Jury statement

This year’s Straelen Translator Prize funded by the Foundation for Arts and Culture in NRW goes to Katy Derbyshire, born 1973 in London and living in Berlin since the middle of the 90s. Her translation of Clemens Meyer’s novel “Im Stein” (“Bricks and Mortar”, Fitzcarraldo Editions) convinces because of the diversity of its voices, its social expertise, and not least because of its linguistic beauty. What’s more, through her manifold media activities, such as her blog “Love German Books”, the translator proves that literary translation has a life beyond the printed page. Katy Derbyshire captivates with the power of her language, the assuredness of the milieu, and her courage.

The 2018 Most Promising Translator Prize funded by the Arts and Culture Foundation of NRW is awarded to Simon Pare, who grew up in Shropshire and presently lives in Switzerland. His translation of Christoph Ransmayr’s verse novel “Der fliegende Berg” (“The Flying Mountain”, Seagull Books 2018) reveals Simon Pare’s surefootedness in terms of diction and style of this unusually challenging original. Without ever relying on bottled oxygen, Pare nimbly follows his author to the heights of a literary eight-thousander.

The jury would like to emphasise the gratifyingly high quality of the works submitted, the wealth of translation methodology, and how rewarding it was to engage with the process.

Penny Black, Iain Galbraith, Denis Scheck
Straelen/Düsseldorf, 24.4.2018