The National Translation Award Prose Longlist Is FILTHY With Open Letter Titles

I really can’t be happier about this little bit of news from ALTA today . . . The National Translation Award Longlists were announced today, and of the twelve titles that made the prose longlist, Open Letter published four of them! Hot damn!

• Street of Thieves by Mathias Énard, translated from the French by Charlotte Mandell;

• Why I Killed My Best Friend by Amanda Michalopoulou, translated from the Greek by Karen Emmerich;

• This Is the Garden by Giulio Mozzi, translated from the Italian by Elizabeth Harris; and

• La Grande by Juan José Saer, translated from the Spanish by Steve Dolph, all made the longlist.

They’re up against some tough competition though, which includes:

• Conversations by Cesar Aira, translated from the Spanish by Katherine Silver;

• New Waw, Saharan Oasis by Ibrahim al-Koni, translated from the Arabic by William M. Hutchins;

• End of Days by Jenny Erpenbeck, translated from the German by Susan Bernofsky;

• The Woman Who Borrowed Memories by Tove Jansson, translated from the Swedish by Thomas Teal & Silvester Mazzarella;

• The Mad and the Bad by Jean-Patrick Manchette, translated from the French by Donald Nicholson-Smith;

• Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy, translated from the Russian by Marian Schwartz;

• The Last Lover by Can Xue, translated from the Chinese by Annelise F. Wasmoen; and

• Running Through Beijing by Xu Zechen, translated from the Chinese by Eric Abrahamsen.

That’s a really solid list—of translators, authors, books, and publishers. Well done, judging committee!

The poetry list also came out today, also featuring twelve titles:

• The Absolute Is a Round Die by Jose Acquelin, translated from the French by Hugh Hazelton;

• Amnesia of the Movement of Clouds & Of Red and Black Verse by Maria Attanasio, translated from the Italian by Carla Billitteri;

• Breathturn into Timestead by Paul Celan, translated from the German by Pierre Joris;

• Nothing More to Lose by Najwan Darwish, translated from the Arabic by Kareem James Abu-Zeid;

• Lazy Suzie by Suzanne Doppelt, translated from the French by Cole Swensen;

• Guarding the Air: Selected Poems of Gunnar Harding by Gunnar Harding, translated from the Swedish by Roger Greenwald;

• Poems of Osip Mandelstam by Osip Mandelstam, translated from the Russian by Peter France;

• Wallless Space by Ernst Meister, translated from the German by Graham Foust and Samuel Frederick;

• Elsewhere on Earth by Emmanuel Merle, translated from the French by Peter Brown;

• The Offense of Love: Ars Amatoria, Remedia Amoris, and Tristia 2 by Ovid, translated from the Latin by Julia Dyson Hejduk;

• In the Illuminated Dark: Selected Poems of Tuvia Ruebner by Tuvia Ruebner, translated from the Hebrew by Rachel Tzvia Back; and

• Sheds/Hangars by José-Flore Tappy, translated from the French by John Taylor.

Congrats to everyone involved! And tune in this September to learn the names of the five finalists in both categories . . .