John Dryden Translation Competition
John Dryden
Introduction
The John Dryden Translation Competition, in memory of the first British poet laureate John Dryden (1631–1700) – a literary critic, translator, and playwright as well as a poet, is sponsored by the British Comparative Literature Association and the British Centre for Literary Translation. Prizes are awarded for the best unpublished literary translations from any language into English, subject to finding a reader (entrance fee will be refunded if no reader is available). Literary translation includes poetry, prose, or drama from any period. The competition is currently hosted by the School of Languages, Cultures and Societies at the University of Leeds.
First prize: £400; second prize: £250; third prize: £150; other entries may receive commendations.
All three prizes also include one year’s BCLA membership.
Listen to conversations with previous winners of the competition as part of a new series of Settee Seminars podcasts entitled ‘Translators on Translation’, hosted by Ilkley Literature Festival / Word Up North. The first episode is available here.
The John Dryden Translation Competition 2024-2025 is now open. The competition deadline is 3 February 2025.
John Dryden Competition Panel
The Judges
Judges will be selected from the following, and will be assisted by expert bilingual readers specialising in the literatures for which entries are received.
Dr Jacob Blakesley
Associate professor in comparative literature and literary translation
Robert Chandler
Translator
JOHN DRYDEN
Competition Details
Subject to copyright, winning entries will be published in full in Comparative Critical Studies and on the Edinburgh University Press website
If you join the BCLA between 1 July 2022 and 31 January 2023, you may submit one entry free of charge. Please note this on your John Dryden Competition Entry form.
The entry fee is £10 sterling for one, £15 for two, or £20 for three entries. Payment can be made via the University of Leeds secure online store.
Electronic entries (source text, translation, entry form) should be emailed to: R.Hibbitt@leeds.ac.uk
If you need to send hard copies, please send them to the following address:
Dr Richard Hibbitt, John Dryden Translation Competition
School of Languages, Cultures & Societies
University of Leeds
Leeds
LS2 9JT
United Kingdom
Entries will be received from November 2022
Failure to comply with the competition rules will render entries ineligible.
The deadline for this year’s competition is Monday 6 February 2023.
Previous winners
Winners of the 2022-23 John Dryden Translation Competition
The British Comparative Literature Association would like to announce the winners of the 2022-2023 BCLA/BCLT John Dryden Translation Competition, chosen from over 100 entries and 29 different languages.
Many thanks to everyone who entered the competition.
First Place
Antonella Lettieri
for The War of the Murazzi translated from Enrico Remmert’s Italian text La guerra dei Murazzi.
Second Place
Naomi Mottram
for her translation from Sofia Sinitskaia’s Russian text Mitrofanushka Durasov.
Third Place
David McCallam
for “No Words but Word-Dough” and “The Feeling” translated from Christophe Tarkos’s French text ‘Il y a pâte-mot’ and ‘Le sentiment’.