The Read Russia Prize is the only Russian award that recognizes outstanding translations of works of Russian literature into foreign languages. The Read Russia Prize was established in 2011 by the Institute for Literary Translation, an autonomous nonprofit organization. The competition is conducted biennially with support from the Federal Agency for Press and Mass Communication (Rospechat’) and the Boris N. Yeltsin Presidential Center. The prize is awarded to a translator (or group of translators) for outstanding translations of prose and poetry works from Russian into a foreign language and published by a foreign publisher during the previous two years.
The Read Russia Prize aims to:
· popularize works of Russian literature,
· encourage foreign translators who translate Russian literature into other languages,
· encourage foreign publishers who publish translations of Russian literature, and
· strengthen and develop cultural ties between Russia and other countries.
Prize winners in each category are the translator(s) and the publisher that released the book. Winners receive special award certificates and medallions as well as monetary awards. Publishers receive a grant to cover expenses for the translation of another work of Russian literature.
Members of the Read Russia Prize jury are leading translators, scholars, and literary critics.
Members of the Read Russia Prize’s board of trustees are well-known Russian government, cultural, and public figures: Petr Aven, Naina Yeltsina, Mikhail Piotrovskii, Viacheslav Nikonov, Kirill Razlogov, Mikhail Seslavinskii, Natalia Solzhenitsyna, and Vladimir Spivakov.
Candidates for the Read Russia Prize may be nominated by publishers; professional associations; educational, cultural, and academic organizations; as well as individuals, including the translators themselves.
Winners of the Read Russia Prize
| Category Season | Classic Russian Literature | 20th-Century Russian Literature | Contemporary Russian Literature | Russian P oetry |
| First Season 2010–2012 | Víctor Gallego Ballesteros and Alba Editorial for Lev Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina (Spain) | John Elsworth and Pushkin Press for Andrei Bely’s Petersburg (UK) | Hélène Henry-Safier and Fayard for Dmitrii Bykov’s Pasternak (France) | Alessandro Niero and Terra Ferma for Dmitrii Prigov’s Thirty Three Texts (Italy) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Second Season 2012–2014 | Alejandro Ariel Gonzales and Eterna Cadencia for Fyodor Dostoevsky’s The Double (Argentina) | Alexander Nitzberg and Galiani Berlin for Mikhail Bulgakov’s Master and Margarita (Germany-Austria) | Marian Schwartz and Glagoslav Publications for Leonid Yuzefovich’s Harlequin’s Costume (USA – UK) | Liu Wenfei and China Yuhang Publishing House for Alexander Pushkin’s selected poetry (China) |
| Third Season 2014–2016 | Joaquín Fernández-Valdés and Alba Editorial for Ivan Turgenev’s Fathers and Sons (Spain) | Selma Ancira and Fondo de Cultura Económica for a collection of stories by twentieth-century writers Paisaje caprichoso de la literatura rusa (Mexico) | Lisa Hayden and Oneworld Publications for Eugene Vodolazkin’s Laurus (USA - UK) | Claudia Scandura and Gattomerlino for Sergei Gandlevsky’s Rust and Yellow. Poems of 1980-2011 (Italy) |
| Fourth Season 2017-2018 | Marta Sánchez-Nieves and Alba Editorial for Leo Tolstoy’s Sevastopol Sketches (Spain) | Anne Coldefy-Faucard in cooperation with Geneviève Johannet and Fayard for Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s April 1917 (France) | Oliver Ready and Dedalus Europe for Vladimir Sharov’s The Rehearsals (UK) | Kiril Kadiysky and Nov Zlatorog Publishing House for Fyodor Tyutchev’s Selected Poems (Bulgaria) |
| Fifth Season 2019-2020 | Sabri Gürses, Ugur Buke and Alfa for Complete works by Leo Tolstoy (Turkey) | Claudia Zonghetti and Adelphi for Ivan Bunin’s Il signore di San Francisco e altri racconti (Italy) | Ljubinka Milinčić and Russika for Aleksej Varlamov’s Tamna strana duuse (Serbia) Jorge Ferrer and Acantilado for Guzel Yakhina’s Zuleijá abre los ojos (Spain) | Antony Wood and Penguin Random House for Alexander Pushkin’s Selected Poetry (UK) |
| Sixth Season 2021-2022 |
For more information, please, contact the Organizing Committee: 23, Bolshaya Polyanka St., bld.3, Moscow 119180, Russian Federation. Phone: +7-495-229-75-89, e-mail: nasha@ycenter.ru