All things translation—March at CAT

In case you haven’t heard, we’re excited to share that Astrid Roemer’s On a Woman’s Madness(opens in a new tab), in Lucy Scott’s sensuous translation, has been longlisted for the International Booker Prize(opens in a new tab). 

“A modern classic set in Suriname and lyrically rendered into English for the first time, On a Woman’s Madness is a testament to both the resilience of queer lives that exist everywhere and everytime and the alchemy of literary translation where a perfect book meets its perfect translator.’’—International Booker Prize Judges

Each year the International Booker Prize chooses “the finest single work of fiction from around the world which has been translated into English and published in the UK and/or Ireland.’’ This year’s 13 longlisted books were selected from among 154 titles submitted, which is a record for the prize. Astrid Roemer is one of 13 authors making her International Booker Prize debut, for her first English-language publication.

On a Woman’s Madness was published by Two Lines Press in 2023 and was a finalist for the National Book Award for Translated Literature. It was published in the UK in 2024 by Tilted Axis Press.

We are honored to see Astrid Roemer and Lucy Scott receive this recognition from the Booker Prize committee. The shortlist will be announced April 8. 

Two Lines Press’s beloved Calico Series is back with a collection of Japanese Fiction: Unusual Fragments(opens in a new tab), coming to you March 11. A young storm-chaser welcomes a jaded woman into the eye of a storm. The last man of a peculiar family, implausibly tiny in stature, attends a Mozart opera with his dedicated wife. A medical student coolly observes an adolescent boy as he contorts his body into violent positions. With tension and wit, the writers of Unusual Fragments, among them Nobuko Takagi, Yoshida Tomoko, and Inagaki Taruho, trace their taboo, feminist, bizarre themes to complicate what we think of as 20th-century Japanese literature. What’s hiding just beneath the fiction of our perfectly ordered, happy lives? Something unusual. Something far more interesting.

Founded in 2018 with the generous backing of Martha Stevns, the Stevns Translation Prize is open to translators who have not yet published a full-length literary translation. Two Lines Press is proud to partner with Peirene Press in the UK to create new opportunities for emerging literary translators and support the international exchange of innovative and exciting new writing. 

The winner will receive a $4500 / £3700 contract to translate Avant que j’oublie by Anne Pauly, which will be published by both Two Lines Press in the US and Peirene Press in the UK. The prize package also includes a month-long translation retreat in the French Pyrenees, a six-month mentorship with an established literary translator, and up to $1000 in travel expenses.

Entrants are asked to submit a translation of a selected sample of Avant que j’oublie. Application deadline is April 15.

In addition to Two Lines Press tabling at the AWP Conference Bookfair March 26–29, we are sponsoring a panel at AWP25 in Los Angeles! Come say hello and browse the latest Two Lines Press books at Booth 623, and be sure to check out our panel on translated literature in creative writing programs.

But It Wasn’t Written in English: Translated Literature in the CW Classroom(opens in a new tab)
Saturday, Mar 29, 2025 12:10 PM – 1:25 PM PDT
Location: Room 501ABC, Level Two, Los Angeles Convention Center

What happens when creative writing syllabi include texts not originally written in English? What new dimensions does translated literature add to conversations about writing process, craft, language, and revision? This panel’s writer-teachers discuss the meaningful insights that emerge when questions about translation are invited to the college creative writing classroom. They address concerns about teaching non-English texts, share advice, and reflect on what translation brings to their writing and teaching.

Featuring Bonnie Chau, Jennifer Tseng, May-lee Chai, and C Dylan Bassett