Winners of the Inaugural World Literature Today Translation Prize

The winners of the WLT Translation Prize. From left to right: translator Allana C. Noyes, Argentine author Fabián Casas, translator Mattho Mandersloot, and Dutch writer Jamal Ouariachi

We are thrilled to announce the winners and runners-up for the first-ever World Literature Today Translation Prize! World Literature Today established this annual award to recognize the talent and promise of students currently enrolled in literary translation programs at universities around the world.

Three editors at World Literature Today judged the competition, awarding prizes in poetry and prose: Daniel Simon, assistant director and editor in chief; Michelle Johnson, managing editor and culture editor; and Rob Vollmar, book review editor and online editor. Each prizewinner will receive a cash reward, and the winning translations will be published on the World Literature Today website on June 19. 

Robert Con Davis-Undiano, World Literature Today’s executive director, applauded the skill of the winning entries, noting that “it’s no surprise that these translators are emerging from some of the finest translation programs in the world.” 

“As a pioneer in the field of literature in translation and translation studies, World Literature Today takes pride in fostering great talent emerging from the international world of translation studies,” Davis-Undiano said.

He noted that because of the overwhelming number of outstanding entries, the runner-up in each category will also receive online publication. Their works will be published on June 26.

Recipients of the 2018 World Literature Today Translation Prize are: 

Poetry: Allana C. Noyes for her translation from Spanish of three poems by Argentine author Fabián Casas’s Horla City y Otros. Noyes holds a master of fine arts degree in literary translation from the University of Iowa. Aron Aji is her sponsoring faculty member.

Prose: Mattho Mandersloot for his translation of “Zopor,” the opening portion of a short story by Dutch writer Jamal Ouariachi from the anthology Agents-Provocateurs: 20 Onder 35 and later from a collection by Ouariachi entitled Herinneringen In Aluminiumfolie. Mandersloot, a student in the master of arts translation program at the University of London School of Oriental and African Studies, created a winning translation by use of experimental neologisms. Grace Koh is his sponsoring faculty member.

The runners-up are:

Poetry: Rowena Galavitz for her translation from Spanish of three poems by Chilean Paula Ilabaca Núñez. Galavitz is completing a certificate in literary translation at Indiana University. Bill Johnston is her sponsoring faculty member.

Prose: Laura Shanahan for her translation from Italian of an excerpt from Anna Maria Ortese’s short story “The Silence of Reason,” taken from her 1953 collection Il mare non bagna Napoli (Naples never swims in the sea). Shanahan is a master of arts student in the Literary Translation Studies program at the University of Warwick. Chantal Wright is her sponsoring faculty member.