The American Literary Translators Association (ALTA) is thrilled to announce that it will be responsible for coordinating the Cliff Becker Book Prize in Translation, beginning with the 2017 Becker Prize (awarded in 2016).

The new selection process will feature a committee of three judges, including at least one translator and one poet.

The Becker Prize is the only award for an unpublished book-length manuscript of poetry in translation. It includes a $1,000 prize and publication by White Pine Press.

ALTA will begin accepting submissions online for the 2017 Cliff Becker Book Prize in 2016. The new selection process will feature a committee of three judges, including at least one translator and one poet. More details will be available at http://www.literarytranslators.org in April, 2016.

Last year’s competition winner was Carolyn Tipton for her translation of Returnings: Poems of Love and Distance by Spanish poet Rafael Alberti.

Cliff Becker (1964-2005) was the National Endowment for the Arts Literature Director from 1999-2005. He began his career at the NEA in 1992 as a literature specialist, was named Acting Director in 1997, and in 1999 became the NEA’s Director of Literature.

The Becker Prize is made possible by the Cliff Becker Endowment for the Literary Arts and a grant from the Amazon Literary Partnership.