The English translation of Szczepan Twardoch’s Król (“The King of Warsaw”) made it to the grand final of the fourth edition of the international award of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). The book published under the title The King of Warsaw was translated by Sean Bye.
Apart from Twardoch’s The King of Warsaw, the list also includes The Pear Field by Nina Ektimishvili (translated from the Georgian by Elizabeth Heighway) and Mr K Released by Matei Visniec (translated from Romanian by Jozefina Komporaly).
The EBRD Literature Prize is open to books written by writers from nearly forty countries in Central and Eastern Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa, which have been translated into English. The first prize is €20,000 and is divided between the author and translator.
The first edition took place three years ago, and the winners were the Turkish writer Burhan Sönmez, the author of the book Istanbul, Istanbul (published in Poland by the Książkowe Klimaty publishing house), and the translator Ümit Hussein. Two years ago, the winners were Hamid Ismailov and the translator of his novel The Devil’s Dance – Donald Rayfield, whereas the last year’s winner were Grigory Kanovich and the translator of his novel Devilspel – Yisrael Elliot Cohen.
The list of nominees can be found on the award website.
