Honoring the best English translation of a work written originally in the Spanish language

The Queen Sofía Spanish Institute (QSSI) announces the longlist for the 2023 Queen Sofía Spanish Institute Translation Prize, a prize honoring the best English translation of a work written originally in the Spanish language. Out of a submissions pool twice as large as last year, ten texts were selected by distinguished Reading Committee comprised of experts in translation: Chair, Sophie Hughes; Professor and translator, Heather Cleary; and Amalia Gladhart, Winner of 2022 Translation Prize.

The longlist for the 2023 Queen Sofía Spanish Institute Translation Prize is marked by formidable authors from across the Hispanophone world. Authors both living and late as well as diplomats, journalists, actors, and academics all penned works in Spanish that translators and publishers sought to bring to a new audience. Notably, César Aira was a finalist in The Man Booker International Prize 2015 and Diamela Eltit won Chile’s National Prize for Literature in 2018.

However, our judges looked not only at a compelling story, but the success of the work of the twelve translators took these stories from Spanish into English.

The shortlist will be announced on October 24th.

Longlist:

• A Long Day in Venice by Abel Posse translated by George Henson
  • Publisher: Betimes Books
• Bad Girls by Camila Sosa Villada translated by Kit Maude
  • Publisher: Other Press
• December Breeze by Marvel Moreno translated by Isabel Adey & Charlotte Coombe
  • Publisher: Europa Editions
• The Famous Magician by César Aira translated by Chris Andrews
  • Publisher: New Directions
• How to Turn Into a Bird by María José Ferrada translated by Elizabeth Bryer
  • Publisher: Tin House
• Never Did the Fire by Diamela Eltit translated by Daniel Hahn
  • Publisher: Charco Press
• Of Saints and Miracles by Manuel Astur translated by Claire Wadie
  • Publisher: New Vessel Press
• Papyrus: The Invention of Books in the Ancient World by Irene Vallejo translated by Charlotte Whittle
  • Publisher: Knopf
• Toño the Infallible by Evelio Rosero translated by Victor Meadowcroft and Anne McLean
  • Publisher: New Directions
• Wolfskin by Lara Moreno translated by Katie Whittemore
  • Publisher: Open Letter Books

About the Queen Sofía Spanish Institute Translation Prize:

With the aim of elevating awareness and engendering appreciation of Spanish-language literature in the United States, this $10,000 prize was created by the Cultural Committee and Board of Directors of the Queen Sofía Spanish Institute to honor the best English-language translation of a literary work written in Spanish. Formerly a triennial prize, it is now awarded yearly. The Reading Committee for the Queen Sofía Spanish Institute Translation Prize consists of a minimum of three scholars with expertise in Spanish and/or Latin American literature, translation, culture, and/or language. In 2010, the Reading Committee of the Inaugural Queen Sofía Spanish Institute Translation Prize unanimously recommended Edith Grossman to receive the award for her extraordinary translation of Antonio Muñoz Molina’s A Manuscript of Ashes.