Scholastique Mukasonga book Cockroaches is a finalist for French-America Foundation Translation Prize 2017. It was translated from French into English by Jordan Stump and published by Archipelago Books.
The French-American Foundation with the support of the Florence Gould Foundation, has awarded annual translation prizes for the best translation from French to English in fiction and nonfiction since 1986. The winning translator goes home with the $10,000 prize money.
The Translation Prize promotes French literature in the United States and provides translators and their craft with greater visibility among publishers and readers. The prize also seeks to increase the visibility of the publishers who bring these important French works of literature to the American market in translation of exceptional quality.
Unfortunately for us, there has been little involvement of Africans either as a translator eligible for the prize or as one to be translated. Until this year. Jordan Stump who translated Scholastique Mukasonga’s memoir Cockroaches from French to English makes the cut in the list of finalists. We are grateful to Mr Stamp as we can now access one of Rwanda’s most well-known writers in a language we can understand. If he wins the prize all the better for the profile of our sister.
The winning translation in fiction and nonfiction will be announced at a ceremony on June 8, 2017.
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