AALITRA Translation Awards

Since 2014, the AALITRA Translation Awards have been aiming to acknowledge the wealth of literary translation skills present in the Australian community. Every second year, prizes are awarded for a translation of a selected prose text and for a translation of a selected poem, with the focus on a different language each time the prize is offered. More information here on past AALITRA Translation awards.

Prizes:

  • $500 prize for Best Prose Translation
  • $500 prize for Best Poetry Translation
  • $250 prizes for Honourable Mentions in each category
  • $250 prize for the MOST OUTSTANDING STUDENT ENTRY in the Prose Section
  • $250 prize for the MOST OUTSTANDING STUDENT ENTRY in the Poetry Section

AALITRA Translation Awards 2024 (French)

AALITRA invited entries for the 2024 AALITRA Translation Awards aiming to acknowledge the wealth of literary translation skills present in the Australian community. Prizes are awarded for a translation of a selected prose text and for a translation of a selected poem. The focus of the AALITRA Translation Awards is on a different language each year the awards are offered.

In 2024, the focus language was French.

The winners were announced on September 20, 2024 at an Awards Ceremony at the former French Consulate in Melbourne. The event was hosted by Mme Myriam Boisbouvier-Wylie, Chair of the recently formed French-Australian Cultural Exchange Foundation (FACEF). Special guests were Mme Paule Ignatio, the new Consul-General for France in Melbourne and Vice-President of ISFAR, Professor Véronique Duché, Professor of French, Director of the Bachelor of Arts, University of Melbourne.

Mme Paule Ignatio and Mme Myriam Boisbouvier-Wylie

The Winners were:

  • Open Prose 1st place = Alice Heathwood
  • Open Prose HM = Russell Goulbourne
  • Open Poetry 1st place = Diane Delaurens
  • Open Poetry HM = Shiva Motlagh-Elbakri
  • Student Prose = Annette Mitchell
  • Student Poetry = Heidi Bula

Prize-winning entries were read out at the Awards Ceremony. They were also published in AALITRA’s peer-reviewed, open-access journal, The AALITRA Review (Issue 20, 2024 already available, and forthcoming issue 21, 2025), together with comments from each of the translators regarding their approach to translation.

Texts:

  • The prose text for translation is by Chantal Danjou, from D’autres que les hommes, a recent novel not yet published.
  • The poetry text is by Marilyne Bertoncini, unpublished poem, December 2023.

Prizes this year have been generously donated by ISFAR (Institute for the Study of French Australian Relations) and Outstanding Student Prizes by the French Embassy in Australia.

Judges:

Dominique Hecq (Coordinating Judge), Frances Egan, Penny Hueston, Brian Nelson