NATIONAL TRANSLATION AWARD IN POETRY AND PROSE
ALTA FIRST TRANSLATION PRIZE
ITALIAN PROSE IN TRANSLATION AWARD (IPTA)
LUCIEN STRYK ASIAN TRANSLATION PRIZE
SPAIN-USA FOUNDATION TRANSLATION AWARD (SUFTA)
The American Literary Translators Association awards six major translation prizes at our annual conference. Read on to find out more about each prize!
Looking for information on how to submit?
Submissions are accepted from mid-January through mid-March via our Submittable page only. See our complete submission instructions and the eligibility requirements for each award before applying.
Award Submissions & Eligibility
National Translation Award
The National Translation Award (NTA) is awarded annually in poetry and in prose to literary translators who have made an outstanding contribution to literature in English by masterfully recreating the artistic force of a book of consummate quality. Established in 1998, the NTA is the only prize for a work of literary translation into English to include an evaluation of the source language text. 2015 was the first year in which the NTA was awarded separately in poetry and prose. Find full eligibility details here.
2023 NTA Winner in Poetry
The Threshold by Iman Mersal, translated from Arabic by Robyn Creswell
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
2023 NTA Winner in Prose
Chinatown by Thuận, translated from Vietnamese by Nguyễn An Lý
New Directions | Tilted Axis
Find the full list of past winners and judges here.
ALTA First Translation Prize
The ALTA First Translation Prize, inaugurated in 2024, recognizes the work of emerging literary translators and their editors. This $3,000 prize ($2,000 bestowed to the translator and $1,000 to the editor) is open to all genres, and awards one debut literary translation from any other language into English published in the previous calendar year. Translators based anywhere in the world and translations published anywhere in the world are eligible. Find full eligibility details here.
Looking for info on the ALTA Travel Fellowships for emerging translators to attend the annual conference? See our Emerging Translator Programs.
Italian Prose in Translation Award
The Italian Prose in Translation Award (IPTA) recognizes the importance of contemporary Italian prose (fiction and literary non-fiction) and promotes the translation of Italian works into English. This $5,000 prize was inaugurated in 2015 and is awarded annually to a translator of a recent work of Italian prose (fiction or literary non-fiction). Find the full list of winners and judges here. Find full eligibility details here.
2023 IPTA Winner
The Betrothed by Alessandro Manzoni, translated from Italian by Michael F. Moore
The Modern Library
Find the full list of past winners and judges here.
Lucien Stryk Asian Translation Prize
Lucien Stryk (1924-2013) was an internationally acclaimed translator of Japanese and Chinese Zen poetry, renowned Zen poet himself, and former professor of English at Northern Illinois University. Stryk wrote, edited, and translated over two dozen volumes during his life. The $6,000 Lucien Stryk Asian Translation Prize, which was inaugurated in 2009, recognizes the importance of Asian translation for international literature and promotes the translation of Asian works into English. Find full eligibility details here.
2023 Stryk Winner
In the Same Light: 200 Poems for Our Century by the Migrants & Exiles of the Tang Dynasty, translated from Chinese by Wong May
The Song Cave | Carcanet
Find the full list of past winners and judges here.
Spain-USA Foundation Translation Award
The Spain-USA Foundation Translation Award (SUFTA), inaugurated in 2022, is offered by the American Literary Translators Association in conjunction with the Spain-USA Foundation. This $5,000 award recognizes translations into English of literary prose works written originally by authors of Spanish (Spain) nationality. The source language of the original text may be Spanish, Catalan, Basque, or Galician. Find full eligibility details here.
2023 sufta winner
Antagony by Luis Goytisolo, translated from Spanish by Brendan Riley
Dalkey Archive Press
Find the full list of past winners and judges here.
Any questions about awards may be directed to Communications and Awards Manager Rachael Daum at rachaeldaum@literarytranslators.org.