American-Scandinavian Foundation (ASF) Translation Awards

About this program

The American-Scandinavian Foundation awards four annual translation prizes for outstanding English translations of 20th- or 21st-century Nordic poetry, fiction, drama or literary prose—Nadia Christensen Prize ($5,000), Leif and Inger Sjöberg Prize ($2,000), Wigeland Prize ($2,000), and Inger and Jens Bruun Translation Prize ($2,000)—each including publication of an excerpt in Scandinavian Review and a commemorative medallion. Applicants must be translators of works originally in a Nordic language; prize-specific eligibility applies (e.g., Wigeland is for translations from Norwegian by a Norway resident, the Sjöberg Prize is aimed at translators whose Nordic-language translations have not been previously published, and the Bruun Prize recognizes Danish translations). Submitted translations must not have been previously published in English, be from a single author, and translators may submit only one entry (the same entry may be entered in no more than two competitions and a translator may not win more than three times). Applications require an online submission with CV, a brief description of the author and significance of the work, the translation manuscript (prose 25–50 double-spaced pages; poetry 15–25 pages) with title page and table of contents, numbered pages without the translator’s name, and signed permission from the author/agent/estate for entry and publication.