The Polish Book Institute

Nominations for the PEN America Awards were announced yesterday. In the category "Poetry in Translation", among the ten nominated entries, there were as many as three translations of works by Polish authors: a collection of poems by Jacek Dehnel Aperture translated by Karen Kovacik, Asymmetry by Adam Zagajewski, and Pan Tadeusz: The Last Foray in Lithuania translated by Bill Johnston. The latter was supported by the Book Institute as part of the ©POLAND Translation Programme.

So far, no translation of Polish poetry has been honoured with this prestigious award. Nominations were granted by a jury: Sinan Antoon, Ewa Chrusciel, Peter Filkins, and Katrine Øgaard Jensen.

Below is a full list of the nominated books:

The Shutters, Ahmed Bouanani (New Directions)
translation from the French language: Emma Ramadan
Aperture, Jacek Dehnel (Zephyr Press)
translation from the Polish language: Karen Kovacik
Revolution Goes Through Walls, Safaa Fathy (SplitLevel Texts)
translation from the Arabic language: Safaa Fathy i Pierre Joris 
Today, Juan Gelman (co•im•press)
translation from the Spanish language: Lisa Rose Bradford
Autobiography of Death, Kim Hyesoon (New Directions)
translation from the Korean language: Don Mee Choi
Negative Space, Luljeta Lleshanaku (New Directions)
translation from the Albanian language: Ani Gjika
A Certain Plume, Henri Michaux (NYRB)
translation from the French language: Richard Sieburth
Pan Tadeusz: The Last Foray in Lithuania, Adam Mickiewicz (Archipelago)
translation from the Polish language: Bill Johnston
Stormwarning, Kristín Tómasdóttir (Phoneme Media)
translation from the Icelandic language: K.B. Thors
Asymmetry, Adam Zagajewski (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
translation from the Polish language: Clare Cavanagh

The finalists will be announced in January, and the winner in February 2019 at a ceremony at the NYU Skirball Center in New York. The prize for the translator is $3000.