Please find below the results of the 2024 competition. Many thanks to everyone who entered.
The John Dryden Translation Competition 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 Prizes are awarded for the best unpublished literary translations from any language into English. The competition is currently hosted by the School of Languages, Cultures and Societies at the University of Leeds.
The judges were extremely impressed by the high quality of the longlisted works this year, especially the 7 works that were shortlisted.
We have listed below the winners, the shortlist, and the longlist.
The deadline for entries for next year’s competition is Monday 3 February 2025. The application form will be available on the BCLA website from November 2024: https://bcla.org/prizes-awards/john-dryden-translation-competition/
First Prize
George Robarts for The Revolting Maid, translated from Gennaro Federico’s and Giovanni Battista Pergolesi’s Italian text La serva padrona.
Second Prize
Lucy Moffatt for Drainage 1963, translated from Hans Herbjørnsrud’s Norwegian text Drenering 1963.
Third Prize
Iain Higgins for A Voyage round My Room, translated from Xavier de Maistre’s French text Voyage autour de ma chambre.
Commended
Andrea Reece for The Statue Gardens, translated from Jacques Abeille’s French text Les Jardins Statuaires.
Shortlisted:
Hannah Solloway for Exit, translated from Judith Vogt’s German text Ausstieg.
Terry Bradford for Junes All Have the Same Skin: A Report on Boris Vian, translated from Chloé Delaume’s French text Les juins ont tous la même peau.
Helen O’Horan for Doing Nothing, translated from Shono Yoriko’s Japanese text Nani mo shite nai.
Longlisted:
Imogen Taylor for Ellen von der Weiden,translated from Gabriele Reuter’s German text Ellen von der Weiden.
Ruth Donnelly for The Sleepers, translated from Camila Valenzuela León’s Spanish (Chilean) text Las Durmientes.
Radhika P. Menon for Mani and Indira Gandhi, translated from Priya Joseph’s Malayam text Maniyum Indira Gandhiyum.
Mandy Wight for Inge, my grandmother, translated from Julia Franck’s German text Welten Auseinander.
Mark Haywood for The Flying Doctor, translated from Molière’s French text Le Médecin volant.
Corey Wakeling for Poems from Notorious Green Peas, translated from Satomi Tanaka’s Japanese text Notōriasu gurin pīsu.
Bob Knowles for The Treasure, translated from José Maria Eça de Queiroz’s Portuguese text O Tesoiro.
Fiona Graham for Dusk 41, translated from Kjell Westö’s Finland-Swedish text Skymning 41.
Christian Jil R. Benitez for The Book of Tres Pilares, from The Holy Book of Vermin, translated from Allan N. Derain’s Filipino text Ang Banal na Aklat ng Mga Kumag.
Christian Jil R. Benitez for Arasahas: Poems from the Tropics, translated from Jaya Jacobo’s Filipino text Arasahas.
Robert Arnott for Charb’s wee book of rants, translated from Stéphane Charbonnier’s French text Petit traité d’intolérance.
Shampa Roy for Friend, translated from Bani Basu’s Bengali text Bondhu.
Iain Higgins for Seven poems from Vade-mecum, translated from Cyprian Norwid’s Polish text Vade-mecum.
Jennifer Busch and Isabel Hagedorn for Meerkat mischie,f translated from Moritz Matthies’s German text Ausgefressen.
Jennifer Busch and Audrey Delphendahl for Long Shadows and A Tambourine, a Horse,translated from Marie Luise Kaschnitz’s German texts Lange Schatten and Ein Tamburin, ein Pferd.
Maya Feile Tomes for Precursor to love, translated from Leticia Obeid Spanish (Argentinian) text Preparación para el amor.
Toby Morse for Quarantine, translated from Wystke Versteeg’s Dutch text Quarantaine.
Maya Feile Tomes for Madrid Sucks, translated from Martín Rejtman’s Spanish (Argentinian) text Madrid es una mierda.
Samuel Joseph Rhys Hopkins for A Taste of the Poetry of Christian Hoffmann von Hoffmannswaldau,translated from Christian Hoffmann von Hoffmannswaldau’s German text C. H. v. H Deutsche Übersetzungen und Getichte and Herrn von Hoffmannswaldau und anderer Deutschen auserlesener und bisher ungedruckter Gedichte.
Elena Pober for The Tank (an excerpt) , translated from Assaf Inbari’s Hebrew text הטנק.
Rhiannon Lawrence for Every Sun Bitterness, translated from Lilia Hassaine’s French text Soleil amer.
Elena Goldenbow for The Sea in my Room, translated from Jana Scheerer’s German text Das Meer in meinem Zimmer.
Călinescu Amalia for Pulp Fiction translated from Florin Lăzărescu’s Romanian text Pulp Fiction.
Siân Valvis for ‘Glass Eye’ (from GJAK) , translated from Dimosthenis Papamarkos’s Greek text Gyalino Mati (Gkiak).
Michaela Pschierer-Barnfather for Every day’s a Saturday, translated from Paul Maar’s German text Eine Woche voller Samstage.
Paul Kaye for House of Orion, translated from Julia Fiedorczuk’s Polish text Dom Oriona.
