The Stevns Translation Prize, run by Peirene Press (UK) and Two Lines Press (US), is an annual award which offers opportunities for emerging translators to translate their first full-length work of fiction. Every year, a different language and book is chosen and entrants are invited to translate an extract. The winning entrant is offered a contract to translate the whole book, along with a mentorship from an experienced translator and up to six weeks at a retreat in the French Pyrenees.
Established in 2018 with the generous support of Martha Stevns, the prize is open to any translator over the age of 18 who has not yet published a full work of fiction in translation. In 2025, the prize entered a new phase, with Peirene and Two Lines become partners in running the prize: this opens up the award to more translators than ever before, while also increasing the prize package and ensuring publication in both the UK and North America.
Peirene Press is an award-winning independent publisher of new voices and great books from across the world. Founded in 2008, we’ve been a key player in the thriving UK independent publishing scene for over a decade, publishing books from 25 countries and 20 different languages. Traditionally a publisher of European novellas in translation, we now publish writing from all over the world and are expanding our list to publish literary fiction of all shapes and sizes. Our books are regularly listed for significant UK literary and translation prizes, including the International Booker Prize, and in 2023 we won the Dublin Literary Award with our book Marzahn, Mon Amour by Katja Oskamp, translated from German by Jo Heinrich.
Two Lines Press is the publishing imprint of the Center for the Art of Translation, and specializes in exceptional new writing and overlooked classics that have not previously been translated into English. In our short history, our books have been recognized by winning or being finalists for every major American book award that recognizes translated literature, including the National Book Award, the National Book Critics Circle Awards, the PEN Translation Prize, the Best Translated Book Award, the National Translation Prize, and the LA Times Book Prize. It is a special point of pride that Two Lines Press translators have won numerous prizes specifically for their work as well.