Shortlist Announced for The Voices Of Today Literary Translation Prize
Singing Grass and Paper Republic reveal hotly contested international shortlist of 7 names
London, Beijing June 1st 2026: Launched this year to encourage and discover new voices in Chinese-English literary translation, The Voices of Today Literary Translation Prize attracted over 100 entries from 14 countries with the participants invited to translate a substantial excerpt from international bestselling, Liu Zhenyun’s, new novel – Salty Jokes*.
The Judging Panel comprised prize-winning sinologists and academics: Chair, Nicky Harman (Paper Republic); Esther Tyldesley (University of Edinburgh); Amanda Ruiquing Flynn (writer and poet).
Delighted with the high standard of entries, Nicky Harman commented on behalf of the judging panel, ’The judges would like to congratulate the organisers of the inaugural Voices of Today Translation Prize; we translators have waited a long time to see an international Chinese-to-English translation prize commensurate with the quality of translations coming out of the Sinophone world, and Voices of Today did not disappoint.’
The shortlist for the 2026 VOICES OF TODAY LITERARY TRANSLATION PRIZE is:
Alex Woodend（USA）
Alexis Wu（USA / UK)
Andrew Rule（USA）
Christopher MacDonald（UK）
Jenny Lu（Australia）
Yaqi Xi（UK)
Yee Heng Yeh（Malaysia）
With entries from across the globe, the prize attracted truly international participation whose entries allowed the chosen excerpt to flourish in English while remaining true to the style and voice of the original text.
Nicky Harman adds: ‘ We would like to offer our congratulations to all who took part, whether shortlisted or not. The text chosen, taken from a novel by one of China’s best loved authors, Liu Zhenyun was challenging, with its highly individual authorial voice, its sprightly rhythm and use of dialect, and its lines of classical poetry. But this year’s entrants rose to the challenge: the standard of entries was gratifyingly high and it was clear to us judges how much care had been taken to deliver texts that not only reflected the multi-layered content but recreated the voice of the author in English. In short, the Voices of Today Prize has succeeded in showcasing some remarkable new talent.’
Created and administered by Singing Grass UK and China, the Voices of Today Literary Translation Prize aims to connect contemporary literary output from China with the rest of the world while showcasing the wealth of a new generation of literary translators from Chinese to English.
Alicia Liu, CEO & Founder Singing Grass says, ‘The response to this literary translation initiative exceeded all expectations and demonstrates the thirst for cross-cultural collaboration and the need for us to connect through each other’s literature. We are so grateful that Liu Zhenyun, as ever, was generous enough to make his work available to encourage new voices in this field. Huge thanks and congratulations to all those who participated and to those who are shortlisted.’
Read more about the Prize here. The winner will be announced by BIBF Global Reading Ambassador at Beijing International Book Fair on June 18th at a special ceremony.
*Working title
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Notes to Editors:
About the Voices of Today Literary Translation Prize
Singing Grass and Paper Republic are delighted to announce a new literary translation prize from Chinese to English, designed to showcase literary translators of contemporary voices. The inaugural prize invited participants to translate an extract from Salty Jokes, the latest novel by acclaimed Mao Dun Prize-winning author Liu Zhenyun. The winning translator will receive £1500 and 2 runners-up £500 each. The submissions were judged by an international Jury of translation experts.
About Singing Grass
Singing Grass is a UK and China based cultural communications agency with the objective of building meaningful bridges between Chinese and English-language publishing and the arts. We specialise in representation, research projects and cultural exchange, helping Chinese publishers and authors find the right international partners, and supporting Western publishers discover new voices from the East.
About Paper Republic
Paper Republic is a registered Charity in the UK, run by a team of volunteers and trustees, dedicated to finding the very best new Chinese writing, and promoting it to English-language readers; we publish translations of short fiction and poetry online, all completely free to read; and we help translators produce higher-quality translations, by providing education, information and resources.
About the Judges
Nicky Harman lives in the UK. She translates full-time from Chinese, focussing on contemporary fiction, literary non-fiction, and occasionally poetry, by a wide variety of authors. She also works for Paper-Republic.org, a non-profit registered in the UK, as a volunteer and a trustee. In 2020 she won the Special Book Award of China.
Esther Tyldesley is a literary translator with over 20 years’ experience in the field. She lives in Edinburgh, where she teaches Chinese language and Chinese-English translation at the University of Edinburgh.
Amanda Ruiqing Flynn is a writer, poet, literary translator and visual artist. She was a winner of the Golden Point Award in Translation 2025. Her writing has been anthologised in Best New Singaporean Short Stories. Raised in the United Kingdom, she currently resides in her birthplace, Singapore.
