The NBCC has announced the inaugural longlist for its new Barrios Book in Translation Prize.
Today, the National Book Critics Circle announced the inaugural longlist for its Barrios Book in Translation Prize, a new annual prize that “celebrates the artistic merit of literature in translation in any genre and seeks to recognize the valuable work of translators in expanding and enriching American literary culture by bringing world literature to English-language readers.”
The prize, which is named for former NBCC board member Gregg Barrios, who passed away in 2021, features a hybrid judging structure: the longlist was selected from nearly 300 books in translation published in the US this year by a small committee of NBCC members; in January, all NBCC members will be able to vote for their favorite books to make the shortlist. The winner will be announced at the NBCC Awards on Thursday, March 23, 2023, in New York City.
“Releasing the first Barrios Prize longlist is a proud moment for the National Book Critics Circle,” said Tara Wanda Merrigan, NBCC’s Vice President for the Barrios Book in Translation Prize, in a press release. “While the NBCC has long considered books in translation for its other awards, it’s a significant step to honor works in translation specifically. The 2022 longlist celebrates twelve worthy books that Anglophone readers can access wholly thanks to the work of translators and their publisher partners.”
The longlist features fiction, nonfiction, poetry and a graphic novel, and source texts in ten different languages. Congratulations to all those recognized:
A Summer Day in the Company of Ghosts by Wang Yin, translated from Chinese by Andrea Lingenfelter, Poetry (New York Review Books)
A Woman’s Battles and Transformations by Édouard Louis, translated by Tash Aw from French, Nonfiction (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
Grey Bees by Andrey Kurkov, translated by Boris Dralyuk from Russian, Fiction (Deep Vellum)
Kibogo by Scholastique Mukasonga, translated by Mark Polizzotti from French, Fiction (Archipelago)
Linea Nigra by Jazmina Barrera, translated from Spanish by Christina MacSweeney, Nonfiction (Two Lines Press)
The Pachinko Parlor by Elisa Shua Dusapin, translated by Aneesa Abbas Higgins from French, Fiction (Open Letter)
Present Tense Machine by Gunnhild Øyehaug, translated by Kari Dickson from Norwegian, Fiction (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
The Books of Jacob by Olga Tokarczuk, translated by Jennifer Croft from Polish, Fiction (Riverhead Books)
Violets by Kyung-sook Shin, translated by Anton Hur from Korean, Fiction (Feminist Press)
Walk Me to the Corner by Anneli Furmark, translated by Hanna Strömberg from Swedish, Graphic Novel (Drawn & Quarterly)
When I Sing Mountains Dance, by Irene Solà, translated by Mara Faye Lethem from Catalan, Fiction (Graywolf Press)
You Can Be the Last Leaf by Maya Abu Al-Hayyat, translated by Fady Joudah from Arabic, Poetry (Milkweed Editions)
