The bookseller-helmed prize for literature in translation returns.

Back in the Saddle: The Cercador Prize Rides Again

Now in its sophomore season, the Cercador Prize recognizes works of literature in translation as selected by a committee of independent booksellers based across the united states.

Each committee member is responsible for nominating two book-length translations published and distributed in the U.S. between January 1st and December 31st of the current year. The Cercador committee’s primary focus is English-language translation including but not limited to fiction, nonfiction, memoir, and hybrid texts. As nominations are culled from the committee’s organic discovery and discussions, there is no formal submissions process for this prize.

The ten finalists for the prize will be announced on International Translation Day (September 30, 2024) with one winner to follow in November. An amount of $1,000 will be conferred entirely to the winning translator or translators.

Translators based anywhere in the world are eligible for the Cercador Prize. ✦

  • The ten finalists for the prize will be announced on International Translation Day (September 30, 2024).

  • Spencer Ruchti (Chair)
    Third Place Books, Seattle, WA

    Thu Doan
    East Bay Booksellers, Oakland, CA

    Riley Rennhack
    Deep Vellum Books, Dallas, TX

    Emily Tarr
    Thank You Books, Birmingham, AL

    Oscar Almonte-Espinal
    Uncle Bobbie's Coffee & Books, Philadelphia, PA

  • • Fernanda Melchor’s This Is Not Miami, translated from the Spanish by Sophie Hughes | New Directions

    • Ana Paula Maia’s Of Cattle and Men, translated from the Portuguese by Zoë Perry* | Charco Press

    • Cheon Myeong-kwan’s Whale, translated from the Korean by Chi-Young Kim | Archipelago Books

    • Norman Erikson Pasaribu’s Happy Stories, Mostly, translated from the Indonesian by Tiffany Tsao | Feminist Press

    • Xu Zechen’s Beijing Sprawl, translated from the Chinese by Jeremy Tiang and Eric Abrahamsen | Two Lines Press

    • Juan Gómez Bárcena’s Not Even the Dead, translated from the Spanish by Katie Whittemore | Open Letter

    • Guadalupe Nettel’s Still Born, translated from the Spanish by Rosalind Harvey | Bloomsbury Publishing

    • Olga Ravn’s My Work, translated from the Danish by Sophia Hersi Smith and Jennifer Russell | New Directions

    • Jon Fosse’s A Shining, translated from the Norwegian by Damion Searls | Transit Books

    • Mathias Énard’s The Annual Banquet of the Gravediggers’ Guild, translated from the French by Frank Wynne | New Directions

    *winner

  • Spencer Ruchti (Chair)
    Third Place Books, Seattle, WA

    Thu Doan
    East Bay Booksellers, Oakland, CA

    Riley Rennhack
    Deep Vellum Books, Dallas, TX

    Javier Ramirez
    Exile in Bookville, Chicago, IL

    Gary Lovely
    Prologue Bookshop, Columbus, OH