The Rossica Translation Prize is a biennial award given to an exceptional published

translation Translation is the communication of the semantics, meaning of a #Source and target languages, source-language text by means of an Dynamic and formal equivalence, equivalent #Source and target languages, target-language text. The English la ...

of a literary work from

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

into

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

. It is the only prize in the world for Russian to English literary translations.

History of the prize

The prize was inaugurated in 2003 by Academia Rossica and has been presented since 2005. The distinction comes with a cash prize, which is split between the translator and the publisher at the discretion of the panel of judges. In previous years, the prize has been awarded in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

on 24 May, the birth date of

Saints Cyril and Methodius Cyril (; born Constantine, 826–869) and Methodius (; born Michael, 815–885) were brothers, Byzantine Christian theologians and missionaries. For their work evangelizing the Slavs, they are known as the "Apostles to the Slavs". They are ...

, creators of the Slavic alphabet. It is now awarded as part of the SLOVO Russian Literature Festival. Excerpts of the winning and runner-up translations are printed in an accompanying Rossica

journal A journal, from the Old French ''journal'' (meaning "daily"), may refer to: *Bullet journal, a method of personal organization *Diary, a record of personal secretive thoughts and as open book to personal therapy or used to feel connected to onesel ...

. Since 2009, the Academia Rossica has also been awarding the annual Rossica Young Translators Prize for anyone under 25.

Shortlist and winners

The winner is marked with a blue ribbon.

2005

The winner was announced on 15 October 2005. Special commendations were awarded to Michael Molnar and Robin Kemball. * Oliver Ready for ''The Prussian Bride'', by Yuri Buida (

Dedalus Books Dedalus Books is an independent publishing company based in Cambridgeshire, England. Publisher Eric Lane has said, "We like the bizarre, the grotesque, the surreal and the clever, preferably in the same book. We call this kind of book, distort ...

, 2002) *

Hugh Aplin Hugh is the English-language variant of the masculine given name , itself the Old French variant of '' Hugo (name)">Hugo'', a short form of Continental Germanic Germanic name">given names beginning in the element "mind, spirit" (Old English ). ...

for ''The Fatal Eggs'', by

Mikhail Bulgakov Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov ( ; rus, links=no, Михаил Афанасьевич Булгаков, p=mʲɪxɐˈil ɐfɐˈnasʲjɪvʲɪdʑ bʊlˈɡakəf; – 10 March 1940) was a Russian and Soviet novelist and playwright. His novel ''The M ...

(

Hesperus Press Hesperus Press is an independent publishing house based in London, United Kingdom. It was founded in 2001. The publisher's motto, "Et Remotissima Prope," is a Latin phrase which means "Bringing near what is far". Hesperus Press has published som ...

, 2003) *

Andrew Bromfield Andrew Bromfield is a British editor and translator of Russian works. He is a founding editor of the Russian literature journal ''Glas'', and has translated into English works by Boris Akunin, Vladimir Voinovich, Irina Denezhkina, Victor Pelevin, ...

for ''The Naked Pioneer Girl'', by (

Serpent's Tail Serpent's Tail is London-based independent publishing firm founded in 1986 by Pete Ayrton. It specialises in publishing work in translation, particularly European crime fiction. In January 2007, it was bought by a British publisher Profile Book ...

, 2004) * Robert Chandler, Elizabeth Chandler and Olga Meerson for ''Soul'', by

Andrei Platonov Andrei Platonovich Platonov ( rus, Андрей Платонович Платонов, , ɐnˈdrʲej plɐˈtonəvʲɪtɕ plɐˈtonəf; []; – 5 January 1951) was a Soviet Russian people, Russian novelist, short story writer, philosopher, play ...

(Harvill Press, 2003) * Arch Tait for ''Hurramabad'', by Andrei Volos ( Glas (publisher), Glas, 2001) * Robert Maguire for ''Dead Souls'', by

Nikolai Gogol Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol; ; (; () was a Russian novelist, short story writer, and playwright of Ukrainian origin. Gogol used the Grotesque#In literature, grotesque in his writings, for example, in his works "The Nose (Gogol short story), ...

(

Penguin Books Penguin Books Limited is a Germany, German-owned English publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers the Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the ...

, 2004)

2007

The winner was announced on 25 May 2007. A special commendation was awarded to Robert Chandler, in particular for his translation of ''The Railway'' by

Hamid Ismailov Hamid Ismailov () () born May 5, 1954, in Tokmok, Kyrgyzstan, is an Uzbek journalist and writer who was forced to flee Uzbekistan in 1992 and came to the United Kingdom, where he took a job with the BBC World Service. He left the BBC on 30 April ...

and also for his lifetime oeuvre of translations. * Joanne Turnbull for ''7 Stories'', by Sigismund Krzhizhanovsky ( Glas (publisher), Glas, 2006) * Anthony Briggs for ''

War and Peace ''War and Peace'' (; pre-reform Russian: ; ) is a literary work by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy. Set during the Napoleonic Wars, the work comprises both a fictional narrative and chapters in which Tolstoy discusses history and philosophy. An ...

'', by

Leo Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy Tolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; ,Throughout Tolstoy's whole life, his name was written as using Reforms of Russian orthography#The post-revolution re ...

(

, 2005) *

for ''

The Death of Ivan Ilyich ''The Death of Ivan Ilyich'' (also Romanized ''Ilich'', ''Ilych'', ''Ilyitch''; ), first published in 1886, is a novella by Leo Tolstoy, considered one of the masterpieces of his late fiction, written shortly after his religious conversion of th ...

'', by

(

, 2005) * Arch Tait for ''Sonechka: a novella and stories'', by

Ludmila Ulitskaya Lyudmila Evgenyevna Ulitskaya (, born February 21, 1943) is an internationally acclaimed modern Russian novelist and short-story writer who, in 2014, was awarded the prestigious Austrian State Prize for European Literature for her oeuvre. In 2006 s ...

(Schocken Books, 2005) * Anne O. Fisher for ''Ilf and Petrov's American Road Trip: The 1935 Travelogue for two Soviet writers'' by

Ilya Ilf Ilya Arnoldovich Ilf (born Iehiel-Leyb Aryevich Faynzilberg; ; – 13 April 1937) was a Soviet journalist and writer of Jewish origin who usually worked in collaboration with Yevgeny Petrov during the 1920s and 1930s. Their duo was known simp ...

and Evgeny Petrov (

Princeton Architectural Press Princeton Architectural Press (now PA Press) is a division of Chronicle Books. Founded by Kevin Lippert in 1981 in Princeton, NJ, PA Press has been a leading publisher of books on architecture, design, and visual culture for over forty years, ...

& Cabinet Books, 2006)

2009

The winner was announced on 25 May 2009. *

for ''Romance with Cocaine'', by

Mikhail Ageyev Mikhail Dmitriyevich Ageyev (; 14 May 1931 in Cheremhovo (now Irkutsk Oblast) – 19 November 2005) was a Soviet and Russian scientist, an expert in the field of navigation and control systems of moving objects, a member of the Russian Academy ...

(

, 2008) *

Ignat Avsey Ignat () usually is a Slavic given name that can be also of Chechen origin although that is very rare, corresponds to the given name Ignatius which can also refer to an entity that has fire (element) control since birth. Notable persons with that ...

for ''

Humiliated and Insulted ''Humiliated and Insulted'' (, ''Unizhennye i oskorblyonnye'') — also known in English as ''The Insulted and Humiliated'', ''The Insulted and the Injured'' or ''Injury and Insult'' — is a novel by Fyodor Dostoevsky, first published in 1861 i ...

'', by

Fyodor Dostoevsky Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky. () was a Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist and journalist. He is regarded as one of the greatest novelists in both Russian and world literature, and many of his works are considered highly influent ...

(One World Classics, 2008) * Nick Allen for '' One Soldier's War in Chechnya'', by Andrei Babchenko (

Portobello Books ''Granta'' is a literary magazine and publisher in the United Kingdom whose mission centres on its "belief in the power and urgency of the story, both in fiction and non-fiction, and the story's supreme ability to describe, illuminate and make ...

, 2007) *

for '' The Sacred Book of the Werewolf'', by

Victor Pelevin Victor Olegovich Pelevin ( rus, Виктор Олегович Пелевин, p=ˈvʲiktər ɐˈlʲeɡəvʲɪtɕ pʲɪˈlʲevʲɪn; born 22 November 1962) is a Russian fiction writer. His novels include ''Omon Ra'' (1992), ''The Life of Insects' ...

(

Faber and Faber Faber and Faber Limited, commonly known as Faber & Faber or simply Faber, is an independent publishing house in London. Published authors and poets include T. S. Eliot (an early Faber editor and director), W. H. Auden, C. S. Lewis, Margaret S ...

, 2008) *

Sasha Dugdale Sasha Dugdale FRSL is a British poet, playwright, editor and translator. She has written six poetry collections and is a translator of Russian literature. Biography Sasha Dugdale was born in 1974 in Sussex. Dugdale has published six poetry ...

for ''Birdsong on the Seabed'', by Elena Shvarts (Bloodaxe Books, 2008) * Jamey Gambrell for ''Ice'', by

Vladimir Sorokin Vladimir Georgiyevich Sorokin (; born 7 August 1955) is a postmodern Russian writer of novels, short stories, and plays. He has been described as one of the leading and most popular writers in contemporary Russian literature. Sorokin became k ...

(

New York Review of Books New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...

, 2007) * Amanda Love Darragh for ''Iramifications'', by

Maria Galina Maria Galina (; born 10 November 1958) is a Russian-language writer of Ukrainian origin. She was born in Kalinin (now the city of Tver) and studied marine biology in Odessa. She lived in Bergen for a while, studying salmon. She started publishing ...

( Glas (publisher), Glas, 2008)

2012

The winner was announced on 23 May 2012. Also, a special commendation for the variety and quality of their translations was awarded to Hugh and Galya Aplin. * Margaret Winchell for ''The Cathedral Clergy: A Chronicle'', by Nikolay Leskov (Slavica, 2010) * Konstantin Gurevich and

Helen Anderson Helen Joan Anderson (born 11 September 1955) is a New Zealand professional director, scientist and, previously, public servant. She currently serves as a director on a number of boards and is a Chartered Fellow of the Institute of Directors (CF ...

for ''

The Golden Calf According to the Torah, the Bible, and the Quran, the golden calf () was a cult image made by the Israelites when Moses went up to Mount Sinai. In Hebrew, the incident is known as "the sin of the calf" (). It is first mentioned in the Book of Ex ...

'', by

and Evgeny Petrov (

Open Letter Books Open Letter Books is an American publishing house based at the University of Rochester in Rochester, New York. It was founded in 2008 by Chad W. Post, the Editor-in-Chief of Dalkey Archive Press. It specializes in translation, a less-populate ...

, 2009) * John Elsworth for ''Petersburg'', by

Andrei Bely Boris Nikolaevich Bugaev (, ; – 8 January 1934), better known by the pen name Andrei Bely or Biely, was a Russian novelist, Symbolist poet, theorist and literary critic. He was a committed anthroposophist and follower of Rudolf Steiner. Hi ...

(Pushkin Press, 2009) * Robert Chandler and Elizabeth Chandler for ''The Road'', by

Vasily Grossman Vasily Semyonovich Grossman (; 12 December (29 November, Julian calendar) 1905 – 14 September 1964) was a Soviet writer and journalist. Born to a Jewish family in Ukraine, then part of the Russian Empire, Grossman trained as a chemical engine ...

(

MacLehose Press Quercus is a formerly independent publishing house, based in London, that was acquired by Hodder & Stoughton in 2014. It was founded in 2004 by Mark Smith and Wayne Davies. Quercus is known for its lists in crime (publishing such authors as El ...

, 2010) * Galya Aplin and

for ''The Village'', by

Ivan Bunin Ivan Alekseyevich Bunin ( or ; rus, Ива́н Алексе́евич Бу́нин, p=ɪˈvan ɐlʲɪkˈsʲejɪvʲɪdʑ ˈbunʲɪn, a=Ivan Alyeksyeyevich Bunin.ru.vorb.oga; – 8 November 1953)Andrew Bromfield Andrew Bromfield is a British editor and translator of Russian works. He is a founding editor of the Russian literature journal ''Glas'', and has translated into English works by Boris Akunin, Vladimir Voinovich, Irina Denezhkina, Victor Pelevin, ...

for ''Happiness is Possible'', by Oleg Zaionchkovsky (

And Other Stories And Other Stories is an independent British book publisher founded in 2009, notable for being the first UK publisher of literary fiction to make direct, advance subscriptions a major part of its business model as well as for its use of foreign l ...

, 2012) *

Angela Livingstone Angela may refer to: People * Angela (given name), a feminine name, includes a list of people with the name * Angela (surname), an Italian surname, includes a list of people with the name * Angela (enslaved woman) (fl. 1619–1625), an African ...

for ''Phaedra; with New Year's Letter and Other Long Poems'', by

Marina Tsvetaeva Marina Ivanovna Tsvetaeva ( rus, Марина Ивановна Цветаева, p=mɐˈrʲinə ɪˈvanəvnə tsvʲɪˈta(j)ɪvə, links=yes; 31 August 1941) was a Russian poet. Her work is some of the most well-known in twentieth-century Russ ...

(Angel Classics, 2013) * Peter Daniels for ''Selected Poems'', by

Vladislav Khodasevich Vladislav Felitsianovich Khodasevich (; 16 May (28 May) 1886 – 14 June 1939) was an influential Russian poet and literary critic who presided over the Berlin circle of Russian emigre litterateurs. Life and career Khodasevich was born in Mosco ...

(Angel Classics, 2013) * Robert Chandler and Elizabeth Chandler for ''Russian Magic Tales from Pushkin to Platonov'', edited by Robert Chandler (

Penguin Classics Penguin Classics is an imprint (trade name), imprint of Penguin Books under which classic works of literature are published in English language, English, Spanish language, Spanish, Portuguese language, Portuguese, and Korean language, Korean amon ...

, 2012) * Anthony Briggs for '' The Queen of Spades'' by

Alexander Pushkin Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin () was a Russian poet, playwright, and novelist of the Romantic era.Basker, Michael. Pushkin and Romanticism. In Ferber, Michael, ed., ''A Companion to European Romanticism''. Oxford: Blackwell, 2005. He is consid ...

(Pushkin Press, 2012)

References

External links

*{{usurped,
Rossica Translation Prize
}, official website Translation awards British literary awards 2003 establishments in England Awards established in 2003