April 10, 2012\u2014On Tuesday evening, the poetry and fiction finalists for the 2012 Best Translated Book Awards were announced during a special event at the University of Rochester, and on Three Percent, the university\u2019s translation-centric website (www.rochester.edu\/threepercent).<\/p>\n
\u201cIn previous years, there was much less consensus than we saw this year when choosing a list. That eleven very different readers have all found these books so exceptional speaks volumes about the incredible appeal of the shortlist\u2014this is some of the best fiction of the year, in any language,\u201d said fiction committee member Jeff Waxman.<\/p>\n
Highlights from this year\u2019s fiction list include Jean Echenoz\u2019s Lightning<\/em>, translated from the French by Linda Coverdale; Magdalena Tulli\u2019s In Red<\/em>, translated from the Polish by Bill Johnston; and Enrique Vila-Matas\u2019s Never Any End to Paris<\/em>, translated from the Spanish by Anne McLean. <\/p>\n Notable poetry finalists include Anja Utler\u2019s engulf\u2014enkindle<\/em>, translated from the German by Kurt Beals; and Amal al-Jubouri\u2019s Hagar Before the Occupation, Hagar After the Occupation<\/em>, translated from the Arabic by Rebecca Gayle Howell with Husam Qaisi.<\/p>\n \u201cWe had an especially strong selection of books this year,\u201d said BTBA<\/span> poetry committee member Idra Novey, \u201cand from a wider ranger of presses, many of them publishing translations of contemporary poets for the first time, including Alice James and Canarium Books, both of which ended up with a finalist on this year\u2019s list.\u201d<\/p>\n The Best Translated Book Awards launched in 2007 as a way of bringing attention to great works of international literature. Original translation (no reprints or retranslations) published between December 2010 and December 2011 are eligible for this year\u2019s award. Quality of the original book and the artistry of the English translation are the criteria used in determining the winning titles.<\/p>\n Overviews of the ten fiction finalists can be found at the Best Translated Book Award website,<\/a> and the poetry finalists will be featured there and on Three Percent beginning next week. Also available on besttranslatedbook.org are promotional posters and shelf-talkers that booksellers can download for free.<\/p>\n The BTBA<\/span> winners will be announced on Friday, May 4 at 6:00pm at McNally Jackson Books as part of the PEN<\/span> World Voices Festival. More details about the celebration will be available in late April.<\/p>\n Once again, Amazon.com is supporting the BTBA<\/span> this year through its giving program (www.tinyurl.com\/amazongiving), providing the prize money so that the winning authors and translators will each receive a $5,000 cash prize. The BTBA<\/span> is one of several non-profit programs supported by Amazon.com that is focused on bringing more great works from around the world to English-language readers. Other recipients include the PEN<\/span> American Center Translation Fund, Worlds Without Borders, Open Letter, the Center for the Art of Translation, Archipelago Books, and the Ledig House International Writers Residency. <\/p>\n This year\u2019s fiction judges are: Monica Carter (Salonica), Gwendolyn Dawson (Literary License), Scott Esposito (Conversational Reading and Center for the Art of Translation), Susan Harris (Words Without Borders), Annie Janusch (Translation Review), Matthew Jakubowski (writer & critic), Brandon Kennedy (bookseller\/cataloger), Bill Marx (PRI\u2019s The World: World Books), Edward Nawotka (Publishing Perspectives), Michael Orthofer (Complete Review), and Jeff Waxman (Seminary Co-op and University of Chicago Press). <\/p>\n The poetry judges are: Brandon Holmquest (poet, translator, editor Asymptote Journal), Jennifer Kronovet (poet, translator), Erica Mena (poet, translator, host of the Reading the World Podcast), Idra Novey (poet, translator), and Kevin Prufer (poet, academic, essayist). <\/p>\n Fiction Finalists (in alphabetical order):<\/b><\/p>\n Lightning<\/em><\/a> by Jean Echenoz Upstaged<\/em><\/a> by Jacques Jouet Korn\u00e9l Esti<\/em><\/a> by Dezs\u0151 Kosztol\u00e1nyi I Am a Japanese Writer<\/em><\/a> by Dany Laferri\u00e8re New Finnish Grammar<\/em><\/a> by Diego Marani Stone Upon Stone<\/em><\/a> by Wies\u0142aw My\u015bliwski Scars<\/em><\/a> by Juan Jos\u00e9 Saer Kafka\u2019s Leopards<\/em><\/a> by Moacyr Scliar In Red<\/em><\/a> by Magdalena Tulli Never Any End to Paris<\/em><\/a> by Enrique Vila-Matas Poetry Finalists (in alphabetical order):<\/b><\/p>\n Hagar Before the Occupation, Hagar After the Occupation<\/em><\/a> by Amal al-Jubouri Last Verses<\/em><\/a> by Jules Laforgue Spectacle & Pigsty<\/em><\/a> by Kiwao Nomura A Fireproof Box<\/em><\/a> by Gleb Shulpyakov
\nTranslated from the French by Linda Coverdale
\n(New Press)<\/p>\n
\nTranslated from the French by Leland de la Durantaye
\n(Dalkey Archive Press)<\/p>\n
\nTranslated from the Hungarian by Bernard Adams
\n(New Directions)<\/p>\n
\nTranslated from the French by David Homel
\n(Douglas & MacIntyre)<\/p>\n
\nTranslated from the Italian by Judith Landry
\n(Dedalus)<\/p>\n
\nTranslated from the Polish by Bill Johnston
\n(Archipelago Books)<\/p>\n
\nTranslated from the Spanish by Steve Dolph
\n(Open Letter)<\/p>\n
\nTranslated from the Portuguese by Thomas O. Beebee
\n(Texas Tech University Press)<\/p>\n
\nTranslated from the Polish by Bill Johnston
\n(Archipelago Books)<\/p>\n
\nTranslated from the Spanish by Anne McLean
\n(New Directions)<\/p>\n
\nTranslated from the Arabic by Rebecca Gayle Howell with Husam Qaisi
\n(Alice James Books)<\/p>\n
\nTranslated from the French by Donald Revell
\n(Omnidawn)<\/p>\n
\nTranslated from the Japanese by Kyoko Yoshida and Forrest Gander
\n(Omnidawn)<\/p>\n
\nTranslated from the Russian by Christopher Mattison
\n(Canarium Books)<\/p>\n