Awards & Mentorships
Translation Awards Program
The American Literary Translators Association awards six major translation prizes at the annual ALTA Conference in recognition of excellence and artistry in the field of literary translation. Applications are accepted annually from mid-January to mid-March.
If you are a publisher of a book that has been longlisted, shortlisted, or won one of our prizes and you would like to receive a digital seal, please contact Communications & Awards Director Rachael Daum at rachael@literarytranslators.org.
The National Translation Award (NTA) is granted annually, in poetry and in prose categories, to literary translators who have made an outstanding contribution to literature in English by masterfully recreating the artistic force of a book of consummate quality.
The ALTA First Translation Prize, inaugurated in 2024, recognizes the work of emerging literary translators and their editors. Translators based anywhere in the world and translations published anywhere in the world are eligible.
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.
The Lucien Stryk Asian Translation Prize recognizes the importance of Asian translation for international literature, and promotes the translation of Asian works of poetry and Zen Buddhist texts into English.
The Spain-USA Foundation Translation Award (SUFTA) recognizes translations into English of literary prose works written originally by authors of Spanish (Spain) nationality.
Recent Winners
Travel Fellowship Program
Every year, a number of emerging translators are awarded the $1,000 travel fellowship to support them in attending and participating in the annual ALTA conference. An emerging translator of color, or one working from an underrepresented diaspora or stateless language is also preferentially awarded the Peter K. Jansen Memorial Travel Fellowship. Applications are accepted annually from mid-January to mid-March.
All awarded fellows are invited to read their translated work at the ALTA Conference at a keynote event to an audience of translators, authors, editors and publishers from around the world.
Emerging Translator Mentorship Program
The mentorship program allows an emerging translator to establish and develop a close working relationship with an experienced translator on a literary translation project chosen by the emerging translator. Applications are accepted annually from mid-September through late November.
The program consists of several language-specific and non-language-specific mentorships that change annually. All mentors and mentees meet in a video conference at the beginning of the mentorship and continue their work one-on-one in person, over video, or by phone for the nine-month duration. Each year’s cohort participates in a reading at the annual ALTA Conference. Mentees receive complimentary conference registration and a $1,500 stipend to cover travel to the conference location and on-site accommodations.
How to Apply
Submissions for ALTA Awards and Travel Fellowships are accepted annually from mid-January through mid-March. Submissions for Mentorships are accepted annually from early September through late November. See our complete submission instructions and the eligibility requirements for each program before applying.