2011 SF&F Translation Awards

The winners of the 2011 Science Fiction and Fantasy Translation Awards were announced at the 2011 Eurocon in Stockholm:

Long Form 

A Life on Paper: Stories, Georges-Olivier Châteaureynaud, translated by Edward Gauvin (Small Beer Press). Original publication in French (1976, ­2005).

Short Form
 
“Elegy for a Young Elk”, Hannu Rajaniemi, translated by Hannu Rajaniemi (Subterranean Online, Spring 2010). Original publication in Finnish (Portti, 2007).

A special award also was presented to British author and translator Brian Stableford in recognition of the excellence of his translation work.

Each winning author and translator will receive a cash prize of US$350.

This was the inaugural year of the awards, given by the Association for the Recognition of Excellence in Science Fiction & Fantasy Translation (ARESFFT). The winners for 2011 were selected by a jury composed of Terry Harpold, University of Florida, USA (Chair); Abhijit Gupta, Jadavpur University, India; and Dale Knickerbocker, East Carolina University, USA.

The full press release follows the jump.

Results of the 2011 SF&F Translation Awards

Science Fiction and Fantasy Translation Awards
PO Box 64128, Sunnyvale CA 94088-4128 USA

[email protected]; http://www.sfftawards.org/

June 22nd, 2011

The Association for the Recognition of Excellence in Science Fiction & Fantasy Translation (ARESFFT) is delighted to announce the results of the 2011 Science Fiction and Fantasy Translation Awards (for works published in 2010). There are two categories: Long Form and Short Form. In each form our jury has chosen to give an honorable mention in addition to the winner.
 
Long Form – Honorable Mention
 
The Golden Age, Michal Ajvaz, translated by Andrew Oakland (Dalkey Archive Press). Original publication in Czech (2001).

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Long Form – Winner
 
A Life on Paper: Stories, Georges-Olivier Châteaureynaud, translated by Edward Gauvin (Small Beer Press). Original publication in French (1976­2005).

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Short Form – Honorable Mention
 
“Wagtail”, Marketta Niemelä, translated by Liisa Rantalaiho (Usva International 2010 <http://www.usvazine.net/english.htm>;, ed. Anne Leinonen). Original publication in Finnish (Usva (The Mist), 2008).
 
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Short Form – Winner
 
“Elegy for a Young Elk”, Hannu Rajaniemi, translated by Hannu Rajaniemi (Subterranean Online, Spring 2010 <http://subterraneanpress.com/index.php/magazine/spring-2010>;). Original publication in Finnish (Portti, 2007).
 
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In addition to the standard awards, the Board of ARESFFT presented a special award to British author and translator Brian Stableford in recognition of the excellence of his translation work.
 
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The results were announced as part of the award ceremony at the 2011 Eurocon in Stockholm on the weekend of June 17-19 < http://eurocon2011.se/ >. The awards were presented by the convention Guests of Honor, Elizabeth Bear and Ian McDonald, while fan Guest of Honor Jukka Halme was Master of Ceremonies. Each winning author and translator will receive a cash prize of US$350 (As both author and translator Mr. Rajaniemi gets $700).
 
Mr. Gauvin and M. Châteaureynaud were unable to attend the Eurocon (the latter having the excellent excuse of being on the way to Mongolia at the time). They both sent messages of thanks.
 
Mr. Gauvin said: “My deepest thanks to all the readers and editors who believed in these stories along the way, especially the folks at Small Beer. To Susan Harris and Paul and Sylviane Underwood. To Georges-Olivier, for writing them, and for his encouragement and support. And to the Science Fiction and Fantasy Translation Awards, who have honored us with this inaugural edition of a prize with a terrific future ahead of it.”
 
M. Châteaureynaud said: “Many thanks to my mother, to Small Beer Press, and to the Science Fiction & Fantasy Translation Awards. Sometimes, it is as much in an insightful review as in a translation–in this case, in a language I’ve a few glimmers of, having studied English at the Sorbonne–that one has the feeling of having been understood. I feel I’ve found a kindred spirit in Edward Gauvin, miraculously capable of comprehending and conveying what I’ve tried to express in these tales.”
 
Mr. Rajamiemi was in Stockholm and said: “I am honoured to accept this award on behalf of all translators whose hard work is so often underappreciated. Both translating this story and collaborating with Antti Autio, the Finnish translator of The Quantum Thief, have made me aware of the difficult choices and leaps of imagination that translators routinely make, while remaining mostly invisible to the reader. It is great to see these efforts recognised in this way.”
 
Further information, including comments by the jury on all of the commended and winning works, and photographs from the award ceremony, are available on the ARESFFT website.
 
The money for the prize fund was obtained primarily through a 2010 fund-raising event for which prizes were kindly donated by Neil Gaiman, Ann and Jeff VanderMeer, Gary K. Wolfe, Peter F. Hamilton, Kari Sperring, Nick Mamatas, Pyr Books, Nanopress and Tachyon Publications. ARESFFT thanks everyone involved once again for their generosity. Thanks are also due to Eurocon 2011 for their hospitality and help.
 
The jury for the awards was Terry Harpold, University of Florida, USA (Chair); Abhijit Gupta, Jadavpur University, India; and Dale Knickerbocker, East Carolina University, USA.
 
ARESFFT is a California Non-Profit Corporation funded entirely by donations. This is the first year that the awards have been presented.
 
Contact

[email protected]; http://www.sfftawards.org/
Cheryl Morgan

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