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. Stryk was an internationally acclaimed translator of Japanese and Chinese Zen poetry, renowned Zen poet himself, and former professor of English at Northern Illinois University. 

This $6,000 prize will be awarded annually, and the winning translators and books are featured at the annual ALTA conference.

Both translators and publishers are invited to submit titles. 

Recent winners include Red Pine (2010), Charles Egan (2011), Lucas Klein (2013), Jonathan Chaves (2014), Eleanor Goodman (2015), Sawako Nakayasu (2016), Jennifer Feeley (2017), Bonnie Huie (2018), Don Mee Choi (2012 & 2019), Jake Levine, Soeun Seo, and Hedgie Choi (2020), Archana Venkatesan (2021), Jae Kim (2022), and Wong May (2023). 

Eligiblity for the Lucien Stryk Asian Translation Prize: 

• book-length translations into English of either a) poetry or b) source texts from Zen Buddhism (which must not consist solely of commentaries) 
• translations from Chinese, Hindi, Japanese, Kannada, Korean, Sanskrit, Tamil, Thai, or Vietnamese into English 
• published in the previous calendar year

Submissions will be judged according to the literary significance of the original and the success of the translation in recreating the literary artistry of the original. While the Lucien Stryk Asian Translation Prize is primarily intended to recognize the translation of contemporary works, re-translations or first-time translations of important older works will also be seriously considered.

Submissions for the 2024 awards cycle opened January 16 and will close March 18, 2024.

How to Submit:

1. Complete the entry form online.

2. Send hard copies of the book(s) submitted to the judges requesting them. Upon completion of the submission, publishers will receive instructions for mailing print copies of submitted titles to those judges who request them. Please do not send hard copies of the book to ALTA directly. Books sent to ALTA will not be considered submitted for the award.