Inaugurated this year, 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 $5,000 prize was awarded this year to Anne Milano Appel for her stunning translation of Italian fiction.

Blindly by Claudio Magris, translated by Anne Milano Appel (Yale University Press, 2013).

Anne Milano Appel was awarded the Italian Prose in Translation Award (2015), the John Florio Prize for Italian Translation (2013) and the Northern California Book Awards for Translation-Fiction (2014, 2013). She has translated works by Claudio Magris, Paolo Giordano, Giovanni Arpino and Stefano Bortolussi, among others.

All of the books reviewed for the shortlist were stellar candidates, featuring books published in Italian from 1991 to 2011, from five different U.S. publishers. These books represent the diversity and significance of contemporary Italian literature. This year’s judges were Paul Vangelisti, Susan Harris, and Diana Thow.

You can see the shortlist here.

The IPTA was announced at the awards ceremony at the ALTA conference on October 29, alongside the winners of the National Translation Awards in Prose and Poetry, and the Lucien Stryk Prize winner. ALTA President Russell Valentino introduced the IPTA winner, and Appel read from a selection of her translation upon receiving the award.

The 5-title shortlist books will be featured on the ALTA blog over the next month with reviews written by the judges.