The 2024 ASF Translation Competition

The American-Scandinavian Foundation has announced the opening of its 44th annual competition for outstanding translations of poetry, fiction, drama, or literary prose written by a 20th- or 21st-century author from the Nordic region (Denmark, Faroe Islands, Greenland, Iceland, Finland, Norway, Sweden, and Sápmi).

Four prizes will be awarded this year: the Nadia Christensen Prize, which recognizes an outstanding translation of a literary text from a Nordic language into English and includes a $2,500 award; the Leif and Inger Sjöberg Prize, which recognizes distinguished effort by an individual whose literary translations from a Nordic language have not previously been published and includes a $2,000 award; the Wigeland Prize, which recognizes the best translation from Norwegian by a Norwegian and includes a $2,000 award; and the Inger and Jens Bruun Translation Prize, supported by Scan Design Foundation, which recognizes the best Danish translation and includes a $2,000 award. All four prize recipients will also have an excerpt of their translations published in Scandinavian Review (ASF’s illustrated journal) and will receive a commemorative bronze medallion.

The 2024 Translation Prize Competition is open through September 1, 2024.

To read the guidelines and apply, please click here.

Learn more about the 2023 winners.

—Images: Mia Spangenberg (left), awarded the 2023 Nadia Christensen Prize; Rachel Britton (middle), awarded the 2023 Leif and Inger Sjöberg Prize; Misha Hoekstra (right), awarded the 2023 Inger and Jens Bruun Translation Prize, supported by Scan Design Foundation