Albertine Translation Fund and Prizes

Albertine Translation Fund & Prizes

In 2006, the Cultural Services of the French Embassy, in partnership with the PEN American Center, launched the French Voices program. The objective was to create what would become, over an initial period of three years, a collection of 30 books representing the best of contemporary French and Francophone literature and thought. Sixteen years later, the collection has largely surpassed its objective and is now more than 170 titles strong. It includes a wide range of works representing some of the best of French-language fiction and non-fiction alike. Thanks to support from the Florence Gould Foundation and the Mellon Foundation, the program became, in 2013, the French Voices Awards.

In 2022, Villa Albertine’s Books & Ideas department launched the Albertine Translation Fund & Prizes, a new and enhanced version of the French Voices Awards.

The Albertine Translation Fund & Prizes recognizes the quality of both the original work and the translation. A committee of independent professional experts (academics, translators, and publishers) selects works that epitomize the many facets of a vibrant French literary scene. Grants go to books representing new trends in fiction and graphic novels and important points of view in non-fiction.

The Albertine Translation Fund & Prizes honors both translators and American publishers for English translations of works that have been published in France in the last 10 years. The recipients are selected by a literary committee. Each book receives $2,000 to cover publishing costs, and 50% of the translation costs that cannot exceed $5,000.

Furthermore, the Albertine Translation committee chooses, among the recipients, two Albertine Translation Prizes winners each year – one in fiction and one in non-fiction. The winners will receive $5,000 to be allocated to the translator.

It should be noted that works that do not have an American publisher can be a recipient of the Albertine Translation Fund & Prizes. The French publisher will have a year to secure an acquisition of rights contract with an American publisher for the English translation.

The works published in the US that benefited from the Albertine Translation Fund & Prizes must carry a logo of the program on their cover and mention of the program on the copyright page.

The current call for applications will close on June 16, 2024.  

For more information about the program, please click here.