2025 Translation Prize Finalists

The French-American Foundation—United States is excited to announce the finalists for the 38th Annual Translation Prize! Our jury of literary professionals read over 80 submissions, and chose ten outstanding finalists, five in the fiction and five in nonfiction. 

The Foundation’s Translation Prize seeks to uplift translators and their indefatigable work to make literature more globally accessible. Since 1986, the Prize has recognized over 50 translators for their outstanding contributions to the field of French-to-English translation, including Arthur Goldhammer, Burton Raffel, Lydia Davis, and Adriana Hunter. Read more about our past winners.

Of the finalists below, winning translators in each category will be awarded up to $10,000 each thanks to the generous support of the Florence Gould Foundation. Winners will be announced in May and celebrated at an awards ceremony in New York City in June. 

FICTION

Jordan Stump’s translation of About Uncle by Rebecca Gisler
(Two Lines Press)

Ruth Diver’s translation of A History of the Big House by Charif Majdalani
(Other Press)

Lazer Lederhendler’s translation of The Hollow Beast by Christophe Bernard
(Biblioasis)

Jeffrey Zuckerman’s translation of Jellyfish Have No Ears by Adèle Rosenfeld
(Graywolf Press)

Aqiil Gopee & Jeffrey Diteman’s co-translation of The Maroons by Louis Timagène Houat
(Restless Books)

NONFICTION

Stéphanie Boulard & Timothy Lavenz’s co-translation of The Answer to Lord Chandos by Pascal Quignard
(Wakefield Press)

Cory Stockwell’s translation of The City in the Distance by Jean-Luc Nancy
(Fordham University Press)

Nicholas Elliott’s translation of A Life in Letters by Simone Weil
(The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press)

Alison Strayer’s translation of The Use of Photography by Annie Ernaux
(Seven Stories Press)

John Lambert’s translation of V13: Chronicle of a Trial by Emmanuel Carrère
(Farrar, Straus & Giroux)