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The Donald Keene Center of Japanese Culture has announced the winners of the 2000 Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission Translation Awards, for best classical literary translation and best translation of a modern work of literature.
The prize for the best classical literary translation was awarded to Roger K. Thomas for his translation of A Tale of False Fortunes (Namamiko Monogatari) by Enchi Fumiko, publisher, University of Hawai'i Press.
Thomas is an associate professor at Illinois State University, where he teaches Japanese language and culture. He received his Ph.D. in 1991 at Indiana University. His research and publications have focused primarily on poetry and poetics of the Edo period, but he has an active interest in modern fiction as well. Although Enchi Fumiko is a twentieth-century novelist, A Tale of False Fortunes is distinguished by its long passages in archaic Heian-period prose style. For this reason, Professor Thomas' translation was considered eligible for the award in the category of classical literature.
The prize for the best translation of a modern work of literature was awarded to Meredith McKinney for her translation of Ravine and Other Stories (Tani, etc.) by Yoshikichi Furui, publisher, Stone Bridge Press.
McKinney is a freelance translator and part-time lecturer in Japanese and Asian Literature at Australian National University. Her other published translations include The Flame Tree/Aogiri no Uta and Cooloola no Tasogare (both translations of the poetry of Judith Wright, with introduction, co-translated with Sakai Nobuo); and The Tale of Saigyo (translation with introduction and notes). She is currently completing a Doctorate in Asian Studies, the subject of which is The Tale of Saigyo, at Australian National University.
The award program is made possible by a grant from the Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission. The Commission, established in 1975, is an independent Federal agency dedicated to promoting mutual understanding and cooperation between the United States and Japan through the issuing of grant programs in areas such as Japanese studies in the United States, policy-oriented research, public affairs and education, the study of the United States, and the arts.
The Donald Keene Center of Japanese Culture at Columbia University annually awards two $2,500 Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission Prizes for the Translation of Japanese Literature. One prize is given for the best translation of a modern work of literature and the other for the best classical literary translation. Translators of any nationality are welcome to apply. To qualify, works must be book-length translations of Japanese literary works: novels, collections of short stories, literary essays, memoirs, drama, or poetry. Submissions will be judged on the literary merit of the translation and the accuracy with which it reflects the spirit of the Japanese original. Eligible works include unpublished manuscripts, works in press, or books published during the two years prior to the prize year. Applications are accepted from translators or their publishers. Previous winners are ineligible. For entry procedures, please contact the Donald Keene Center.
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