Congratulations to Omar Khalifah and Barbara Romaine! Sand-Catcher has been named the Winner for the 2025 National Translation Award in Prose!
"Every now and then a novel cuts through the noise and calls out the truth of the present moment. Omar Khalifah’s Sand-Catcher is that novel, and Barbara Romaine is the translator who brings his wistful story the attention it deserves. With brisk humour and a nuanced view onto the lives of the Palestinian diaspora, the novel follows the travails of four Amman-based journalists tasked with persuading an elderly survivor of the Nakba to share his story. When he refuses, a fracas ensues; and the unraveling of their mission–and indeed of the very possibility of truth-telling–serves as an unerringly timely reminder of all the stories that are not being told today." —Judges' Citation
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Congratulations to Omar Khalifah and Barbara Romaine on being the Winner for the 2025 National Translation Award in Prose, administered by the American Literary Translators Association!
The National Translation Award is awarded annually in poetry and in prose to literary translators who have made an outstanding contribution to literature in English by masterfully recreating the artistic force of a book of consummate quality. Established in 1998, the NTA is the only prize for a work of literary translation into English to include a full evaluation of the source language text.
2025 marks the twenty-seventh year for the NTA, and the eleventh year to award separate prizes in poetry and prose. The judges for the 2025 NTA in Prose are George Henson, Hoyoung Moon, Ilze Duarte, Manjushree Thapa, and Peter Constantine.
The winning translators will receive a $4,000 cash prize each. The awards will be announced at ALTA’s annual awards ceremony, which in 2025 will be held in person at ALTA’s 48th annual conference, ALTA48: Visions and Versions, on Thursday, November 6 in Tucson, AZ.
