This year’s judges considered a total of 58 books to find a winner for the 2009 Rossica Translation Prize (exactly double the amount of entries received in 2007).
The books submitted for the prize came from a variety of genres and periods. 12 were written between 1800 and 1900, 3 between 1900 and 1917, 17 between 1918 and 1991 and 25 from between 1991 and 2008. Given a noticeable lack in 2007, the quantity of translated contemporary writing was very impressive. Nevertheless, traditional classics were well represented and authors such as Bulgakov, Pushkin, Tolstoy and Dostoevsky featured prominently. No less than two new renderings of ‘War and Peace’ were entered for the prize.
The majority of the works submitted were prose. However, 11 entries were translations of poetry and, for the first time in the history of the Rossica Prize, a collection of poetry was featured on the shortlist. The range of entries was not restricted to the more esoteric aspects of Russian literature and also included commercially successful books designed for a mass market.
An innovation to accompany the main Rossica Prize this year was the launch of the Rossica Young Translators Prize for those under the age of 25. The judges were both surprised and encouraged by the number of submissions (28) as the selected texts (taken from recent works by contemporary Russian writers) were very demanding. The quality of the translations was, generally, very high and bodes well for the future of Russian to English translation.
Right from the start of the judging process for the main prize the difficulties of comparing translations of such disparate original works was recognised and discussed. It was agreed amongst the judges that, although each submission had to stand up in its own right as an effective and satisfying piece of writing in English, it was the accuracy and readability of the translation – rather than the literary merit (or otherwise) of the original – that would, in all cases, take priority.
In light of the fact that twice as many entries were submitted as last time, choosing a winner for the prize was an extremely difficult and lengthy process. Nevertheless, after much discussion and, inevitably, disagreement a distinguished shortlist and, ultimately, a very worthy winner was settled upon. As if in answer to the disappointment expressed by the 2007 judges regarding a dearth in this area, the winning translation was a work of contemporary Russian fiction.