Outdated Browser

For the best experience using our website, we recommend upgrading your browser to a newer version or switching to a supported browser.

More Information

The National Book Award Interviews

October 2023

The covers of the 10 books longlisted for the 2022 National Book Award in Translation

In celebration of this year’s National Book Award for Translated Literature, we spoke with the longlisted author-translator pairs to find out how each title and its subsequent translation came to be, and ask about the nuances of the translation process. Check back throughout the week as we publish more interviews.

Plus, read interviews with the 2022 National Book Award winners, finalists, and semifinalists.

Interviews with the 2022 Winners of the National Book Award for Translated Literature

Portraits of Samanta Schweblin and Megan McDowell

Left: Samanta Schweblin, photo by Alejandra Lopez; Right: Megan McDowell, photo by Camila Valdés

The National Book Award Interviews: Samanta Schweblin & Megan McDowell

I’m always a little amazed at the subtlety of Samanta’s language, how much she can convey in so few words—that hasn’t changed over all the books of hers I’ve translated.

Interviews with the 2022 Finalists

Portraits of Yoko Tawada and Margaret Mitsutani

The National Book Award Interviews: Yoko Tawada & Margaret Mitsutani

We’re living in a world where both languages and people are constantly in flux. In this novel, I wanted to focus on a small group of people making their way through that world.

Portraits of Jon Fosse and Damion Searls

Left: Jon Fosse, photo by Tom Kolstad Samlaget; Right: Damion Searls, photo by Beowulf Sheehan

The National Book Award Interviews: Jon Fosse & Damion Searls

“To me writing is an act of listening. And if I am writing well then what I write will necessarily be new to me as well. Writing is a journey into the unknown.”

At left face of French language translator Mark Polizzotti and at right face of French Rwandan...

The National Book Award Interviews: Scholastique Mukasonga & Mark Polizzotti

“One thing that makes 'Kibogo' such a compelling work is the critical distance it maintains from all the power structures it describes.”

Portraits of Mónica Ojeda and Sarah Booker

The National Book Award Interviews: Mónica Ojeda & Sarah Booker

I always say to myself that Jawbone came to me as a nightmare, a vision full of fear and desire, but I really can’t remember how it started.

Interviews with the Authors and Translators on the 2022 Longlist

Left, author Shariar Mandanipour; right, translator Sara Khalili

Left, Shariar Mandanipour, photo © Danial Mondanipour; right, Sara Khalili, photo © Miriam Berkley

The National Book Award Interviews: Shahriar Mandanipour and Sara Khalili

“There have been times when we have spent hours discussing a single phrase and how to give it the same life and soul in English.”

Portraits of Olga Ravn and Martin Aitken

Left: Olga Ravn, photo credit: Lærke Posselt; Right: Martin Aitken

The National Book Award Interviews: Olga Ravn & Martin Aitken

I think my task was less linguistic than it was a matter of representing the environment in my mind and sensing its moods emotionally, entering that strange atmosphere so it could seep through into the translation.

Portraits of Saša Stanišić and Damion Searls

Left: Saša Stanišić, photo by Katja Sämann; Right: Damion Searls, photo by Beowulf Sheehan

The National Book Award Interviews: Saša Stanišić & Damion Searls

I started working on [the book] in 2016 when my grandmother was showing the first serious signs of dementia. I wanted to create an archive of sorts, in which her life was told in stories.

Left: Mohammed Hasan Alwan; Right: William M. Hutchins

The National Book Award Interviews: Mohammed Hasan Alwan & William M. Hutchins

I thought he was in search for something meaningful and, thus, he was exposing himself to conditions he hoped would light the way for a coming revelation.