Translation Prize
Our annual prize for the best translations from French to English.
Since 1986, the French-American Foundation, with the longstanding support of the Florence Gould Foundation, has awarded an annual prize for the best translation from French to English in both fiction and nonfiction.
The Translation Prize has established itself as a valuable element of the intellectual and cultural exchange between France and the United States. Its purpose is to promote French literature in the United States and to provide translators and their craft with greater visibility among publishers and readers. The prize also seeks to increase the visibility of the publishers who bring these important French works of literature to the American market in translation of exceptional quality.
Winners are chosen by a jury of translators and literary professionals and honored at an annual Awards Ceremony.
– 39th Annual Translation Prize (2024-2025 cycle)
The Foundation is thrilled to announce the following translators as this year’s Translation Prize Finalists!
Fiction:
- Ruth Diver, for her translation of A History of the Big House by Charif Majdalani (Other Press)
- Aqiil Gopee & Jeffrey Diteman, for their co-translation of The Maroons by Louis Timagène Houat (Restless Books)
- Lazer Lederhendler, for his translation of The Hollow Beast by Christophe Bernard (Biblioasis)
- Jordan Stump, for his translation of About Uncle by Rebecca Gisler (Two Lines Press)
- Jeffrey Zuckerman, for his translation of Jellyfish Have No Ears by Adèle Rosenfeld (Graywolf Press)
Nonfiction:
- Stéphanie Boulard & Timothy Lavenz, for their co-translation of The Answer to Lord Chandos by Pascal Quignard (Wakefield Press)
- Nicholas Elliott, for his translation of A Life in Letters by Simone Weil (The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press)
- John Lambert, for his translation of V13: Chronicle of a Trial by Emmanuel Carrère (Farrar, Straus & Giroux)
- Cory Stockwell, for his translation of The City in the Distance by Jean-Luc Nancy (Fordham University Press)
- Alison Strayer, for her translation of The Use of Photography by Annie Ernaux (Seven Stories Press)
Winners will be announced in late spring, and both finalists and winners will be celebrated at an Awards Ceremony in June in New York City.
If you have questions, please contact Gabrielle Milligan at gmilligan@frenchamerican.org.
Learn more about last year’s Translation Prize cycle:
Winners of the 2024 Annual Translation Prize:
Fiction:
Frank Wynne, for his translation of The Annual Banquet of the Gravediggers’ Guild by Mathias Énard (New Directions Publishing)
Nonfiction:
Angela Hunter and Rebecca Wilkin, for their co-translation of Louise Dupin’s Work on Women by Louise Dupin (Oxford University Press)
Our winners and finalists were celebrated at an Awards Ceremony on June 18, 2024 in New York City.
Click here to read about the event, and click below to discover the 2024 winners and finalists.