About the Award
The Society for Classical Studies is pleased to announce the new annual Award for Outstanding Literary Translation. The award will honor up to two books each year by SCS members published within the past three calendar years. The translated work shall be a primary text in Ancient Greek or Latin.
Eligibility
Translation Eligibility Requirements
- Eligible translations will be from Ancient Greek or Latin into English.
- The original work does not need to have been an ancient text. (For example, neo-Latin and Byzantine Greek texts are eligible.)
- In exceptional cases, commentaries or monographs that offer original literary translations of complete works as a major component will be considered eligible.
Publisher Eligibility Requirements
- Nominations should be for book-length translations published by trade or university presses; self-published books will not be considered.
- The work must have been published within the last three calendar years (2022, 2023, 2024).
Author Eligibility Requirements
- The author must be a current member of SCS and must have been a member for at least two consecutive years.
- Prior recipients are ineligible for three years following their award.
Recipients will be chosen by three judges serving staggered terms. These judges, who do not have to be SCS members, are selected by the Chair of the SCS Committee on Translations of Classical Authors in consultation with the Committee. In 2025, these judges will be Sarah Ruden, Deborah Roberts, and Adrienne K. Ho Rose.
Nomination Instructions
Letters of nomination may be submitted by anyone, including the author, publisher, or a third party, by March 22, 2025.
To apply, please submit a nomination through our award, fellowship, and grant application system: apply.classicalstudies.org. The form will open for submissions two to three months before the deadline.
Nominators should arrange for the publisher to send three copies of the book to the judges by April 5, 2025. Physical copies are preferred, unless it is financially prohibitive for the press or unless a judge prefers an electronic copy. Email and mailing addresses for the judges will be shared with the nominator after the SCS office has verified the eligibility of the author and the work.
Decisions will be announced in Fall 2025.