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Batool Abu Akleen’s ’48kg’ Makes Warwick Prize Shortlist

OCTOBER 27, 2026 — Yesterday evening, organizers announced the six books translated from six languages that have been shortlisted for the 2026 Warwick Prize for Women in Translation.

They are:

  • 48kg by Batool Abu Akleen, translated from Arabic by Batool Abu Akleen, with Graham Liddell, Wiam El-Tamami, Cristina Viti and Yasmin Zaher (Tenement Press; new, collaborative edition from Tenement & Penguin Press)
  • Lili Is Crying by Hélène Bessette, translated from French by Kate Briggs (Fitzcarraldo Editions)
  • Troubled Waters by Ichiyo Higuchi, translated from Japanese by Bryan Karetnyk (Pushkin Press)
  • White Moss by Anna Nerkagi, translated from Russian by Irina Sadovina (Pushkin Press)
  • Eye of the Monkey by Krisztina Tóth, translated from Hungarian by Ottilie Mulzet (Seven Stories Press UK)
  • Girl, 1983 by Linn Ullmann, translated from Norwegian by Martin Aitken (Hamish Hamilton / Penguin Random House)

This year’s Warwick judges are Arifa Akbar, Véronique Tadjo and Boyd Tonkin.

In a prepared statement, Akbar said of the shortlist:

“I was struck by the high quality of books in this year’s submission as a whole. As a result, it was all the harder to select a shortlist from such high calibre and wide-ranging voices, cultures, styles and subject matter. I believe we have some extraordinary books here, some of which I hope will go on to become modern classics of writing in translation.I am so pleased that female writers are at the forefront of such experimentation and originality.”

The winner is set to be announced at a ceremony at The Shard in London on November 16, 2026. The £1,000 prize is divided equally between the writer and translator or translators.

Podcast: ON BULAQ: A Talk with Batool Abu Akleen

Reviews of 48kg: On Batool Abu Akleen’s ’48kg’: A review by Hilary Plum

’48 kg’: Creating Life from a Desire to Diminish and Fade Away: A review by Husam Maarouf

Interview: Batool Abu Akleen: Poetry Is What Keeps Me Alive

Poems: 6 Poems to Celebrate Batool Abu Akleen, MPT’s 2024 Poet in Residence

Voices of Resistance, a collection with Batool: On ‘Voices of Resistance: Diaries of Genocide’