Oxford-Weidenfeld Translation Prize

The 2012 Winner

The winner of the 2012 Oxford-Weidenfeld Translation Prize was announced on the 7th June. The prize was awarded to Judith Landry for her translation of New Finnish Grammar by Diego Marani (Dedalus). Judith Landry was chosen from a shortlist of 6 translators:

  *   John Ashbery for Illuminations by Arthur Rimbaud (Carcanet)
  *   Margaret Jull Costa for Seven Houses in France by Bernardo Atxaga (Harvill Secker)
  *   Howard Curtis for How I Lost the War by Filippo Bologna (Pushkin)
  *   Rosalind Harvey for Down the Rabbit Hole by Juan Pablo Villalobos (And Other Stories)
  *   Judith Landry for New Finnish Grammar by Diego Marani (Dedalus)
  *   Martin McLaughlin for Into the War by Italo Calvino (Penguin)

The judges, who included Ann Jefferson, Fellow in French at New College, said: This year's entry was both very strong and very numerous, with 102 books being submitted by 44 publishers. Twentieth-century history was a prominent theme, an emphasis which has carried through into our shortlist. Genre fiction, especially crime, was well represented in the entry this year; but there was hardly any drama. Finally, we wish to record our appreciation of the many interesting prefaces and introductions which helped orient our reading of the translations.

The prize was presented by guest judge Marina Warner. You can view the full text of Marina's speech as a PDF Document