Susanna Roth Award

The Susanna Roth Award is an annual competition for beginner translators up to 40 years of age, whose task is to translate a piece of contemporary Czech prose. Contestants must be citizens or permanent residents in one of the participating countries below the age of 40 and cannot have published a book translation in the language of the given country. The prize is a stay in Czechia, which includes attending the annual Bohemistics Seminar and a translation workshop.

The winners are chosen by a jury of translators and academics in each participating country. The award, organised by the Literary Section of the Arts and Theatre Institute and Czech Centres, is named after renowned Swiss bohemist and translator, Susanna Roth (1950–1997), who contributed significantly to the promotion of contemporary Czech literature abroad.

Contact


History of the Award

The project, established in 2014 by the Czech Centres and the literary department of The Arts and Theatre Institute (IDU) to mark the 100th anniversary of Bohumil Hrabal's birth, focused on translating the celebrated Czech author’s short stories into multiple languages under the coordination of the Czech Centres.

In 2015, the competition project evolved into the Susanna Roth Award, the first two editions of which were co-organised by the IDU. Since 2017, the Czech Centres have been announcing and co-organising the competition alongside the Czech Literary Centre, which is part of the Moravian Library.

Susanna Roth (1950–1997) was a prominent Swiss translator, Bohemist, literary critic and scholar. She began learning Czech in Zurich in the early 1970s, receiving a scholarship to study at Charles University in Prague in 1972. In 1992, she founded the Czech branch of the Pro Helvetia Foundation in Prague and later represented the foundation in Bratislava, organising cultural exchanges, scholarships, exhibitions, concerts and theatre tours. In 1993, she became the first recipient of the Premia Bohemica Award given to foreign translators (Bohemists) who have contributed to the dissemination of Czech literature in their native language.

 

Books

Participants translate an excerpt of contemporary prose by a Czech author whose work has not yet been widely translated. After the introduction of Hrabal in 2014, the following works were selected for the competition by an expert jury in Czechia:

  • 2015 David Jan Žák Návrat Krále Šumavy / Román o Josefu Hasilovi (Labyrint, 2012)
  • 2016 Anna Bolavá Do tmy (Odeon, 2015)
  • 2017 Bianca Bellová Jezero (Host, 2016)
  • 2018 Karel Veselý Bomba*Funk (BiggBoss, 2017)
  • 2019 Anna Cima Probudím se na Šibuji (Paseka, 2018)
  • 2020 Veronika Bendová Vytěženej kraj (FRA, 2019)
  • 2021 Lenka Elbe Uranova (Argo, 2020)
  • 2022 Elsa Aids - Přípravy na všechno (Fra 2020)
  • 2023 Anna Beata Háblová - Směna (Host, 2022)
  • 2024 Marek Torčík – Rozložíš paměť (Paseka, 2023)
  • 2025 Kristyna Hamplová – Lover/Fighter (Dokořán, 2024)


Partners

×

Found in events

Found in blog