The Young Translators' Prize

The Young Translators’ Prize launched in June 2012 to identify promising literary translators, from Turkish to English, at the start of their careers and provide them with the opportunity and support for them to become professional literary translators. The Young Translator’s Prize received 259 applications from across 10 countries. The winners were selected by a panel of expert judges, including Maureen Freely, Sasha Dugdale (poet, playwright and Editor of Modern Poetry in Translation) Daniel Hahn (Programme Director, British Centre for Literary Translation), Mevlüt Ceylan (Yunus Emre Institute, London), Susanna Nicklin (Director Literature, British Council), İlknur Özdemir (publisher and translator, Kırmızı Kedi Publishing) and Tarık Günersel (Head of PEN, Turkey).

The winners, John Angliss (prose) and Derick Mattern (poetry), were presented with their awards by Maureen Freely at a reception held in the impressive surroundings of SALT Galata, Istanbul. The winners received tailored mentoring from Maureen Freely and Sasha Dugdale as part of British Centre for Literary Translations' mentorship programme.

Ahead of the prize-giving, shortlisted applicants attended a Translation Day where they participated in workshops and lively discussions on issues around translation and working as a professional translator. The activities were led by distinguished Turkish-English translators: Maureen Freely, Murat Belge, Güven Turan, Amy Spangler and Clifford Endres.

Maureen Freely commented:

The strongest candidates are certainly ready to work at the professional level, and that is good news, because there is so much interesting work being written in Turkey that deserves a wider audience, and it will be translators who make that possible.

This activity forms part of our Cultural Programme for Turkey Market Focus at The London Book Fair.