Straus and GirouxFinalistsFrench ArchipelagoJapanese Pantheon BooksCrossingFinnish David HackstonPantheon BooksPortuguese Graywolf PressLonglistSpace InvadersSpanish Graywolf PressWill and TestamentNorwegian Verso BooksDrive Your Plow Over the Bones of the DeadPolish Riverhead BooksWhen Death Takes Something From You Give it BackDanish Coffee House Press
2020 The prize was judged by Heather Cleary, John Darnielle, Anne Ishii, and Brad Johnson and chaired by Dinaw Mengestu. The longlist was announced on September 16 with the shortlist following on October 6. The winner was announced on November 18, 2020. +2020 National Book Award for Translated Literature honoreesAuthorTitleOriginal languageTranslatorPublisherResultTokyo Ueno StationJapaneseRiverhead Books / Penguin Random HouseWinnerHigh as the Waters RiseGermanCatapult PressFinalistsSwedishFarrar, Straus and Giroux / Macmillan PublishersSpanishWorld EditionsMinor DetailArabicNew Directions PublishingThe Enlightenment of the Greengage TreePersianAnonymousEuropa EditionsKim Jiyoung, Born 1982KoreanLiveright / W. W. Norton & CompanyLonglistTamilBlack Cat / Grove AtlanticHurricane SeasonSpanishNew Directions PublishingSwedishWorld Editions
2021 The prize was judged by Jessie Chaffee, Sergio de la Pava, Madhu H. Kaza, and Achy Obejas and chaired by Stephen Snyder. The longlist was announced on September 15 with the shortlist following on October 5. The winner was announced on November 17, 2021. +2021 National Book Award for Translated Literature honoreesAuthorTitleOriginal languageTranslatorPublisherResultWinter in SokchoFrenchOpen Letter BooksWinnerPeach Blossom ParadiseChineseNew York Review BooksFinalistsSpanishGraywolf PressWhen We Cease to Understand the WorldSpanish New York Review BooksPlanet of ClayArabicWorld EditionsWaiting for the Waters to RiseFrenchWorld EditionsLonglistOn the Origin of Species and Other StoriesKorean and Sora Kim-RussellKaya PressRabbit IslandSpanishTwo Lines PressGermanNew Directions PublishingIn Memory of MemoryRussianNew Directions Publishing
2022 The prize was judged by Nick Buzanski, Veronica Esposito, Ann Goldstein (chair), Rohan Kamicheril, and Russell Scott Valentino. The longlist was announced on September 14 with the shortlist following on October 4. The winner was announced on November 16, 2022. +2022 National Book Award for Translated Literature honoreesAuthorTitleOriginal languageTranslatorPublisherResultSeven Empty HousesSpanishRiverhead Books / Penguin Random HouseWinnerNorwegianTransit BooksFinalistsKibogoFrenchArchipelago BooksJawboneSpanishCoffee House PressScattered All Over the EarthJapaneseNew Directions PublishingIbn Arabi's Small DeathArabicCenter for Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Texas at AustinLonglistSeasons of PurgatoryPersianBellevue Literary PressDanishNew Directions PublishingWhere You Come FromGermanTin House BooksPolishRiverhead Books / Penguin Random House
2023 Members of the prize jury were Geoffrey Brock, Arthur Malcolm Dixon, Cristina Rodriguez, T. Denean Sharpley-Whiting, and Jeremy Tiang (chair). The longlist was announced on September 13 with the shortlist following on October 4. The winner was announced on November 16, 2023. +2023 National Book Award for Translated Literature honoreesAuthorTitleOriginal languageTranslatorPublisherResultPortugueseNew Vessel PressWinnerCursed BunnyKoreanAlgonquin Books / Hachette Book GroupFinalistsBeyond the Door of No ReturnFrenchFarrar, Straus and Giroux / Macmillan PublishersAbyssSpanishWorld EditionsOn a Woman's MadnessDutchTwo Lines PressSpanishCoffee House PressLonglistKairosGermanCoffee House PressNo One Prayed Over Their GravesArabicFarrar, Straus and Giroux / Macmillan PublishersThis is Not MiamiSpanishNew Directions PublishingFrenchOther Press
2024 Members of the prize jury were Aron Aji, Jennifer Croft, Jhumpa Lahiri (chair), Gary Lovely and Julia Sanches. The longlist was announced on September 13 with the shortlist following on October 1. The winner was announced on November 20, 2024.
+2024 National Book Award for Translated Literature honoreesAuthorTitleOriginal languageTranslatorPublisherResultTaiwan TravelogueMandarin ChineseGraywolf PressWinnerThe Book Censor's LibraryArabic and Sawad HussainRestless BooksFinalistsÆdnanSwedishKnopf / Penguin Random HouseThe Villain's DanceFrenchDeep VellumWhere the Wind Calls HomeArabicWorld EditionsThe Tale of a Wall: Reflections on the Meaning of Hope and FreedomArabicOther PressLonglistOn the Calculation of Volume (Book I)DanishNew Directions PublishingWoodwormSpanish and Annie McDermottTwo Lines PressPink Slime SpanishScribner / Simon & SchusterThe AbyssSpanishNew Directions Publishing
2025 Members of the prize jury are Stesha Brandon (chair), Sergio Gutiérrez Negrón, Bill Johnston, Annette Joseph-Gabriel and Karen Tei Yamashita. The longlist was announced on September 13 with the shortlist following on October 7. The winner was announced on November 19, 2025.
+2025 National Book Award for Translated Literature honoreesAuthorTitleOriginal languageTranslatorPublisherResultGabriela Cabezón CámaraWe Are Green and TremblingSpanishRobin MyersNew Directions PublishingWinnerSolvej BalleOn the Calculation of Volume (Book III)DanishSophia Hersi Smith and Jennifer RussellNew Directions PublishingFinalistsAnjet DaanjeThe Remembered SoldierDutchDavid McKayNew Vessel PressHamid IsmailovWe Computers: A Ghazal NovelUzbekShelley Fairweather-VegaYale University PressNeige SinnoSad TigerFrenchNatasha LehrerSeven Stories PressJazmina BarreraThe Queen of SwordsSpanishChristina MacSweeneyTwo Lines PressLonglistSaou IchikawaHunchbackJapanesePolly BartonHogarth/Penguin Random HouseHan KangWe Do Not PartKoreanPaige Aniyah MorrisHogarth/Penguin Random HouseMohamed KheirSleep PhaseArabicRobin MogerTwo Lines PressVincenzo LatronicoPerfection ItalianSophie HughesNew York Review Books
2026
Members of the prize jury are Christopher Merrill (chair), Shelley Fairweather-Vega, Javier García del Moral, John Keene and Azareen Van der Vliet Oloomi. The longlist was announced on September 15. The finalists will be revealed on October 6, and the winner will be announced on November 18.
+2026 National Book Award for Translated Literature honoreesAuthorTitleOriginal languageTranslatorCountry of PublicationPublisherResultKarl Ove KnausgaardThe School of Night NorwegianMartin AitkenPenguin PressFinalistsVicente Luis MoraCentroeuropa SpanishRahul BeryBellevue Literary PressIntan ParamadithaNight of a Thousand Hells IndonesianStephen Epstein and Tiffany TsaoEuropa EditionsMohamed Mbougar SarrPure Men FrenchLara VergnaudOther PressSamar Yazbek Your Presence Is a Danger to Your Life: Voices of Survival and Witness in Gaza ArabicLeri PriceOther PressMy Dreadful Body RussianLisa C. HaydenNew Vessel PressLonglistÁlvaro EnrigueNow I Surrender SpanishNatasha WimmerRiverhead BooksKarim KattanEden at Dawn FrenchJeffrey ZuckermanRestless BooksPing LuTo the East of the East ChineseJeremy TiangWorld Editions Maria StepanovaThe Disappearing Act RussianSasha DugdaleNew Directions Publishing
See also List of literary awards National Book Award Best Translated Book Award
References