The Rossica Prize is awarded for the best new translation of a high-quality Russian literary work into English.
This unique prize, which is awarded biennially, aims to promote the best of Russian literary culture in the English-speaking world, serving and encouraging the translation of a broad range of authors, genres and periods.
It recognises the vital role of translation in culture and the contribution that Russian literature continues to make towards enriching the intellectual life of the English-speaking world.
The Rossica Prize Committee includes distinguished literary figures – Boyd Tonkin, literary editor of the Independent and founder of the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize; Professor John Elsworth, academic and translator; the publisher Christopher MacLehose; Amanda Hopkinson, the Director of the British Centre for Literary Translation; and Susanna Nicklin, Director of Literature at the British Council.
The Rossica Translation Prize was established by Academia Rossica, a UK Registered Charity created in London in 2000 with the aim of promoting cultural collaboration between Russia and the English-speaking world. The prize is sponsored by the First President of Russia Boris Yeltsin Foundation.
Entries are now being accepted for the 2009 prize. The literary work must be written in Russian by any author, present or past, and published in English between 2007 and 2008. The prize is open to works published in any country and is awarded biennially; £5,000 will be awarded to the publisher and translator, to be divided at the judges' discretion.
The closing date for submissions is 31 December 2008. Four copies of the English translation and three copies of the Russian original must be submitted to Academia Rossica.
The award ceremony will take place in London on 24 May 2009, the Day of Saints Cyril and Methodius, the creators of the Slavic alphabet.
For more details, visit the Academia Rossica website or email rossica-prize@academia-rossica.org
