The prize, which is now in its sixth year, aims to recognise the achievements of young translators at the start of their careers. Each year, the Young Translators' Prize focuses on a different language and in 2015 – after Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Portuguese and German – it's time for Polish, announced Harvill Secker at the London Book Fair on April 15th, 2015.
This year’s prize will be judged by renowned translator and twice winner of the Found in Translation award Antonia Lloyd-Jones, author Eva Hoffman, journalist and Deputy Director of the English PEN Catherine Taylor and Harvill Secker editor Ellie Steel.
The entrants will be asked to translate one – and the same for all participants – short story. This year the chosen piece comes from Polish debuting author Maciej Miłkowski. Tatuaż comes from Miłkowski's book of short stories Wist, published in Poland in 2014 (Zeszyty Literackie). The style of his writing has been compared to that of Nabokov, Cortazar, and Kundera. Born in 1980 in Łódź, Miłkowski is also an accomplished translator from English into Polish, author of over 15 translations.
The Harvill Secker YTA is open to anyone between the ages of 18 and 34, with no restriction on country of residence. The winner will take part in mentoring sessions with Antonia Lloyd-Jones, and will also be invited to participate in Crossing Border Festival in November 2015. The winning translator will also receive £1000 and a selection of Harvill Secker titles.
The short story (PDF) and details on how to enter can be found at www.youngtranslatorsprize.com, and the deadline for entries is 31st July. The winner will be announced in October 2015.
Harvill Secker is a British publishing house (an imprint of Vintage Publishing at Penguin Random House) with a particular interest in publishing international literature – home to writers such as J.M. Coetzee, José Saramago, Haruki Murakami, Günter Grass, Henning Mankell, Jo Nesbo, Karl Ove Knausgaard and Umberto Eco.
The Harvill Secker Young Translators' Prize was launched in 2010 as part of the company's centenary celebrations.
The prize is organized in partnership with the Writers’ Centre Norwich, the British Centre for Literary Translation (BCLT), and the Polish Cultural Institute.
For more information visit: www.youngtranslatorsprize.com