The winner of the inaugural Sarah Maguire Prize for Poetry In Translation was Anniversary Snow by Yang Lian, translated from Chinese by Brian Holton with further translations by WN HerbertL. LeighLiang LizhenPascale PetitFiona SampsonGeorge Szirtes and Joshua Weiner and published by Shearsman Books.

The winner was announced at an online event hosted by the Poetry Translation Centre on Thursday, 25th March 2021. The winning poet, Yang Lian, and his translators shared a prize of £3000.

The shortlist featured books translated from Japanese, Arabic, Korean, Spanish and Chinese. The selection celebrated both the best of modern poetry from across the globe and showcased a range of different translation methodologies highlighting excellence in literary translation.

You can watch videos about the 2020 shortlist on our YouTube Channel.

The 2020 Sarah Maguire Prize judging panel was chaired by Alireza Abiz is an Iranian poet, literary critic and translator. He was joined on the judging team by Leo Boix Latino British poet, translator and journalist and Ida Hadjivayanis, a translator originally from Zanzibar. In choosing their shortlist the judges looked for books that spoke to UK audiences, but which maintained the unique spark of their original texts.