The American Literary Translators Association (ALTA) has announced the shortlist for the National Translation Awards (NTA) for poetry and prose translation in 2024. The list of finalists includes Ukrainian translators Vitaliy Chernetsky and Iryna Shuvalova for their translation of Ostap Slyvynsky's The Winter King in the Poetry category.
This is reported on the website of the associations.
The jury praised Slyvynsky's poems, which are ‘on the edge of a cliff or on the deck of a sunken ship’, and noted that they ‘speak for all those who live with the challenge of survival in dangerous conditions’. The review also emphasised: ‘these are more than just testimonial poems, as they equally seek to marvel at the resilience of love and light despite these conditions. They are like bottles thrown into a distant sea that inexplicably end up on our shores. The message inside them is hopeful, radiant and tearing with its brutal honesty.’
"The Winter King" was published in 2018. Vitaly Chernetsky is a professor of Slavic languages at the University of Kansas, a translator of Ukrainian literature into English, and Iryna Shuvalova is a poet and researcher from Kyiv, who has been working at the University of Oslo since 2023. Author of five award-winning poetry collections.
The National Translation Award is given to translators who have made an outstanding contribution to the development of English-language literature by "masterfully reproducing the artistic power of a book of impeccable quality."
The winners will be announced on October 26 at a ceremony in Milwaukee, where, in case of victory, each of the laureates will receive a monetary award in the amount of 4 thousand dollars.
Author: Danylo Pievchev