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Announcement of the 2009 shortlist for
The Marsh Award for Children’s Literature in Translation

Anthony Horowitz will present the Marsh Award for Children’s Literature in Translation 2009, at a ceremony at the English-Speaking Union, on 20th January 2009. The Award of £2000 will go to the winning translator.

The Marsh Award for Children’s Literature in Translation was designed to spotlight the high quality and diversity of translated fiction for young readers and is presented biennially. Since its inception, in 1996, there has been a steady increase in the number of children’s books translated into English and published in Britain. For the current award the list of submissions has increased substantially and includes books translated from Chinese, Danish, Dutch, French, German, Greek, Icelandic, Italian, Spanish (including an entry from a Cuban author), Swedish and Yiddish.



The judging panel was excited by the high quality of submissions and after animated discussion, have selected six excellent stories, all beautifully told.



Borders UK has agreed to work with publishers to promote the shortlist throughout all their stores in January 2009.


The short list

This is a rich and diverse shortlist. Some of the books give an insight into other cultures, others have a mind-stretching sense of place or time and all of them are great stories, reminding us that some of the best children’s books can come from beyond our shores.

My Brother Johnny by Francesco D’Adamo translated from Italian by Sian Williams (Aurora Metro Press, 2007)


When the Snow Fell by Henning Mankell translated from Swedish by Laurie Thompson
(Andersen Press, 2007)

Letters from Alain by Enrique Perez Diaz translated from Spanish by Simon Breden
(Aurora Metro Press, 2008)

Tina’s Web by Alki Zei translated from Greek by John Thornley
(Aurora Metro Press, 2007)

Toby Alone by Timothée de Fombelle translated from French by Sarah Ardizzone illustrated by François Place (Walker Books, 2008)

Message in a Bottle by Valérie Zenatti translated from French by Adriana Hunter (Bloomsbury Publishing, 2008)

The Judging Panel – for the current award
The panel combines expertise in children’s literature and translation. Its members are:
· Patricia Crampton – winner of the Marsh Award for Children’s Literature in Translation 1999
· Wendy Cooling – Book Consultant, author and critic.
· Dr Gillian Lathey – Director of the National Centre for Research in Children’s Literature, Roehampton University
· Dr Colin Niven OBE – Former Headmaster
· Becky Stradwick – former Head of Children’s Books at Borders Children’s Books

The award is administered by the English- Speaking Union and sponsored by the Marsh Christian Trust.