Top 10 (or 13) Translations of 2007

After consulting with our international literature experts, we finally came up with our list of the top 10 translations of 2007 (see below). Unfortunately, no collections of poetry made the top 10, so I’m listing the three favorites separately to make sure these titles get some attention.

I know 2008 is still a week away, but we’re already thinking about next year, how to improve this process, etc. I won’t bore you with the details, but throughout 2008, we’ll be gathering recommendations so that the longlist will be available in November, and we’re planning on having an expanded panel of experts help select the top 10.

Anyway, here’s the list for 2007:

• The Savage Detectives by Roberto Bolano, translated from the Spanish by Natasha Wimmer (FSG)

• Autonauts of the Cosmoroute by Julio Cortazar, translated from the Spanish by Anne McLean (Archipelago)

• Guantanamo by Dorothea Dieckmann, translated from the German by Tim Mohr (Soft Skull)

• Missing Soluch by Mahmoud Dowlatabadi, translated from the Persian by Kamran Rastegar (Melville House)

• Ravel by Jean Echenoz, translated from the French by Linda Coverdale (New Press)

• Sunflower by Gyula Krudy, translated from the Hungarian by John Batki (NYRB)

• Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson, translated from the Norwegian by Anne Born (Graywolf Press)

• Omega Minor by Paul Verhaeghen, translated from the Flemish by the author (Dalkey Archive)

• Montano’s Malady by Enrique Vila-Matas, translated from the Spanish by Jonathan Dunne (New Directions)

• The Assistant by Robert Walser, translated from the German by Susan Bernofsky (New Directions)

And the top 3 works of poetry:

• The Drug of Art: Selected Poems by Ivan Blatny, translated from the Czech by Justin Quinn, Matthew Sweney, Alex Zucker, Veronika Tuckerova, and Anna Moschovakis (Ugly Duckling)

• The Dream of the Poem: Hebrew Poetry from Muslim and Christian Spain, 950-1492 edited and translated from the Hebrew by Peter Cole (Princeton)

• The Collected Poems: 1956-1998 by Zbigniew Herbert, translated from the Polish by Czeslaw Milosz, Peter Dale Scott, and Alissa Valles (Ecco)

Just for kicks—and since we may not be posting much of anything the rest of the year—we’ll put up a poll in a minute so that all of you can vote on your favorite title . . .