PEN Translation Prize

PEN America

PEN America works to ensure that people everywhere have the freedom to create literature, to convey information and ideas, to express their views, and to access the views, ideas, and literatures of others.

PEN America Literary Awards

Founded in 1963, the PEN America Literary Awards honor the most outstanding voices in literature across diverse genres, including fiction, poetry, science writing, essays, sports writing, biography, children’s literature, and drama. With the help of our partners, PEN America confers over 20 distinct awards, fellowships, and grants each year, awarding over $370,000 to writers and translators annually.

The PEN America Literary Awards program celebrates literary excellence, encourages global discourse, champions important voices, and brings new books to life through our publication awards. From exciting new voices to underrecognized masters of their craft, PEN America honors challenging, thought-provoking, genre-defying writers.

PEN Translation Prize

The PEN Translation Prize is an annual award for book-length prose translations from any language into English. Awarded annually since 1963, the award confers a $3,000 prize to the translator of the winning book.

All winners, finalists, and longlisters for this award are eligible to receive PEN America’s official emblems.

Eligibility

_You can learn more about this opportunity by visiting the funder's website._

• Eligible titles must be original book-length literary prose translations published between January 1 and December 31 of the applicable calendar year by a U.S. trade publisher.
• Eligible books may have up to two translators but are limited to one original author.
• Eligible books must be previously published in a language other than English.
• Translators and authors may be of any nationality.
• Eligible titles are of a literary character.
• If you submit a book for this award, you may not submit it for any additional PEN America Literary Awards, with the exception of the PEN Open Book Award. Please note that the PEN/Faulkner Award is not considered a PEN America Literary Award.

Ineligibility

• Poetry, trade, technical, or academic writing and anthologies with more than one original author.
• Reprints or retranslations, unless the work can be said to provide a significant revision of the original translation.
• Books with more than two translators.
• Translations-in-progress are not accepted
• Self-published books are ineligible.
• Authors may not submit their own books.
• Writers who are also current PEN America staff or interns, trustees, or chairs of Member committees are not eligible for any of the Awards and/or Grants offered by the Literary Awards Program. Additionally, all current members of the Literary Awards Committee are ineligible.