New Global Prize for Poetry in Translation Announced

Giramondo, Fitzcarraldo, and New Directions launch a $5,000 biennial prize for translated poetry, spotlighting poets and translators worldwide.

on Jun 26, 2025

New Global Prize for Poetry in Translation Announced

As translated writing continues to become increasingly popular (Banu Mushtaq's Heart Lamp and Geetanjali Shree's Tomb of Sand), three publishers are putting poetry's boundary-free future on a big bet. Three publishing companies, Giramondo Publishing (Australia), Fitzcarraldo Editions (UK and Ireland), and New Directions (USA) have launched the Poetry in Translation Prize, a biennial award that is committed to highlighting collections of poetry written by living poets working in any language other than English.

The award provides $5,000 — approximately ₹4.2 lakh — equally divided between poet and translator, as well as publication at the same time in Australia, North America, and the UK. Submissions for the award are open from July 15 to August 15. The shortlist is due in late 2025 and the winner will be revealed in January 2026. The winning book will be published in 2027.

Nick Tapper, Giramondo's associate publisher, said : "We are very delighted to partner with our friends at Fitzcarraldo Editions and New Directions on this special award, which brings poetry from across the globe into English, and puts the crucial work of translation back on our literary agenda. Its international focus will introduce new readers to poets whose work merits broad and ongoing attention."

The three publishers might also administer two other awards: the Novel Prize (inaugurated in 2020) and the Fitzcarraldo Essay Prize.

"There's no other prize of this kind that we are aware of," states Fitzcarraldo Editions poetry editor Rachael Allen, going on to say they would employ the template of the already established Novel and Essay prizes.

Jeffrey Yang, editor-at-large with New Directions, mirrored the enthusiasm: "New Directions is really thrilled to be making the transition from novel to poetry prize…with the hope of shining a light on new work by contemporary poets from around the globe through the magical transformations of dedicated translators."