# National Book Award for Translated Literature

The National Book Award for Translated Literature, is one of five annual National Book Awards, recognising outstanding literary works of translation into English and administered by the National Book Foundation. This award was previously bestowed from 1967 to 1983 but did not require the author to be living and was for works of fiction only. It was reintroduced in its current form in 2018 and is open to living translators and authors, for works of both fiction and non-fiction.
The award recognises one book published by a U.S. publisher located in the United States from December 1 of the previous year to November 30 in the award year. The original text need not have been published in the year of the award submission, only the translated work. For the Translated Literature award neither author nor translator are required to be U.S. citizens.
Entries for the National Book Awards are open from March until May. A longlist of ten books is announced in September with a shortlist of five following in October. The winner is announced at a ceremony in November. The prizes are split equally between the author and the translator.

## Awards

This list only covers the current version of the National Book Award for Translated Literature from its reintroduction in 2018. Winners from 1967 to 1983 are covered in the complete list of winners of the National Book Award.

### 2018

The prize was judged by Karen Maeda Allman, Sinan Antoon, Susan Bernofsky, and Álvaro Enrigue and chaired by Harold Augenbraum. The longlist was announced on September 12. The finalists were announced October 10. The winner was announced on November 14, 2018.
2018 National Book Award for Translated Literature honorees :
| Author | Title | Original Language | Translator | Country of Publication | Publisher | Result |
| Yoko Tawada | The Emissary | Japanese | Margaret Mitsutani | Japan- Germany | New Directions Publishing | Winner |
| Négar Djavadi | Disoriental | French | Tina Kover | Iran- France | Europa Editions | Finalists |
| Domenico Starnone | Trick | Italian | Jhumpa Lahiri | Italy | Europa Editions | Finalists |
| Olga Tokarczuk | Flights | Polish | Jennifer Croft | Poland | Riverhead Books | Finalists |
| Hanne Ørstavik | Love | Norwegian | Martin Aitken | Norway | Archipelago Books | Finalists |
| Roque Larraquy | Comemadre | Spanish | Heather Cleary | Argentina | Coffee House Press | Longlist |
| Dunya Mikhail | The Beekeeper: Rescuing the Stolen Women of Iraq | Arabic | Max Weiss | Iraq- USA | New Directions Publishing | Longlist |
| Perumal Murugan | One Part Woman | Tamil | Aniruddhan Vasudevan | India | Black Cat | Longlist |
| Tatyana Tolstaya | Aetherial Worlds | Russian | Anya Migdal | Russia | Alfred A. Knopf | Longlist |
| Gunnhild Øyehaug | Wait, Blink: A Perfect Picture of Inner Life | Norwegian | Kari Dickson | Norway | Farrar, Straus and Giroux | Longlist |

### 2019

The prize was judged by Keith Gessen, Elisabeth Jaquette, Katie Kitamura, and Shuchi Saraswat and chaired by Idra Novey. The longlist was announced on September 17. Finalists were announced on October 8. The winner was announced on November 20, 2019.
2019 National Book Award for Translated Literature honorees :
| Author | Title | Original Language | Translator | Country of Publication | Publisher | Result |
| László Krasznahorkai | Baron Wenckheim's Homecoming | Hungarian | Ottilie Mulzet | Hungary | New Directions Publishing | Winner |
| Khaled Khalifa | Death is Hard Work | Arabic | Leri Price | Syria | Farrar, Straus and Giroux | Finalists |
| Scholastique Mukasonga | The Barefoot Woman | French | Jordan Stump | Rwanda | Archipelago | Finalists |
| Yoko Ogawa | The Memory Police | Japanese | Stephen Snyder | Japan | Pantheon Books | Finalists |
| Pajtim Statovci | Crossing | Finnish | David Hackston | Finland | Pantheon Books | Finalists |
| Eliane Brum | The Collector of Leftover Souls | Portuguese | Diane Grosklaus Whitty | Brazil | Graywolf Press | Longlist |
| Nona Fernández | Space Invaders | Spanish | Natasha Wimmer | Chile | Graywolf Press | Longlist |
| Vigdis Hjorth | Will and Testament | Norwegian | Charlotte Barslund | Norway | Verso Books | Longlist |
| Olga Tokarczuk | Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead | Polish | Antonia Lloyd-Jones | Poland | Riverhead Books | Longlist |
| Naja Marie Aidt | When Death Takes Something From You Give it Back | Danish | Denise Newman | Denmark | Coffee House Press | Longlist |

### 2020

The prize was judged by Heather Cleary, John Darnielle, Anne Ishii, and Brad Johnson and chaired by Dinaw Mengestu. The longlist was announced on September 16 with the shortlist following on October 6. The winner was announced on November 18, 2020.
2020 National Book Award for Translated Literature honorees :
| Author | Title | Original Language | Translator | Publisher | Result |
| Miri Yu | Tokyo Ueno Station | Japanese | Morgan Giles | Riverhead Books / Penguin Random House | Winner |
| Anja Kampmann | High as the Waters Rise | German | Anne Posten | Catapult Press | Finalists |
| Jonas Hassen Khemiri | The Family Clause | Swedish | Alice Menzies | Farrar, Straus and Giroux / Macmillan Publishers | Finalists |
| Pilar Quintana | The Bitch | Spanish | Lisa Dillman | World Editions | Finalists |
| Adania Shibli | Minor Detail | Arabic | Elisabeth Jaquette | New Directions Publishing | Finalists |
| Shokoofeh Azar | The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree | Persian | Anonymous | Europa Editions | |
| Cho Nam-Joo | Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 | Korean | Jamie Chang | Liveright / W. W. Norton & Company | Longlist |
| Perumal Murugan | The Story of a Goat | Tamil | N. Kalyan Raman | Black Cat / Grove Atlantic | Longlist |
| Fernanda Melchor | Hurricane Season | Spanish | Sophie Hughes | New Directions Publishing | Longlist |
| Linda Boström Knausgård | The Helios Disaster | Swedish | Rachel Willson-Broyles | World Editions | Longlist |

### 2021

The prize was judged by Jessie Chaffee, Sergio de la Pava, Madhu H. Kaza, and Achy Obejas and chaired by Stephen Snyder. The longlist was announced on September 15 with the shortlist following on October 5. The winner was announced on November 17, 2021.
2021 National Book Award for Translated Literature honorees :
| Author | Title | Original Language | Translator | Publisher | Result |
| Elisa Shua Dusapin | Winter in Sokcho | French | Aneesa Abbas Higgins | Open Letter Books | Winner |
| Ge Fei | Peach Blossom Paradise | Chinese | Canaan Morse | New York Review Books | Finalists |
| Nona Fernández | The Twilight Zone | Spanish | Natasha Wimmer | Graywolf Press | Finalists |
| Benjamín Labatut | When We Cease to Understand the World | Spanish | Adrian Nathan West | New York Review Books | Finalists |
| Samar Yazbek | Planet of Clay | Arabic | Leri Price | World Editions | Finalists |
| Maryse Condé | Waiting for the Waters to Rise | French | Richard Philcox | World Editions | Longlist |
| Bo-young Kim | On the Origin of Species and Other Stories | Korean | Joungmin Lee Comfort and Sora Kim-Russell | Kaya Press | Longlist |
| Elvira Navarro | Rabbit Island | Spanish | Christina MacSweeney | Two Lines Press | Longlist |
| Judith Schalansky | An Inventory of Losses | German | Jackie Smith | New Directions Publishing | Longlist |
| Maria Stepanova | In Memory of Memory | Russian | Sasha Dugdale | New Directions Publishing | Longlist |

### 2022

The prize was judged by Nick Buzanski, Veronica Esposito, Ann Goldstein (Chair), Rohan Kamicheril, and Russell Scott Valentino. The longlist was announced on September 14 with the shortlist following on October 4. The winner was announced on November 16, 2022.
2022 National Book Award for Translated Literature honorees :
| Author | Title | Original Language | Translator | Publisher | Result |
| Samanta Schweblin | Seven Empty Houses | Spanish | Megan McDowell | Riverhead Books / Penguin Random House | Winner |
| Jon Fosse | A New Name: Septology VI-VII | Norwegian | Damion Searls | Transit Books | Finalists |
| Scholastique Mukasonga | Kibogo | French | Mark Polizzotti | Archipelago Books | Finalists |
| Mónica Ojeda | Jawbone | Spanish | Sarah Booker | Coffee House Press | Finalists |
| Yoko Tawada | Scattered All Over the Earth | Japanese | Margaret Mitsutani | New Directions Publishing | Finalists |
| Mohammed Hasan Alwan | Ibn Arabi's Small Death | Arabic | William M | Center for Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Texas at Austin | Longlist |
| Shahriar Mandanipour | Seasons of Purgatory | Persian | Sara Khalili | Bellevue Literary Press | Longlist |
| Olga Ravn | The Employees | Danish | Martin Aitken | New Directions Publishing | Longlist |
| Saša Stanišić | Where You Come From | German | Damion Searls | Tin House Books | Longlist |
| Olga Tokarczuk | The Books of Jacob | Polish | Jennifer Croft | Riverhead Books / Penguin Random House | Longlist |

### 2023

Members of the prize jury were Geoffrey Brock, Arthur Malcolm Dixon, Cristina Rodriguez, T. Denean Sharpley-Whiting, and Jeremy Tiang (Chair). The longlist was announced on September 13 with the shortlist following on October 4. The winner was announced on November 16, 2023.
2023 National Book Award for Translated Literature honorees :
| Author | Title | Original Language | Translator | Publisher | Result |
| Stênio Gardel | The Words That Remain | Portuguese | Bruna Dantas Lobato | New Vessel Press | Winner |
| Bora Chung | Cursed Bunny | Korean | Anton Hur | Algonquin Books / Hachette Book Group | Finalists |
| David Diop | Beyond the Door of No Return | French | Sam Taylor | Farrar, Straus and Giroux / Macmillan Publishers | Finalists |
| Pilar Quintana | Abyss | Spanish | Lisa Dillman | World Editions | Finalists |
| Astrid Roemer | On a Woman's Madness | Dutch | Lucy Scott | Two Lines Press | Finalists |
| Juan Cárdenas | The Devil of the Provinces | Spanish | Lizzie Davis | Coffee House Press | Longlist |
| Jenny Erpenbeck | Kairos | German | Michael Hofmann | Coffee House Press | Longlist |
| Khaled Khalifa | No One Prayed Over Their Graves | Arabic | Leri Price | Farrar, Straus and Giroux / Macmillan Publishers | Longlist |
| Fernanda Melchor | This is Not Miami | Spanish | Sophie Hughes | New Directions Publishing | Longlist |
| Mohamed Mbougar Sarr | The Most Secret Memory of Men | French | Lara Vergnaud | Other Press | Longlist |

### 2024

Members of the prize jury were Aron Aji, Jennifer Croft, Jhumpa Lahiri (Chair), Gary Lovely and Julia Sanches. The longlist was announced on September 13 with the shortlist following on October 1. The winner was announced on November 20, 2024.
2024 National Book Award for Translated Literature honorees :
| Author | Title | Original Language | Translator | Publisher | Result |
| Yáng Shuāng-zǐ | Taiwan Travelogue | Mandarin Chinese | Lin King | Graywolf Press | Winner |
| Bothayna El Essa | The Book Censor's Library | Arabic | Ranya Abdelrahman and Sawad Hussain | Restless Books | Finalists |
| Linnea Axelsson | Ædnan | Swedish | Saskia Vogel | Knopf / Penguin Random House | Finalists |
| Fiston Mwanza Mujila | The Villain's Dance | French | Roland Glasser | Deep Vellum | Finalists |
| Samar Yazbek | Where the Wind Calls Home | Arabic | Leri Price | World Editions | Finalists |
| Nasser Abu Srour | The Tale of a Wall: Reflections on the Meaning of Hope and Freedom | Arabic | Luke Leafgren | Other Press | Longlist |
| Solvej Balle | On the Calculation of Volume (Book I) | Danish | Barbara J. Haveland | New Directions Publishing | Longlist |
| Layla Martínez | Woodworm | Spanish | Sophie Hughes and Annie McDermott | Two Lines Press | Longlist |
| Fernanda Trías | Pink Slime | Spanish | Heather Cleary | Scribner / Simon & Schuster | Longlist |
| Fernando Vallejo | The Abyss | Spanish | Yvette Siegert | New Directions Publishing | Longlist |