The $3,000 PEN Award for Poetry in Translation is conferred every year in New York. The award recognizes book-length translations of poetry from any language into English published during the current calendar year, and is judged by a single translator of poetry appointed by the PEN Translation Committee. The award was made possible originally by a bequest from the late translator and PEN member Rae Dalven, and has received current support from The Kaplen Foundation.

The PEN Award for Poetry in Translation complements the PEN Translation Prize, which was founded in 1963 through the efforts of the PEN Translation Committee, and was the first American award to honor the art of the literary translator.

Past winners include: Richard Zenith for his translation of Fernando Pessoa & Co.; Peter Cole for his translation of J'Accuse by Aharon Shabtai; James Brasfield and Oleh Lysheha for their co-translation of The Selected Poems of Oleh Lysheha; Chana Bloch and Chana Kronfeld for their co-translation of Open Closed Open by Yehuda Amichai; Anne Twitty for her translation of Maria Negroni's Islandia; Pierre Joris for his translation of Lightduress by Paul Celan; and Wilson Baldridge for his translation of Michel Deguy’s Recumbents; David Hinton for his translations of The Selected Poems of Wang Wei, Rosmarie Waldrop for Lingos I-IX; and Khaled Mattawa for Adonis: Selected Poems.

Deadline
Submissions must be received between October 1, 2011 and February 1, 2012

Who is eligible:
Although all eligible books must have been published in the United States, translators may be of any nationality; U.S. residency or citizenship is not required. Eligibile books must have been published between January 1, 2011 and December 31, 2011.

Submissions can be made by publishers, agents, or the translators themselves. Self-published books are not eligible. Books with more than two translators are not eligible.

How to apply:
1) Pay the $50 entry fee online and proceed to checkout. If paying by check, skip to step 2.

2) Fill out the online submission form and click “Submit Form.”

3) Mail one copy of the candidate's book, your printed submission form, and proof of online payment or a check between October 1, 2011 and February 1, 2012  to:

Poetry in Translation Award
PEN American Center
588 Broadway, Suite 303
New York, NY 10012

Pay the $50 entry fee online, or mail in payment with your submission. Submission fees may be waived for publishers whose annual net sales are less than $4 million. Please contact PEN if you wish to find out more.

For more information, please contact awards@pen.org or (212) 334-1660, ext. 126.