The Poetry in Translation Prize
The submission window for The Poetry in Translation Prize is now open and will close on August 15, 2025.
The Poetry in Translation Prize is a new biennial award for an outstanding poetry collection translated into English. Launched by New Directions, Giramondo Publishing, and Fitzcarraldo Editions in 2025, the prize is open to living poets writing in any language other than English and their translators.
The Poetry in Translation Prize offers an advance of $5,000 to be split equally between poet and translator for simultaneous publication in North America by New Directions, in Australia and New Zealand by Giramondo, and in the UK and Ireland by Fitzcarraldo Editions. The prize seeks to highlight new poetry from beyond the English-speaking world.
A shortlist will be announced in late 2025, with the winner announced in January 2026, and publication scheduled for 2027.
You can submit an entry via our Submittable portal.
Terms and Conditions
Please read these eligibility and entry rules carefully before submitting. Submission of an entry is taken as acceptance of the entry rules. For any queries not covered below, please write to info@giramondopublishing.com.
1. The prize is open to living, published poets around the world writing in any language except English.
2. Submissions should contain a sample of 15–25 translated poems, or 15–25 pages – whichever is greater. All submissions should be made by the translator. We will accept self-translated work and collaborative translations.
3. Each submission should include a cover letter including a biographical note for both poet and translator, contact details and a brief outline of the full poetry collection. You are welcome to submit the poems in their original language in the original submission, and must also be able to provide these poems in their original language on request.
4. Submissions must be for a book of a minimum of 48 pages in English. With rare exceptions at the discretion of the judges, the finished book must not exceed 112 pages in English.
5. The submission must be original and not AI generated.
6. Entries that are incomplete, corrupted or submitted after the deadline will not be considered.
7. The entry must be the entrant’s own original creation and must not infringe upon the right or copyright of any person or entity.
8. Translators may only submit once per entry period.
9. When submitting, translators must have confirmation that the underlying rights holder has granted their written permission for both submission and hypothetical publication. This is a requirement for shortlisting and will be confirmed by the publishers at the shortlisting stage with a signed letter from the original rights holder.
10. The poet can have been published in English previously, but the submitted full-length book must not have been published before in the English language. Individual poems from the book can have been published in English with the understanding that no more than 25% of the whole would have been previously published in translation. Details of prior publication in English must be given in the submission.
11. The submission must be from a collection already published, or with an agreement to be published, in the original language.
12. Poets and translators who have existing contracts for other texts, or who have previously held contracts with publishers, are eligible to enter.
13. The publishers will commission a full-length collection from the winning sample, which will be published by Fitzcarraldo Editions, New Directions and Giramondo as part of their poetry lists.
14. Submissions will open July 15 2025 and close August 15 before midnight EST. Submissions will only be accepted via Submittable.
15. A shortlist will be announced by November 2025, with the winner announced in January 2026 and published in 2027.
16. There are no age restrictions, and we welcome submissions from writers of all backgrounds.
17. All submissions should include page numbers.
18. Only submissions via Submittable will be considered; entries by post and email will not be considered.
19. Fitzcarraldo Editions, Giramondo and New Directions reserve the right to organise a meeting or phone call with all shortlisted translators and poets before the award of the prize.
20. Unsuccessful entrants will not be contacted.
21. No editorial feedback will be provided to unsuccessful entrants.
22. The decision of the judges is final and no correspondence will be entered into regarding the judging process.
23. Fitzcarraldo Editions, Giramondo and New Directions will have the exclusive world English rights to publish the winning text.
24. Fitzcarraldo Editions, Giramondo and New Directions reserve the right not to award the prize, or to make multiple offers of publication.
25. Only submissions which meet all Terms and Conditions will be considered.
26. By entering this competition, each entrant agrees to be bound by these Terms and Conditions.
The Novel Prize
The Poetry in Translation Prize will run (on alternating years) alongside The Novel Prize, a biennial award for book-length works of literary fiction written in English by both published and unpublished writers from around the world. Launched in 2020 also by New Directions, Giramondo Publishing, and Fitzcarraldo Editions, The Novel Prize has been won by Jessica Au, Jonathan Buckley, Anne de Marcken, and Giada Scodellaro, whose novel Ruins, Child will be published in Winter 2026.
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