Close Approximations | Asymptote international literary translation contest

Asymptote Journal invites entries from early career literary translators for 'Close Approximations', international translation awards in the genres of poetry, fiction and literary nonfiction. Cash prizes and publication opportunities are offered for translations from any language into English.

Fantastic news for emerging translators all over the world: 'Close Approximations,' Asymptote’s hugely popular translation contest, is back! Open to translators at the beginning of their careers, this contest invites translations in three genres: poetry, fiction, and—a new category this year—literary nonfiction. The winner and runner-up of each category will walk away with 1,000 USD and 500 USD respectively.

In addition to winning some serious prize money, they will also be featured in the Asymptote April 2016 issue, joining an exceptional roster of translators published in our pages, including J.M. Coetzee, Lydia Davis, Susan Bernofsky, Robert Chandler, Ros Schwartz, Daniel Hahn, Pierre Joris, Rosmarie Waldrop and Howard Goldblatt.

Submit between 5 to 10 pages of translated poetry or between 10 to 25 pages of translated fiction or nonfiction via the 'Contest' option of our Submittable page, in the appropriate category.

The submissions window closes on 15 December 2015

Translations must be into English, but may come from any language besides English. Although we especially welcome contemporary work translated from underrepresented languages, neither the work’s original language or its contemporaneity will be a factor in the judging.

Preference will be given to translators who are early in their careers. (If you have published only one book-length translation or none so far, we will consider you "early in your career.")

See website for all other details of how to submit and guidelines.

Winner of the 2015 London Book Fair's International Translation Initiative Award, Asymptote is an exciting new international journal dedicated to literary translation and bringing together in one place the best in contemporary writing. It was founded by Singaporean Lee Yew Leong and is co-edited with a 60-strong team of far-flung editors around the world.