The Stevns Translation Prize, run by Peirene Press (UK) and Two Lines Press (US), is an annual award which offers opportunities for emerging translators to translate their first full-length work of fiction. Every year, a different language and book is chosen and entrants are invited to translate an extract. Founded in 2018 with the generous backing of Martha Stevns, the Stevns Translation Prize is open to translators who have not yet published a full-length literary translation. The prize’s mission is to offer opportunities to new voices in the field. The winner will receive a $4500 / £3700 contract to translate a novel, which will be published by both Two Lines Press in the US and Peirene Press in the UK. The prize package also includes a month-long translation retreat in an 18th-century mill house in the foothills of the French Pyrenees, a six-month mentorship with an established literary translator, and up to $1000 in travel expenses.
This year’s chosen book, Avant que j’oublie by Anne Pauly, is a tragi-comic exploration of grief, loss, and “vengeful social mobility.” The novel, which won the 2020 Prix du Livre Inter and Prix Robert Walser, was also shortlisted for the Prix Femina, Prix Wepler, and Prix Goncourt. With its compelling narrative on the complexities of family dynamics, particularly the fraught relationships between children and their parents, the text presents both a poignant and lively challenge for any translator. Pauly’s work captures the vibrancy of everyday life and gives voice to society’s overlooked and marginalized.
Entrants are asked to submit a translation of a selected sample of Avant que j’oublie. The 2025 Stevns Translation Prize will be judged by established literary translator Adriana Hunter, who will also be this year’s mentor, along with Kate Briggs, translator and author, and Amanda Quinn, senior bookseller at Shakespeare & Company, Paris. Entries are open now at www.stevnstranslationprize.com and will close on April 15, 2025. The shortlist and winner will be announced in early May.
Submit to the 2025 Stevns Prize here: https://www.stevnstranslationprize.com/2025-prize
