‘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 and Ireland. 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 2019 TA First Translation Prize, for translations published between April 2018 and March 2019, went to Morgan Giles for a translation of Tokyo Ueno Station by Yu Miri, edited by Saba Ahmed (Tilted Axis Press). 

The 2020 Shortlist

• Laura Francis and editor Ka Bradley for a translation of The Collection by Nina Leger (Granta Books). Translated from French.
• Annie McDermott and editor Lizzie Davis for a translation of Empty Words by Mario Levrero (And Other Stories). Translated from Spanish.
• Nicholas Glastonbury and editor Saba Ahmed for a translation of Every Fire You Tend by Sema Kaygusuz (Tilted Axis Press). Translated from Turkish.
• Ruth Diver and editor Elise Williams for a translation of The Little Girl on the Ice Floe by Adélaïde Bon (MacLehose Press). Translated from French.
• Nicholas Royle and editor Tim Shearer for a translation of Pharricide by Vincent de Swarte (Confingo Publishing). Translated from French.
• Owen Good and editor Bishan Samaddar for a translation of Pixel by Krisztina Tóth (Seagull Books). Translated from Hungarian.

The winner will be announced on Thursday 11 February 2021

The prize will open for submissions in 2021

• 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 or Ireland between 1 April 2020 and 31 March 2021. For the purposes of this prize, "published in the UK or Ireland" means that the publisher or imprint has the UK or Ireland 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. 
   
• The full criteria for entry can be found at the start of the entry form.

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