This article needs to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(January 2022)
The PEN/Heim Translation Fund Grants were established in 2003 by PEN America (formerly PEN American Center) following a gift of $730,000 by Michael Henry Heim, a noted literary translator.[1] Heim believed that there was a 'dismayingly low number of literary translations currently appearing in English'. The Grants' purpose is to promote the publication and reception of translated world literature in English.[2] Grants are awarded each year to a select number of literary translators based on quality of translation as well as the originality and importance of the original work. The Fund's mission is to promote the publication and reception of world literature.
Since the first grants were awarded in 2004, the Fund has supported translations of books from over 30 languages.
Previously known as the PEN Translation Fund Grants, the awards were renamed in honor of Heim, who insisted on complete anonymity,[3] after his passing in 2012.
List of recipients
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Peter Cole for The Dream of the Poem: Hebrew Poetry from Muslim and Christian Spain, c.950–1492, a collection of poetry in Hebrew (Princeton University Press, 2007)
Jason Grunebaum for Uday Prakash'sThe Girl with the Golden Parasol, a novel in Hindi (Yale University Press,2013)
Deborah Hoffman for The Littlest Enemies: Children in the Shadow of the Gulag, edited by Semen Samuilovich Vilenskii, a volume of memoirs, diaries, and letters in Russian by the children of Soviet enemies of the people (Slavica Publishers, 2007)
Laima Sruoginis for My Voice Betrays Me, a collection of oral narratives in Lithuanian by street children, collected by Vanda Juknaite (East European Monographs, 2007)
Simon Wickham-Smith for Ochirbatyn Dashbalbar'sThe Battle for Our Land Has Begun, a book of his poems and political writings in Mongolian (Dashbalbar Foundation, 2008)
Amiri Ayanna for The St. Katharinental Sister Book: Lives of the Sisters of the Dominican Convent at Diessenhofen, a sacred text in German (excerpted in Asymptote, 2016)
Neil Blackadder for Lukas Bärfuss's 'The Test (Good Simon Korach), a play in German
Clarissa Botsford for Elvira Dones'sSworn Virgin, a novel in Italian (And Other Stories, 2014)
Steve Bradbury for Hsia Yü's Salsa, a collection of poems in Chinese (Zephyr Press, 2014)
Jacquelyn Pope for Hester Knibbe's Hungerpots, a collection of poems in Dutch
Matt Reeck and Aftab Ahmad for Mushtaq Ahmad Yusufi'sMirages of the Mind, a novel in Urdu
Carrie Reed for Duan Chengshi'sYouyang zazu (Miscellaneous Morsels from Youyang), a collection of prose in Chinese
Nathanaël for Hervé Guibert'sThe Mausoleum of Lovers, a set of journals in French (Nightboat Books)
For a NYSCA grant, the Fund also nominated Ana Božičević for Zvonko Karanović's It Was Easy to Set the Snow on Fire.
2013
The names of thirteen winners were announced. The voting members of the Advisory Board were Susan Bernofsky, Barbara Epler, Richard Sieburth, Lauren Wein, Eliot Weinberger, Natasha Wimmer, and Matvei Yankelvich, and Michael F. Moore served as the non-voting Chair.[42]
Daniel Borzutzky for Raúl Zurita'sEl País de Tablas (The Country of Planks), a collection of Spanish poems (Action Books,)
Annie Tucker for Eka Kurniawan'sBeauty Is A Wound (New Directions)
Lara Vergnaud for Zahia Rahmani's France, récit d’une enfance (France, Story of Childhood)
For a NYSCA grant, the Fund also nominated Iza Wojciechowska for Anna Piwkowska's Farbiarka (The Dye Girl).
2014
The names of fifteen winners were announced. The voting members of the Advisory Board were Esther Allen, Barbara Epler, Sara Khalili, Michael F. Moore, Lauren Wein, and Lorin Stein.[43]
The names of sixteen winners were announced. The voting members of the Advisory Board were Esther Allen, Mitzi Angel, Peter Blackstock, Howard Goldblatt, Sara Khalili, Michael F. Moore, Declan Spring, and Alex Zucker.[44]
Stephan Delbos and Tereza Novická for Vítězslav Nezval's The Absolute Gravedigger.(Twisted Spoon Press)
Amanda DeMarco for Gaston de Pawlowski's New Inventions and the Latest Innovations.(Wakefield Press)
Adriana X. Jacobs for Vaan Nguyen's The Truffle Eye
Roy Kesey for Aurora Venturini's The Cousins
Lee Klein for Horacio Castellanos Moya's Revulsion: Thomas Bernhard in San Salvador. (New Directions Publishing)
Dong Li for Song Lin's The Gleaner Song
Meg Matich for Magnús Sigurðsson's Cold Moons
Jacob Moe for Maria Mitsora's Part Time Dragons. (Yale University Press)
Rajiv Mohabir for Lalbihari Sharma's Holi Songs of Demerara.
Takami Nieda for Kazuki Kaneshiro's GO
Zoë Perry for Veronica Stigger's Opisanie Świata
Will Schutt for The Selected Poems of Edoardo Sanguineti.
Sophie Seita for Uljana Wolf's Subsisters: Selected Poems(Belladonna)
Simon Wickhamsmith for Tseveendorjin Oidov's The End of the Dark Era.
2016
The names of fourteen winners were announced. The voting members of the Advisory Board were Esther Allen, Peter Blackstock, Sara Khalili, Tynan Kogane, Allison Markin Powell, Antonio Romani, Chip Rossetti, and Alex Zucker. Each winner was given $3,670.00.[45]
Gabriel Amor for Ana Azourmanian's Juana I, a poem cycle in Spanish.
Ellen Cassedy for Yenta Mash’s On the Landing: Selected Stories, a Yiddish collection of stories.
Chris Clarke for Marcel Schwob’s Imaginary Lives, a French short-story collection. (Forthcoming from Wakefield Press)
Sharon Dolin for Gemma Gorga's Book of Minutes, a Catalan prose poetry collection.
Kaiama L. Glover for René Depestre’s Hadriana in All My Dreams, a French novel. (Akashic Books)
Anita Gopalan for Geet Chaturvedi’s Simsim, a Hindi novella.
Amanda Lee Koe for Su Qing’s Ten Years of Marriage, a Chinese novel.
Karen Leeder for Ulrika Almut Sandig's Thick of It, a German poetry collection.
Rachel McNicholl for Anita Augustin's Operation Hinterland: Tales from the Silver Scrapheap, a German novel.
Alicia Maria Meier for Marta Carnicero Hernanz's The Sky According to Google, a Catalan novel.
Emma Ramadan for Ahmed Bouanani's Les Persiennes, a French prose poetry book.
Russell Scott Valentino for Miljenko Jergović’s Kin, a Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian family saga.. (Archipelago)
Jeffrey Zuckerman for The Complete Stories of Hervé Guibert, a French collection of short fictions.
2017
The names of fifteen winners were announced. The voting members of the Advisory Board were Tyan Kogane, Edna McCrown, Fiona McCrae, Canaan Morse, Idra Novey, Allison Markin Powell, Antonio Romani, Chip Rossetti, Shabnam Nadiya, and Ross Ufberg.[46]
Nick Admussen for Floral Mutter by YA Shi (哑石) translated from the Chinese
Polly Barton for The Cowards Who Looked to the Sky by Misumi Kubo, translated from the Japanese
Elizabeth Bryer for The Palimpsests by Aleksandra Lun, translated from the Spanish
Vitaly Chernetsky for Felix Austria by Sophia Andrukhovych, translated from the Ukrainian
Iain Galbraith for Raoul Schrott: Selected Poems, translated from the German
Michelle Gil-Montero for Edinburgh Notebook by Valerie Mejer Caso, translated from the Spanish
Sophie Hughes for The Remainder by Alia Trabucco Zerán, translated from the Spanish
Joyce Zonana for This Land That Is Like You by Tobie Nathan, translated from the French
2018
The names of twelve winners were announced. The voting members of the Advisory Board were John Balcom, Peter Constantine, Tynan Kogane, Allison Markin Powell, Fiona McCrae, Mary Ann Newman, Antonio Romani, Chip Rossetti, Ross Ufberg, Natasha Wimmer, and Board Chair Samantha Schnee. [47]
Janine Beichman for The Essential Yosano Akiko: The Ripening Years by Yosani Akiko, translated from Japanese
Alexander Dickow for Neverending Quest for the Other Shore: An Epic in Three Cantos by Sylvie Kandé, translated from French
Emily Drumsta for Revolt Against the Sun by Nazik al-Malaika, translated from Arabic
Lindy Falk van Rooyen for Hope by Mich Vraa, translated from Danish
Bruce Fulton and Ju-Chan Fulton for One Left by Sum Kim, translated from Korean
Michael Gluck for Matisse by Alexander Ilichevsky, translated from Russian
Mariam Rahmani for Don't Worry by Mahsa Mohebali, translated from Persian
Aaron Robertson for Beyond Babylon by Igiaba Scego, translated from Italian
Julia Sanchez for Slash and Burn by Claudia Hernández, translated from Spanish
Jamie Lee Searle for Winter's Garden by Valerie Fritsch, translated from German
Brian Sneeden for Rhapsodia by Phoebe Giannisi, translated from Greek
Ri J. Turner for Chaim Gravitzer by Fischel Schneerson, translated from Yiddish
Jeanne Bonner for A Walk in the Shadows by Mariateresa Di Lascia, translated from Italian (Winner of The PEN Grant for the English Translation of Italian Literature)
Yarri Kamara for So Distant From My Life by Monique Ilboudo, translated from French
Johnny Lorenz for Notebook Of Return by Edimilson De Almeida Pereira, translated from Portuguese
Shabnam Nadiya for The Meat Market And Other Stories by Mashiul Alam, translated from Bengali
Quyen Nguyen Hoang for Chronicles Of A Village by Hien Thanh Nguyen, translated from Vietnamese
Jacob Rogers for Extraordinary by Antón Lopo, translated from Galician
Minna Zallman Proctor for The Renegade: Natalia Ginzburg, Her Life And Writing by Sandra Petrignani, translated from Italian (Winner of The PEN Grant for the English Translation of Italian Literature)
Brian Robert Moore for A Silence Shared by Lalla Romano, translated from the Italian (Winner of The PEN Grant for the English Translation of Italian Literature)
Bernard Capinpin for A Brief Investigation to a Long Melancholia by Edel Garcellano, translated from the Filipino
Rajnesh Chakrapani and Anca Roncea for Detachment by Mina Decu, translated from the Romanian
Danielle Legros Georges for Balafres by Marie-Célie Agnant, translated from the French
Ryan Greene for The Green Sun by Yaxkin Melchy Ramos, translated from the Spanish
May Huang for Young Gods by Chiou Charng-Ting, translated from the Chinese
Mirgul Kali for To Hell with Poets by Baqytgul Sarmekova, translated from the Kazakh
Adam Mahler for Closed House/A Dau(gh)ter in His Stead by Luz Pichel, translated from the Castrapo
Jay Rubin for Rosa Mistika by Euphrase Kezilahabi, translated from the Swahili
Yasmine Seale for If You See Them Fall to Earth by Abd al-Ghani al-Nabulsi, translated from the Arabic
Tim Cummins for We Will Take Our Revenge by Paolo Nori, translated from the Italian (Winner of The PEN Grant for the English Translation of Italian Literature)
Kristine Muslim for Book of the Damned by Amado Anthony G. Mendoza III, translated from the Filipino
Mark Tardi for Dogs of Smaller Breeds by Olga Hund, translated from the Polish
Noor Habib and Zara Khadeeja Majoka for Oblivion and Eternity Within Me by Miraji, translated from the Urdu
Joaquin Gavilano for The Hostage by Gabriel Mamani Magne, translated from the Spanish
Stoyan Tchaprazov for The Misunderstood Civilization by Dobri Voinikov, translated from the Bulgarian
Margaret Litvin for The Russian Quarter by Khalil Alrez, translated from the Arabic
Stine An for Today’s Morning Vocabulary by Yoo Heekyung, translated from the Korean
Richard Prins for Walenisi by Katama Mkangi, translated from the Swahili
Priyamvada Ramkumar for White Elephant by B. Jeyamohan, translated from the Tamil
Caroline Froh for Words of Resistance by Mariella Mehr, translated from the German
Isabella Corletto for Fathers by Giorgia Tribuiani, translated from the Italian (Winner of The PEN Grant for the English Translation of Italian Literature)