‘So, it’s recognising new talent in the translation profession, but also those editors who take a chance on a debut and then work with them to make them better – a role we all depend on, but don’t acknowledge often enough.’

Daniel Hahn

The TA First Translation Prize is an annual £2,000 prize for a debut literary translation into English published in the UK. The Prize is shared between the translator and their editor.

It was established in 2017 and generously endowed by Daniel Hahn, with support from the British Council.

The 2018 TA First Translation Prize, for translations published between April 2017 and March 2018, went to Janet Hong for her translation of The Impossible Fairytale by Han Yujoo, edited by Ethan Nosowsky (Tilted Axis Press). 

The 2019 TA First Translation Prize, for translations published between April 2018 and March 2019, will be presented in 2020. 

Entry to the 2018 TA First Translation Prize is now closed.

The 2018 prize was judged by Margaret Jull Costa and Philip Gwyn Jones alongside Daniel Hahn.

​The Prize will be awarded at our Translation Prizes ceremony in February 2019. 

Important Information

• The work submitted must be the first published solo book-length literary translation by the translator. (The translator can have previously published shorter pieces, non-literary texts, poetry, co-translations, or any other translated shorter works that would themselves be ineligible for the prize.) 

• The translation must have been first published in the UK between 1 April 2017 and 31 March 2018. For the purposes of this prize, "published in the UK" means that the publisher or imprint has the UK formally established as its principal place of business and/or the book has been assigned a UK ISBN.

• The prize is shared between the translator and their editor. 

For any queries relating to the prize please contact prizes@societyofauthors.org