The American Literary Translators Association (ALTA) is delighted to announce the 2026 shortlists for the ALTA First Translation Prize, Italian Prose in Translation Award (IPTA), Lucien Stryk Asian Translation Prize, and the Spain-USA Foundation Translation Award (SUFTA)!

The winners of these awards will be announced at ALTA’s annual awards ceremony, which will take place on October 23, 2026 in Portland, OR, as part of ALTA’s annual conference, ALTA49: Give and Take.

Congratulations to the translators, authors, and publishers on these lists! Learn more about the awards and see the shortlists below:

2026 ALTA First Translation Prize Shortlist

The ALTA First Translation Prize, inaugurated in 2024, recognizes the work of emerging literary translators and their editors. This annual prize is open to all genres, and awards one debut literary translation from any other language into English published in the previous calendar year. Translators based anywhere in the world and translations published anywhere in the world are eligible. The winner will receive a cash prize of $3,000, with $2,000 bestowed to the translator and $1,000 to the editor.

This year’s judges are Kristen Vida Alfaro, Tess Lewis, and Wendy Call. Follow this link to see what the judges had to say about each of the shortlisted titles.

  • Carnaval Fever by Yuliana Ortiz Ruano, translated from Spanish by Madeleine Arenivar, edited by Cecilia Flores and Dan López, published by Soft Skull Press
  • Exercises 1950-1960 by Yannis Ritsos, translated from Greek by Spring Ulmer, edited by Anna Moschovakis, published by Ugly Duckling Presse
  • Mending Bodies by Hon Lai Chu, translated from Chinese by Jacqueline Leung, edited by CJ Evans, published by Two Lines Press
  • Return to the Place I Never Left by Tobias Schiff, translated from Flemish by Dani James, edited by Sandra Korn, published by Wayne State University Press
  • W & E: a refracted translation of Wulf and Eadwacer by anonymous, translated from Old English by M. L. Martin, edited by Johannes Göransson and Katherine Hedeen, published by Action Books
  • What Good Does It Do for A Person to Wake Up One Morning This Side of the New Millennium by Kim Simonsen, translated from Faroese by Randi Ward, edited by Linda Stack-Nelson, published by Deep Vellum Publishing
2026 Italian Prose in Translation Award Shortlist

Starting in 2015, the Italian Prose in Translation Award (IPTA) recognizes the importance of contemporary Italian prose (fiction and literary non-fiction) and promotes the translation of Italian works into English. This prize is awarded annually to a translator of a recent work of Italian prose (fiction or literary non-fiction). The award-winning translator will receive a $5,000 cash prize.

This year’s judges are Candice Whitney, Jim Hicks, and Sherry Roush. Follow this link to see what the judges had to say about each of the shortlisted titles.

  • The Lake’s Water Is Never Sweet by Giulia Caminito, translated from Italian by Hope Campbell Gustafson, published by Spiegel & Grau
  • The Leucothea Dialogues by Cesare Pavese, translated from Italian by Minna Zallman Proctor, published by Archipelago Books
  • The Night Trembles by Nadia Terranova, translated from Italian by Ann Goldstein, published by Seven Stories Press
  • One, None, and a Hundred Grand by Luigi Pirandello, translated from Italian by Sean Wilsey, published by Archipelago Books
  • This Darkness Will Never End by Edith Bruck, translated from Italian by Jeanne Bonner, published by Paul Dry Books
2026 Lucien Stryk Asian Translation Prize Shortlist

The Lucien Stryk Asian Translation Prize, which was inaugurated in 2009, recognizes the importance of Asian translation for international literature and promotes the translation of Asian works into English. The award-winning translator will receive a $10,000 cash prize.

This year’s judges are Judy Halebsky, Rohini Chowdhury and Thúy Ðinh. Follow this link to see what the judges had to say about each of the shortlisted titles.

  • The Magpie at Night by Li Qingzhao, translated from Chinese by Wendy Chen, published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux
  • Mirror by Zhang Zao, translated from Chinese by Fiona Sze-Lorrain, published by Zephyr Press
  • The Ruins by Ye Hui, translated from Chinese by Dong Li, published by Deep Vellum Publishing
  • Spring Mountain: The Complete Poems of Nansŏrhŏn by Nansŏrhŏn, translated from Korean by Ian Haight and T’aeyong Hŏ, published by White Pine Press
  • Today’s Morning Vocabulary by Yoo Heekyung, translated from Korean by Stine An, published by Zephyr Press
2026 Spain-USA Foundation Translation Award Shortlist

The Spain-USA Foundation Translation Award (SUFTA), which was inaugurated in 2022, is offered by the American Literary Translators Association in conjunction with the Spain-USA Foundation. The award recognizes translations into English of literary prose works written originally by authors of Spanish (Spain) nationality. The award-winning translator will receive a $5,000 cash prize.

This year’s judges are D. P. Snyder, Jacob Rogers, and Will Morningstar. Follow this link to see what the judges had to say about each of the shortlisted titles.

  • Anoxia by Miguel Ángel Hernández, translated from Spanish by Adrian Nathan West, published by Other Press
  • The Cracks We Bear by Catalina Infante, translated from Spanish by Michelle Mirabella, published by World Editions
  • The Holy Innocents by Miguel Delibes, translated from Spanish by Peter Bush, published by Yale University Press
  • I Gave You Eyes and You Looked Toward Darkness by Irene Solà, translated from Catalan by Mara Faye Lethem, published by Graywolf Press
  • My Clavicle: And Other Massive Misalignments by Marta Sanz, translated from Spanish by Katie King, published by Unnamed Press

Join us at this year’s conference in Portland, OR from October 21-24 to see the winners announced at the awards ceremony on October 23!