Benoit Léger
is the Winner of the John Glassco Prize for Literary Translation
for 2005


        This year's John Glassco Prize, awarded by the Literary Translators' Association of Canada, goes to Benoit Léger, for his translation from English to French of Various Miracles, a collecction of short stories by Carol Shields which was originally published in Toronto by Stoddart in 1985. The French version, Miracles en série, was brought out last year by Les éditions Triptyque in Montreal.

The Prize — which includes a cheque for $1000 — was officially awarded on November 3 in the Salon Printemps of the Omni Hotel in downtown Montreal, during a joint conference of the Literary Translators' Association of Canada (LTAC) and the American Literary Translators Association. The members of this year's jury were Patricia Godbout, Rachelle Renaud, and Hélène Rioux. The jury considered that Benoit Léger's translation was able to convey the linguistic inner workings and ironic narrative style of Shields' fiction within the microcosm of each individual story. The translation was thought to be especially successful at bringing out the detailed structure of the work, in which the unsaid and mysterious play a particularly important part — which is quite a compliment. On accepting the Prize, Mr. Léger thanked his publisher, Bertrand Laverdure, for having given him the opportunity to translate the book.

        The John Glassco Prize, which was established in 1982, is awarded annually for a translator's first published book-length literary translation. The work can be translated from any language into either English or French. John Glassco, who gave his name to the Prize, was a well-known writer and translator who died in 1981. Among his achievements is the translation of Saint-Denys Garneau's poetry and journal into English.