Participate in the 11th annual International Competition for Young Translators: The Susanna Roth Prize.
Czech Centers and the Czech Literary Center, a section of the Moravian Library, are pleased to announce the 11th edition of the International Competition for Young Translators: The Susanna Roth Prize. This award is named after the renowned Swiss translator Susanna Roth (1950–1997), who made a significant contribution to promoting contemporary Czech literature abroad.
The competition is open to young translators up to the age of 40. Participants are tasked with translating a substantial excerpt (approximately 20 pages) from an untranslated work of contemporary Czech prose. Previously published excerpts are not eligible. A jury in each participating country will select one winner.
TEXT TO BE TRANSLATED
The expert jury has selected Kristina Hamplová's book Lover/Fighter (Dokořán, 2024). The text to be translated for the competition is an excerpt from pages 9–24.
Lover/Fighter Dokořán, 2024; ISBN 978-80-7675- 208-5 Blue flesh, clouds of violence, one fairly ordinary girl, and four frantic episodes of her life in the unforgiving world that may lie ahead. In 2014, teenage girls organise a hunt for each other through the Brda forest. Five years later, a clash between child gangs and skateboarders on Letná Plain turns out to be perhaps the biggest street fight in the city's history. In 2023, a love affair between two girls slowly turns into a duel to the death. Finally, in 2031, the heroine fights thirsty animals in the arid city. Lover/Fighter follows not only the history of the spread of a new, unpredictable substance derived from the flesh of parrots, but above all tells the story of childhood and youth in a world where people are relentlessly at each other's throats.
Kristina Hamplová (*1997) hails from a small town near Prague. She is a secondary school teacher, contributes music-related articles to various media outlets, campaigns against coal mining, and hosts the pop culture podcast Hitparáda Ace. Lover/Fighter is her literary debut. Her writing is influenced by the works of Robert Bolaño, Kurt Vonnegut, and the Bible.
ASSIGNMENT AND CONDITIONS
Participants must submit the following materials:
a translation of the excerpt from Kristina Hamplová’s Lover/Fighter
a professional resume/biography in the form of a brief profile in Czech (maximum length: 1,000 characters, including spaces)
a recent high-quality photograph (with photo credit)
a solemn declaration confirming the authorship of the submitted translation
All materials must be submitted electronically by March 31, 2025, to the following email address: andersen@czechcenter.com
The competition is open to young translators up to the age of forty, excluding previous winners of the Susanna Roth Translation Competition. For further details, please refer to the Terms and Conditions.
PRIZE
A several-day visit to Czechia, including active participation in professional seminars and an accompanying program.
DEADLINES
Submission deadline: March 31, 2025 Results announcement: May 15, 2025 Winners' visit to Czechia: July 2025
