The translation of Olga Tokarczuk’s novel Prowadź swój pług przez kości umarłych by Antonia Lloyd-Jones (published by Riverhead Books as Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead) made it to the long list of nominees for the PEN Translation Prize, which is awarded by the American PEN Club every year for outstanding translations of books into English.
Apart from Antonia Lloyd-Jones, the longlist of nominees for this year’s edition of the prestigious award includes the following :
Maureen Shaughnessy (translated from Spanish The Scent of Buenos Aires: Stories by Hebe Uhart), Sora Kim-Russell (translated from Korean At Dusk by Hwang Sok-yonga), Janet Hong (translated from Korean Flowers of Mold & Other Stories by Ha Seong-nan), Allison Markin Powell (translated from Korean The Ten Loves of Nishino by Hiromi Kawakami), Olga Nakston and John Farndon (translated from Russian The Dead Wander in the Desert by Rollan Seisenbajew), Aaron Robertson (translated from Italian Beyond Babylon by Igiaby Scego), Chinese translator John Minford (I ching), Minna Zallman Proctor (translated from Russian Happiness, as Such by Natalia Ginzburg), Jody Gladding (translated from French If You Cross the River: A Novel Geneviève by Damas), and Denise Newman (translated from Danish When Death Takes Something From You Give It Back: Carl’s Book by Naja Marie Aidt).
This year, the jury is composed of Sean Gasper Bye, Jim Hicks, Geoffrey C. Howes, Sara Khalili, Elizabeth Lowe, and Jenny McPhee.
So far, translators of Polish literature have won the prestigious PEN award three times: in 2012, Bill Johnston for translating Myśliwski’s Kamień na kamieniu (“Stone Upon Stone”), in 1996, Stanisław Barańczak and Clare Cavanagh for Szymborska’s Widok z ziarnkiem piasku (“View with a Grain of Sand”), and in 1993, Thomas Hoisington for Krasicki’s Mikołaja Doświadczyńskiego przypadki (“The Adventures of Mr Nicholas Wisdom”).
A shortlist of nominees will be announced in January. The winner, who will receive a check for $3,000, will be announced on March 2 at New York City Hall.
