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 Prizes are awarded for the best unpublished literary translations from any language into English.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. For more details, see: https://bcla.org/prizes-awards/john-dryden-translation-competition/
We are delighted to announce the winners of the latest John Dryden Translation Competition! Congratulations to all, and thank you for taking part.
The 2025-26 competition is now open for submissions – find the submission form at this page.
First Prize
Hazel Evans for Plantae Sapiens, translated from Shëkufe Tadayoni Heiberg’s Danish text, Plantae Sapien
Second Prize
Chloe Ratan for Folk Medicine, translated from Eliza Orzeszkowa’s Polish text, Dziurdziowie
Third Prize
Rosie Eyre for Grand couronne by Salomé Kiner, Chapter One, translated from Salomé Kiner’s French text, Grande couronne (Chapter One)
Shortlisted (in no particular order)
Maya Feile Tomes for Faultlines, translated from Claudia Rodríguez’s Chilean Spanish text, Cuerpos para odiar
Tamina Hauser for A Light Lunch, translated from Jang Eun-jin’s Korean text, 가벼운 점심.
Georgina Fooks for Relentless Age, translated from Susana Thénon’s Argentine Spanish text, Edad sin tregua
Mark Haywood for The Misanthrope, translated from Molière’s French text, Le Misanthrope
Catherine Xinxin Yu for Water Burial, translated from Kay So 蘇朗欣’s Chinese text, 水葬
Jennifer Busch and Audrey Delphendahl for In the Mirror, translated from Ilse Aichinger’s German text, Spiegelgeschichte
Longlisted (in no particular order)
Megan Harvey for Photosyntheses, translated from Camille Cornu’s French text, Photosynthèses
Kathryn Marr for Marie, translated from Akane Chihaya’s Japanese text, マリエ
Radhika Menon for TOUCHING, translated from Nirmala Thomas’s Malayalam text, SPARSHAM
Jo Heinrich for Creatine, translated from Victor Malzac’s French text, Créatine
Catherine Leung for You can’t hold on to the sea, translated from Laure Limongi’s French text, On ne peut pas tenir la mer entre ses mains
Tomas White for Enemy Brothers-in-Law, translated from Hélène Clastres’s French text, Les beaux-frères ennemis. À propos du cannibalisme tupinamba
Anna Bentley for Quiet Crises: ‘Mothers’ and ‘The Young Lady of Glass’, translated from Margit Kaffka’s Hungarian text, Csendes válságok
Ruth Donnelly for The year we spoke with the sea, translated from Andrés Montero’s Spanish text, El año en que hablamos con el mar
Eileen Craigie for Marta, translated from Finn-Ole Heinrich’s German text, Marta
Petya Pavlova for Sabazius, translated from Kristin Dimitrova’s Bulgarian text, Sabazius
Jennifer Busch and Isabel Hagedorn for White Tears, translated from Kathrin Schrocke’s German text, Weiße Tränen
Minna Jeffery for The Basement Flats, translated from Elvira Willman-Eloranta’s Finnish text, Kellarikerroksessa
Alexandra Cox for How Many Moons, translated from Laura El Makki’s French text, Combien de lunes
Alexandra Cox for Prickl’s Progress, translated from Katharina Adler’s German text, Iglhaut
Andrea Reece for Because He Loved Us, translated from Valérie Tong Cuong’s French text, Par Amour
Rhiannon Lawrence for Bed of Jasmine, translated from Hella Feki’s French text, Noces de jasmin
Zoe McNamee for Blue Nights, translated from Anne-Fleur Multon’s French text, Les nuits bleues
Jenny Steel for I Wanted to Say Look at the Sun, translated from Roya Shakibai’s Farsi text, Khastam begouyam khoun-ra bebin
Isabel Stainsby for Mum from the Future, translated from Markéta Pilátová’s Czech text, Mama z budoucnosti
Miguel Souto for Bohemian Lights, translated from Ramón del Valle-Inclán’s Spanish text, Luces de Bohemia (1920)
Miguel Souto for Flower of Holiness, translated from Ramón del Valle-Inclán’s Spanish text, Flor de Santidad (1904)
Elena Pober for Lady Midnight, translated from Dana Heifetz’s Hebrew text, Lady Midnight
Kevin Windle for Abracabackwards (Excerpt), translated from Daniel Martin’s Spanish text, Zacatrás
Toby Morse for 0xBlixa, translated from Vincent van Meenen’s Flemish text, 0xBlixa.
Ellie Jenkins for The Young Lady Who Could Not Hear of F*cking, translated from an unknown author’s French text, La Damoisel qui ne pooit oïr parler de foutr
Samuel Joseph Rhys Hopkins for Selected poems by Conrad Ferdinand Meyer from Gedichte von Conrad Ferdinand Meyer(Poems of Conrad Ferdinand Meyer [from the 1882 and 1894 editions])
Paul Kaye for Hotel Balkán, translated from Miroslava Kuľková’s Slovak text, Hotel Balkán
