This year's Best Translated Book Award winners are The Invented Part by Rodrigo Fresán, translated from the Spanish by Will Vanderhyden (Open Letter Books) for fiction and Before Lyricism by Eleni Vakalo, translated from the Greek by Karen Emmerich (Ugly Duckling Presse) for poetry. Each author and translator will receive a $5,000 prize.
This is the second year in a row that a title published by Open Letter Books won for fiction. The Invented Part is the second of Rodrigo Fresán's books to appear in English, and the first of a five-book deal with Open Letter. BTBA jury member Caitlin Baker described it as "a generous, heady, big hearted read. Bouncing from referencing F. Scott Fitzgerald's Tender Is the Night, to Bob Dylan, Pink Floyd and the Kinks. The Invented Part dazzles."
Before Lyricism is also the second win for Ugly Duckling Presse, and the first time a Greek book has won. The BTBA jury hailed Before Lyricism as "a captivating collection of poetry as well as an awe-inspiring feat of translation."
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Horn Book editor-in-chief Roger Sutton and Boston Globe Foundation president Emily Procknal announced the winners of the 2018 Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, which recognizes excellence in children's and YA titles that are published in the U.S. but may be written or illustrated by citizens of any country. The awards will be presented October 5 during a ceremony at Simmons College:
Nonfiction
Winner: Photographic: The Life of Graciela Iturbide by Isabel Quintero, illustrated by Zeke Peña (Getty)
Honor books: A Hundred Billion Trillion Stars by Seth Fishman, illustrated by Isabel Greenberg (Greenwillow) and The 57 Bus by Dashka Slater (FSG)
Fiction
Winner: The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo (HarperTeen)
Honor books: The Parker Inheritance by Varian Johnson (Levine/Scholastic) and The First Rule of Punk by Celia C. Pérez (Viking)
Picture books
Winner: They Say Blue by Jillian Tamaki (Abrams)
Honor books: When's My Birthday? by Julie Fogliano, illustrated by Christian Robinson (Porter/Roaring Brook) and A Different Pond by Bao Phi, illustrated by Thi Bui (Capstone)