4 Arabic Titles Longlisted for 2025 National Translation Awards
September 4, 2025 — The American Literary Translators Association (ALTA) today announced the longlists for the 2025 National Translation Awards in two categories: Poetry and Prose. Three novels translated from Arabic were on the prose longlist, while one poetry collection translated from Arabic made the poetry longlist.
The novels are: The Book Censor’s Library by Bothayna Al-Essa, translated from Arabic by Ranya Abdelrahman and Sawad Hussain; No One Knows Their Blood Type by Maya Abu Al-Hayyat, translated from Arabic by Hazem Jamjoum; and Sand-Catcher by Omar Khalifah, translated from Arabic by Barbara Romaine, while the poetry collection is No One Will Know You Tomorrow by Najwan Darwish, translated from Arabic by Kareem James Abu-Zeid.
This year’s National Translation Award longlists feature authors writing in 12 different languages and books from 21 different presses. This year’s prose judges are George Henson, Hoyoung Moon, Ilze Duarte, Manjushree Thapa, and Peter Constantine. This year’s judges for poetry are Conor Bracken, Dongshin Chang, and Rachel Galvin.
The judges’ remarks on each of the longlisted titles are available on the ALTA website.
The shortlists are set to be announced on October 9, and the winners to be announced on November 6, at an Awards Ceremony as part of ALTA’s annual conference. The winning translators will each receive a $4,000 cash prize.
Also read:
The National Book Award Interviews: Bothayna Al-Essa, Ranya Abdelrahman, Sawad Hussain (Words Without Borders)
An Excerpt from ‘No One Knows Their Blood Type’ (ArabLit)
From Omar Khalifah’s ‘Sand-Catcher’: Mutarjima’s Maqlouba (ArabLit)
No One Will Know You Tomorrow: A Conversation with Kareem James Abu-Zeid (Yale University Press)
The complete National Translation Award in Prose longlist:
The Book Censor’s Library by Bothayna Al-Essa, translated from Arabic by Ranya Abdelrahman and Sawad Hussain (Restless Books)
Dear Dickhead by Virginie Despentes, translated from French by Frank Wynne (Farrar, Straus and Giroux [US] | MacLehose Press [UK])
Grandma Non-Oui by Lidija Dimkovska, translated from Macedonian by Christina E. Kramer (Istros Books)
Ixelles by Johannes Anyuru, translated from Swedish by Nichola Smalley (Two Lines Press)
Jellyfish Have No Ears by Adèle Rosenfeld, translated from French by Jeffrey Zuckerman (Graywolf Press [US]; MacLehose Press [UK])
A Last Supper of Queer Apostles by Pedro Lemebel, translated from Spanish by Gwendolyn Harper (Penguin Books)
Melvill by Rodrigo Fresán, translated from Spanish by Will Vanderhyden (Open Letter Books)
No One Knows Their Blood Type by Maya Abu Al-Hayyat, translated from Arabic by Hazem Jamjoum (Cleveland State University Poetry Center)
Once Upon Argentina by Andrés Neuman, translated from Spanish by Nick Caistor and Lorenza García (Open Letter Books)
Sand-Catcher by Omar Khalifah, translated from Arabic by Barbara Romaine (Coffee House Press)
Taiwan Travelogue by Yáng Shuāng-zǐ, translated from Mandarin Chinese by Lin King (Graywolf Press)
You Dreamed of Empires by Álvaro Enrigue, translated from Spanish by Natasha Wimmer (Riverhead Books [US]; Harvill Secker [UK])
The complete National Translation Award in Poetry longlist:
ana c. buena by Valeria Román Marroquín, translated from Peruvian Spanish by Noah Mazer (Cardboard House Press)
The Brush by Eliana Hernández-Pachón, translated from Colombian Spanish by Robin Myers (Archipelago Books)
Chimera by Phoebe Giannisi, translated from Greek by Brian Sneeden (New Directions)
Document Shredding Museum by Afrizal Malna, translated from Indonesian by Daniel Owen (World Poetry Books)
The Great Zoo by Nicolás Guillén, translated from Cuban Spanish by Aaron Coleman (The University of Chicago Press)
Guerrilla Blooms by Daniela Catrileo, translated from Chilean Spanish and Mapundgun by Edith Adams (Eulalia Books)
How to Love in Sanskrit by various authors, translated from Sanskrit by Anusha Rao and Suhas Mahesh (HarperCollins India)
Just Like by Lee Sumyeong, translated from Korean by Colin Leemarshall (Black Ocean)
Lost in Living by Halyna Kruk, translated from Ukrainian by Ali Kinsella and Dzvinia Orlowsky (Lost Horse Press)
No One Will Know You Tomorrow by Najwan Darwish, translated from Arabic by Kareem James Abu-Zeid (Yale University Press)
sympathy for the salami by Milena Marković, translated from Serbian by Steven Teref and Maja Teref (Diálogos)
Transit by Claudina Domingo, translated from Mexican Spanish by Ryan Greene (Eulalia Books)