21st Annual Translation Prizes

I’m sure this has been written about already, but I just received the invitation to the 21st Annual Translation Prize ceremony sponsored by the French-American Foundation and Florence Gould Foundation.

Every year these two foundations give out a prize to the best fiction and non-fiction translations from French into English. Here are this year’s finalists:

Fiction:

• Allah Is Not Obliged by Ahmadou Kourouma, translated by Frank Wynne;

• Kick the Animal Out by Veronique Ovalde, translated by Adriana Hunter

• Place Names by Jean Ricardou, translated by Jordan Stump;

• Ravel by Jean Echenoz, translated by Linda Coverdale;

• Solea by Jean-Claude Izzo, translated by Howard Curtis.

Non-fiction:

• The Curtain by Milan Kundera, translated by Linda Asher;

• Divagations by Stephane Mallarme, translated by Barbara Johnson;

• How to Talk about Books You Haven’t Read by Pierre Bayard, translated by Jeffrey Mehiman;

• Life Laid Bare by Jean Hatzfeld, translated by Linda Coverdale;

• A Voice from Elsewhere by Maurice Blanchot, translated by Charlotte Mandell.

All are worthy titles, although I’m pulling for Ravel and Life Laid Bare so that Linda Coverdale can walk away with a dual victory . . .

Winners receive a cash prize of $10,000 each, and in case you’re interested, the ceremony takes place Wednesday, May 28—the day before the start of BookExpo America.