John Glassco Translation Prize

Every year since 1982, the Literary Translators’ Association of Canada has awarded the John Glassco Prize to recognize the excellence and talent of an emerging literary translator.

The prize is bestowed on a translator whose first book-length translation (fiction, non-fiction, poetry, drama or children’s literature) stands apart for its literary merits and precision. The winner receives a $1,000 prize and a one-year membership to LTAC. The award is presented at the end of September during the celebration of St. Jerome, the patron saint of translators. Some forty translators, most of whom are still active, have garnered the award since its inception.

The call for submissions for the 40th edition of the John Glassco Prize is now open. Please consult the submission form and guidelines before sending your submissions. The deadline to submit is Thursday August 15th, 2024.

The prize is named after John Glassco, a prolific Canadian writer and translator who died in 1981. His works include the English translation of the journals and complete poems of Saint-Denys Garneau.

Winners

2023

D.M. Bradford (Montreal) – House Within a House (Brick Books) . Original (French): Désormais, ma demeure by Nicholas Dawson (Triptyque, 2020)

2022

Louise Gaudette (Montreal) – Dernière heure by K. D. Miller (Éditions de la pleine lune). Original (English) : Late Breaking. Biblioasis.

2021

Luba Markovskaia (Montréal) – Notes de terrain pour la toundra alpine by Elena Johnson (Presses de l’Université du Québec). Original (English) : Field Notes for the Alpine Tundra. Gaspereau Press.

2020

Louis Hamelin (Grand-Mére) – Les été de l’ourse de Muriel Wylie Blanchet (Les éditions du Boréal). Original (anglais) : The Curve of Times. Mémoires.

2019

Rémi Labrecque (Regina) – Mes souliers me fonts mourir by Robyn Sarah (Éditions du Noroît). Original (English): My Shoes Are Killing Me. Poetry collection.

2018

Sauline Letendre (Montreal) – Rouge, jaune et vert by Alejandro Saravia (Éditions Urubu). Original (Spanish): Rojo, amarillo y verde. Novel.

2017

Catherine Leroux (Montreal) – Corps conducteurs by Sean Michaels (Éditions Alto). Original (English): Us Conductors. Novel.

2015

Marietta Morry and Lynda Muir (Ottawa) – As the Lilacs Bloomed by Anna Molnár Hegedűs (Azrieli Foundation). Original (Hungarian): manuscript. Memoirs.

2014

Stéphanie Roesler (Montreal) – Helleborus et Alchémille by Elana Wolff (Noroît, 2013). Original: selected poems from Birdheart, Mask, You Speak to Me in Trees and Startled Night. Poetry.

2013

Madeleine Stratford (Gatineau) – Ce qu’il faut dire à des fissures by Tatiana Oroño (L’Oreille du loup, 2012). Original (Uruguayan Spanish): Lo que hay que decir tiene grieta. Poetry.

2011

Casey Roberts (Montreal) – Break Away: Jessie on my Mind by Sylvain Hotte (Baraka Books). Original: Panache. Novel for young people.

2010

Louis Bouchard and Marie-Élisabeth Morf (Montreal) – D’ailleurs by Verena Stefan (Héliotropes). Original (German): Fremdschläfer. Novel.

2008

Caroline Larue – La prophétie d’Ophelia by Elaine Arsenault (Dominique et Compagnie). Original: Ophelia’s Prophecy. Novel.

Honorable mention – Daniel Canty, Pierre blanche : Poèmes d’Alice by Stephanie Bolster (Noroît.). Original: White Stone: The Alice Poems. Poetry.

2007

Marie Frankland (Montreal) – La chaise berçante by A.M. Klein (Noroît). Original: The Rocking Chair. Poetry.

2006

Francis Catalano (Montreal) – Instructions pour la lecture d’un journal by Valerio Magrelli. Original (Italian): Didascalie per la lettura di un giornale. Poetry.

Honorable mention – Joan Irving, Caribou Hunter – A Song of a Vanished Innu Life by Serge Bouchard (Greystone Books). Original: Récits de Mathieu Mestokosho, chasseur innu. Essay.

2005

Benoit Léger (Montreal) – Miracles en série by Carol Shields (Triptyque). Original: Various Miracles. Novel.

2004

Emmy Bos (Montreal) – La chambre d’amis by Marcel Möring (Les Allusifs). Original (néerlandais) : Modelvliegen. Novel.

Honorable mention – Hélène Garrett (Edmonton), Haiku in Papiamentu = Un mushu di haiku by Elis Juliana (University of Alberta Press). Original (papiamento): same title. Poetry.

2003

Yolande Amzallag (Montreal) – Le canari éthique. Science, société et esprit humain by Margaret Somerville (Liber). Original: The Ethical Canary. Science, Society and the Human Spirit. Essay.

2002

Ook Chung (Montreal) – Le champ électrique by Kerri Sakamoto (Boréal). Original: The Electrical Field. Novel.

2001

Agnès Guitard (Saint-Côme) – Les Hauturiers by Farley Mowat (XYZ). Original: The Farfarers. Essay-fiction.

Honorable Mention: S. E. Stewart –  The Setting Lake Sun by J. R. Léveillé (Signature). Original: Le soleil du lac qui se couche. Novel.

2000

Chava Rosenfarb (Toronto) – Bociany and Of Lodz and Love by the translator (Syracuse University Press, 2000). Original (yiddish): Botshani. Novel.

Honorable mention: Rachelle Renaud (Montreal) – Any Mail? and other stories by Gérald Tougas (Signature). Original: La clef de sol. Short stories.

1999

Jill Cairns – The Indiscernible Movement by Aude (Exile, 1997). Original: Ce mouvement imperceptible. Short stories.

1998

Diego Bastianutti (Burnaby) – A Major Selection of the Poetry of Giuseppe Ungaretti by Giuseppe Ungaretti (Exile, 1997). Original (Italian): Vita d’un uomo. Tutte le poesie. Poetry.

1997

Don Coles (Toronto) – For the Living and the Dead by Tomas Tranströmer (Buschek Books, 1996). Original (Swedish): För Levande och Döda. Poetry.

1996

Bodil Jelhof Jensen (Laval) – Dilemma by Agnes Jelhof Jensen (Oberon Press, 1995). Original (Danish): Dilemma. Novel.

1995

Florence Bernard (Gatineau) – Cet héritage au goût de sel by Alistair MacLeod (L’instant même, 1994). Original: The Lost Salt Gift of Blood. Short stories.

1994

Claire Rothman (Montreal) – The Influence of a Book by Philippe Aubert de Gaspé fils (Robert Davies Publishing, 1993). Original: Le Chercheur de trésors ou L’influence d’un livre (1837). Novel.

1993

Lori Saint-Martin and Paul Gagné (Montreal) – Ana Historique by Daphne Marlatt (Remue-Ménage, 1992). Original: Ana Historic. Novel.

Honorable mention: Pierre Anctil – Poèmes yiddish / Yidishe lieder by Jacob Isaac Segal (Noroît). Poetry.

1992

Bruno Guévin (Montreal) – No 44, le mystérieux étranger by Mark Twain (du Roseau, 1991). Original: No. 44, The Mysterious Stranger. Novel.

Honorable mention: Richard Tardif (Boischâtel) – Tonnerre noir by Arna Bontemps (VLB and Castor Astral, 1991). Original: Black Thunder. Novel.

1991

Matt Cohen (Toronto) – The Secret Voice by Gaétan Brulotte (The Porcupine’s Quill, 1990). Original: Le Surveillant. Short stories.

1990

Daniel McBain (Montreal) – Cocori by Joaquín Gutiérrez (Cormorant Books, 1989). Original (Costa Rican Spanish): Cocori. Youth.

1989

Charlotte Melançon – Shakespeare et son théâtre by Northrop Frye (Boréal, 1988). Original: Northrop Frye on Shakespeare. Literary essay.

Honorable mention: Donald Winkler (Montreal) –  Rose and Thorn: Selected poems of Roland Giguère (Exile, 1988). Original: selected poems by Roland Giguère. Poetry.

1988

Heather Parker (Québec) – Juliette by Michel Goeldin (Ragweed Press, 1987). Original: Juliette crucifiée. Novel.

1987

Liedewij Hawke – Hopes and Dreams: The Diary of Henriette Dessaulles 1874-1881 (Hounslow Press, 1986). Original: Fadette : Journal d’Henriette Dessaulles 1874-1880. Autobiography.

1986

Carole Noël – On n’en meurt pas by Olga Boutenko (du Beffroi, 1985). Original (Russian): unpublished manuscript. Short stories.

1985

Wayne Grady (Kingston) – Christopher Cartier of Hazelnut, Also Known as Bear by Antonine Maillet (Methuen, 1984). Original: Christophe Cartier de la Noisette dit Nounours. Youth.

1984

Barbara Mason – Description of San Marco by Michel Butor (York Press, 1983). Original: Description de San Marco. Novel.

1983

Michèle Venet and Jean Lévesque – L’Invasion du Canada by Pierre Berton (Éditions de l’Homme, 1982). Original: The Invasion of Canada and Flames Across the Border. Essay.

1982

Susanne de Lotbinière-Harwood – Neons in the Night by Lucien Francœur (Véhicule Press, 1981). Bilingual edition with poems selected by the translator from Francoeur’s first five poetry books. Poetry.

Patricia Godbout and Brian Busby discuss John Glassco

2017 John Glassco Award Ceremony

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