The American Literary Translators Association (ALTA) is delighted to announce the 2025 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 November 6, 2025 in Tucson, AZ, as part of ALTA’s annual conference, ALTA48: Visions and Versions.

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

2025 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 CJ Evans, David M. Smith, and Jiyoon Lee. Follow this link to see what the judges had to say about each of the shortlisted titles.

  • The Great Zoo by Nicolás Guillén, translated from Spanish by Aaron Coleman, edited by Rosa Alcalá and Srikanth Reddy (The University of Chicago Press)
  • An Inherent Tear by Rodrigo Quijano, translated from Spanish by Judah Rubin, edited by Gabriel Kruis and Rachel Valinsky (Wendy’s Subway)
  • Into a Star by Puk Qvortrup, translated from Danish by Hazel Evans, edited by Hermione Thompson (Hamish Hamilton, Penguin Random House UK)
  • No One Knows Their Blood Type by Maya Abu Al-Hayyat, translated from Arabic by Hazem Jamjoum, edited by Hilary Plum (Cleveland State University Poetry Center)
  • Taiwan Travelogue by Yáng Shuāng-zǐ, translated from Mandarin Chinese by Lin King, edited by Yuka Igarashi (Graywolf Press)
2025 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 for 2025 will receive a $5,000 cash prize.

This year’s judges are Anne M. Greeott, Hope Campbell Gustafson, and Jonathan Hiller. Follow this link to see what the judges had to say about each of the shortlisted titles.

  • AntoloGaia: Queering the Seventies, A Radical Trans Memoir by Porpora Marcasciano, translated by Francesco Pascuzzi and Sandra Waters (Rutgers University Press)
  • Mr. Dudron by Giorgio de Chirico, translated by Stefania Heim (A Public Space Books)
  • Tasmania by Paolo Giordano, translated by Antony Shugaar (Other Press)
  • The Unforgivable and Other Writings by Cristina Campo, translated by Alex Andriesse (New York Review Books)
  • Verdigris by Michele Mari, translated by Brian Robert Moore (And Other Stories)
2025 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 for 2025 will receive a $10,000 cash prize.

This year’s judges are Hedgie Choi, Rahul Soni, and Thúy Ðinh. Follow this link to see what the judges had to say about each of the shortlisted titles.

  • Biologicity by Shin Hae-uk, translated from Korean by Spencer Lee-Lenfield (Black Ocean)
  • Just Like by Lee Sumyeong, translated from Korean by Colin Leemarshall (Black Ocean)
  • A Kiss for the Absolute: Selected Poems of Shuzo Takiguchi by Shuzo Takiguchi, translated from Japanese by Mary Jo Bang and Yuki Tanaka (Princeton University Press)
  • Sidetracks by Bei Dao, translated from Chinese by Jeffrey Yang (New Directions)
2025 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 for 2025 will receive a $5,000 cash prize.

This year’s judges are Amaia Gabantxo, Elizabeth Lowe, and Lucía Aranda. Follow this link to see what the judges had to say about each of the shortlisted titles.

  • Crossing Waters by Luisa Etxenike, translated from Spanish by Lilit Žekulin Thwaites (Sundial House)
  • Once Upon Argentina by Andrés Neuman, translated from Spanish by Nick Caistor and Lorenza García (Open Letter Books)
  • Paraguayan Sorrow by Rafael Barrett, translated from Spanish by William Costa (Monthly Review Press)

 

Join us at this year’s conference in Tucson, AZ, from November 5-8 to see the winners announced at the awards ceremony on November 6!