The Saif Ghobash - Banipal Prize for Arabic Literary Translation

About The Prize

The Prize
The Sponsor
The Judges
The Society of Authors
What They Say

The winner of the 2011 prize was announced on 16 January 2012, as Khaled Mattawa for his translation of Adonis: Selected Poems.  For all information about the Judges' decisions, the winner, the runner-up and the commended translators, click here. The award will be presented at an evening of events at King’s Place, London, which include readings by the winning translators. The annual Sebald Lecture on the Art of Literary Translation, will be given by Sean O'Brien. Click here for full details .

The prize is an annual award of £3,000, made to the translator(s) of a published translation in English of a full-length imaginative and creative Arabic work of literary merit published in the thirty-five years prior to submission of the translation and first published in English translation in the year prior to the award.

Entries are judged by a panel of four distinguished authors, critics and literary experts, two of whom read and consider both the Arabic original and the English translation. The Judging panel for 2012 is now being selected, and will be announced in due course.

31 January 2012 is the final date for receiving entries for the 2012 prize, though there is flexibility.  Judges have the right to call in elegible titles that have not already been entered.

The inaugural prize was awarded on 9 October 2006. The prize aims to raise the profile of contemporary Arabic literature as well as honouring the important work of individual translators in bringing the work of established and emerging Arab writers to the attention of the wider world. It was established by Banipal, the magazine of modern Arab literature in English translation, and the Banipal Trust for Arab Literature.

The prize is administered by the Society of Authors in the United Kingdom and joins a number of prizes for translation from languages that include Dutch, French, German, Italian, Greek, Portuguese, Spanish and Swedish, all administered by the Society and awarded annually at a joint ceremony hosted by the Society, the British Centre for Literary Translation and Arts Council England.

For the full rules and conditions for the prize click here
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The Banipal Prize for Arabic Literary Translation is sponsored by Omar Saif Ghobash and his family in memory of his father the late Saif Ghobash, and is known as The Saif Ghobash – Banipal Prize for Arabic Literary Translation.

Fom the United Arab Emirates, Saif Ghobash was passionate about the literature of the Arab world and the literatures of other countries. He loved the world of books, and had his own collection in many different languages which his family has inherited.

“A prize for people who are so dedicated to the power of literature and the power of translation seems so clearly something my father would have supported himself,” said Omar Saif Ghobash, adding: “When I spoke with the other members of our family, they supported the idea immediately – before I could finish my sentence! It is a small but fitting tribute to my father’s memory.”

The Banipal Prize for Arabic Literary Translation is in its early years and this sponsorship is an important development. The Trust looks forward to working keenly with both publishers and translators in the English-speaking world to both encourage and promote the wider translation of contemporary works of literature by Arab authors.

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There are four judges, including one from the Banipal Trust, who this year is Samuel Shimon.

The selection of judges is made according to the following general criteria: one is an author and/or literary translator from any language into English; one an English-language literary critic/editor and/or reviewer; the last two read both the English and the Arabic original and are either bilingual or have Arabic as their first language. They are experienced literary translators or authors. One of these two judges is from the Banipal Trust. The judges for the 2011 prize are Sarah Churchwell, Christina Philips, Joan Smith and Samuel Shimon.

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The Society of Authors is the administrator of the prize. Founded in 1884 "to protect the rights and further the interests of authors", it has over 7,500 members. Its first president was Alfred Lord Tennyson. Among its members have been many prominent writers, including George Bernard Shaw, John Galsworthy, Thomas Hardy, H G Wells, J M Barrie, John Masefield, E M Forster, A P Herbert, and countless contemporary writers.

Other literary translation prizes administered by the Society are:

• Scott Moncrieff Prize for French Translation
• Hellenic Foundation for Culture Award for Greek Translation (triennial)
• Schlegel-Tieck Prize for German Translation
• Bernard Shaw Prize for Swedish Translation (triennial)
• Vondel Prize for Dutch Translation (biennial)
• Calouste Gulbenkian Prize for Portuguese Translation (triennial)
• Premio Valle Inclan for Spanish Translation
• John Florio Prize for Italian Translation (biennial)

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It is more important than ever that voices from around the world can be heard in English, so a prize that honours the work of translators from Arabic and also highlights some of the fine Arabic books we can now read is to be greatly welcomed and applauded.
Carole Welch, Publisher, Sceptre

Recognising the work and the talent of translators by placing them side-by-side with recipients of the long-established and prestigious awards such as the Schlegel-Tieck Prize is a vital step towards bringing Arabic literature into the mainstream.
Barbara Schwepke, Publisher, Arabia Books

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What they said about the inaugural prize, presented 9 October 2006 at the British Centre for Literary Translation, University of East Anglia, Norwich.

Winning the Banipal Prize represents for me, primarily, recognition of the novel itself. Gate of the Sun is a work of extraordinary strength that non-Arabic readers need to have available.
Inaugural prizewinner Humphrey Davies

The judges were unanimous in awarding the inaugural Banipal Prize for Arabic Literary Translation to Elias Khoury’s Gate of the Sun (Harvill Secker), translated by Humphrey Davies. The novel is a monumental achievement, whose translation by Humphrey Davies brilliantly captures the nuances and style of the original.
Maya Jaggi, Judge, Banipal Translation Prize 2006

What impressed me most was the natural poetry in the prose. This – the innate poetry bursting out from even prose writers – is, I think, is one of the great strengths of Arabic language and literature. Needless to say, to convey such delicate poetry to an English readership is also a great achievement by the translators. Elias Khoury's Gate of the Sun, which the judges unanimously declared the winner of the prize, is a haunting book on the Palestinian passion.
Moris Farhi, Judge, Banipal Translation Prize 2006

Gate of the Sun is such an outstanding work that almost anything else was going to have a problem – assuming, of course, that the translation itself is good. And in this case, it’s excellent.
Roger Allen, Judge, Banipal Translation Prize 2006

Since the award of the Nobel Prize for Literature to the late Naguib Mahfouz in 1988, the English-language reading world has been made aware that there is a rich store of contemporary writing in Arabic. Good translators have been few and those few need encouragement. Now, thanks to the Banipal Trust and the enlightened generosity of Mohammad Ahmad Al-Sowaidi, Arabic literature in translation is getting the recognition and reward enjoyed by some of the other global literary languages.
Peter Clark, The Banipal Trust for Arab Literature

The literary translator is a lynch-pin in the process of cultural dialogue. Translation between Arabic and English needs to be kept under the spotlight. I support this prize because we believe it is so important for developing dialogue with Arabic culture and literature. Arabic literature needs this prize, this attention. We believe that Banipal and their work provide a real bridge between Arabic culture and language and English language and culture. We are sure that this prize will draw more and more attention in the coming years and are proud to have been here at its beginning.
Mohammad Ahmad Al-Sowaidi, Patron of the Banipal Prize, inaugural year 2006

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And . . . what was said when the prize was established in 2005

The British Centre for Literary Translation welcomes the establishment of a new prize for literary translation from the Arabic. Rarely has the anglophone world been more keen to hear Arab voices sharing their realities, and their fantasies, in their own words. We look forward to reading, learning and enjoying the new books that will now be brought to our attention.
Amanda Hopkinson, then Director of the British Centre for Literary Translation

The Arts Council is very pleased to support the establishment of the Banipal Prize for Arabic Literary Translation. Despite the efforts of Banipal magazine and others, the British public still has little access to literature from the Arab world, which could do so much to promote cross-cultural understanding. We hope that this prize will go some way towards raising the profile of Arabic literature in the UK, encouraging translators to translate more, publishers to publish more and readers to read more.
Kate Griffin, then the International Literature Officer of Arts Council England

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