The American Literary Translators Association (ALTA) announced the longlist for 2023 National Translation Award in Prose, one of the most prestigious American awards for English literature in translation. This is awarded annually to literary translators who made an outstanding contribution to literature in English by masterfully recreating the artistic force of a book of consummate quality. 2023 marks the 25th year for the NTA, and the 9th year to award separate prizes in poetry and prose.
The award is open to English language translations published anywhere in the world and not just in the UK. This year’s judges are Natascha Bruce, writer; Shelley Frisch, translator; Jason Grunebaum, translator; Sawad Hussain, translator; and Lytton Smith, poet.
Three Indian-language translations from Malayalam, Tamil and Bengali, are a part of this exceptional longlist that represents 19 languages.
The first book is Shahidul Zahir’s Life and Political Reality, translated from Bengali by V. Ramaswamy and Shahroza Nahrin, published by HarperCollins India. It’s a collection of two novellas inspired from the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971.
The second book is Sheela Tomy’s Valli, translated from Malayalam by Jayasree Kalathil and published by HarperCollins India. It is about the invasion of Kerala’s Adivasi community in the Western Ghats over generations, leading to exploitation, eradication and uprisings.
The third book is Jeyamohan’s Stories of the True, translated from Tamil by Priyamvada, published by Juggernaut. It is a short fiction collection exploring the lives of people who undergo mundane oppressions before biting back hard.
The shortlists for the NTA will be announced on October 11th, and the winners will be announced on November 11th, 2023. The winning translators will receive a $4,000 cash prize each.
