John Florio Prize

The John Florio Prize for Italian translation is awarded by the Society of Authors, with the co-sponsorship of the Italian Cultural Institute and Arts Council England. Named after the Tudor Anglo-Italian writer-translator John Florio, the prize was established in 1963. As of 1980 it is awarded biannually for the best English translation of a full-length work of literary merit and general interest from Italian.

Winners and shortlistees

1960s

= winner

1963

• Donata Origo, for The Deserter by Giuseppe Dessi
• Eric Mosbacher, for Hekura by Fosco Maraini

1964

• Angus Davidson, for More Roman Tales by Alberto Moravia
• Professor E. R. Vincent, for A Diary of One of Garibaldi's Thousand by Giuseppe Cesare Abba
• H. S. Vere-Hodge, for The Odes of Dante

1965

• W. H. Darwell, for Dongo: The Last Act by Pier Luigi Bellini delle Stelle & Urbano Lazzaro

1966

• Stuart Woolf, for The Truce by Primo Levi
• Jane Grigson and Father Kenelm Foster, for The Columns of Infamy of Crime and Punishments by Cesare Beccaria

1967

• Isabel Quigly, for The Transfers by Silvano Ceccherini

1968

• Muriel Grindrod, for The Popes in the 20th Century by Carlo Falconi
• Raleigh Trevelyan, for The Outlaws by Luigi Meneghello

1969

• Sacha Rabinovitch, for Francis Bacon: from Magic to Science by Paolo Rossi
• William Weaver, for A Violent Life by Pier Pasolini

1970s

1970

• Angus Davidson, for On Neoclassicism by Mario Praz

1971

• William Weaver, for The Heron by Giorgio Bassani and Time and the Hunter by Italo Calvino

1972

• Patrick Creagh, for Selected Poems by Giuseppe Ungaretti

1973

• Bernard Wall, for Wrestling with Christ by Luigi Santucci

1974

• Stephen M. Hellman, for Letters from Inside the Italian Communist Party by Maria Antonietta Macciocchi

1975

• Cormac O’Cuilleanain, for Cagliostro by Roberto Gervaso

1976

• Frances Frenaye, for The Forests of Norbio by Giuseppe Dessi

1977

• Ruth Feldman & Brian Swann, for Shema, Collected Poems of Primo Levi

1979

• Quintin Hoare, for Selections from Political Writings 1921-26 by Antonio Gramsci

1980s

1980

• Julian Mitchell, for Henry IV by Pirandello

1982

• Christopher Holme, for Ebla: An Empire Rediscovered by Paolo Matthiae

1984

• Bruce Penman, for China (The moments of civilisation) by Gildo Fossati

1986

• Avril Bardoni, for The Wine Dark Sea by Leonardo Sciascia

1988

• J. G. Nichols, for The Colloquies by Guido Gozzano

1990s

1990

• Patrick Creagh, for Danube by Claudio Magris
• Patrick Creagh, for Blind Argus by Gesualdo Bufalino

1992

• William Weaver, for The Dust Roads of Monferrato by Rosetta Loy
• Tim Parks, for Sweet Days of Discipline by Fleur Jaeggy

1994

• Tim Parks, for The Road to San Giovanni by Italo Calvino

1996

• Emma Rose, for His Mother's House by Marta Morazzoni

1998

• Joseph Farrell, for Take-Off by Daniele del Giudice

2000s

2000

• Martin McLaughlin, for Why Read the Classics? by Italo Calvino

2002

• Stephen Sartarelli, for Prince of the Clouds by Gianni Riotta
• Alastair McEwen, for Senior Service by Carlo Feltrinelli

2004

• Howard Curtis, for Coming Back by Edoardo Albinati

2006

• Carol O’Sullivan and Martin Thom, for Kuraj by Silvia Di Natale

Runner-up: Aubrey Botsford, for The Ballad of the Low Lifes by Enrico Remmert

2008

• Peter Robinson, for The Greener Meadow by Luciano Erba

Runner-up: Alastair McEwen, for Turning Back the Clock by Umberto Eco

2010s

2010

• Jamie McKendrick, for The Embrace: Selected Poems by Valerio Magrelli

Runner-up: Abigail Asher, for The Natural Order of Things by Andrea Canobbio

2012

• Anne Milano Appel, for Scent of a Woman by Giovanni Arpino

Commended: Howard Curtis, for In the Sea There are Crocodiles by Fabio Geda

Commended: Shaun Whiteside, for Stabat Mater by Tiziano Scarpa

2014

• Patrick Creagh, for Memory of the Abyss by Marcello Fois

Commended: Cristina Viti, for A Life Apart by Mariapia Veladiano

2016

• Jamie McKendrick, for Archipelago by Antonella Anedda

Commended: Richard Dixon, for Numero Zero by Umberto Eco

2018

• Winner: Gini Alhadeff for her translation of I Am the Brother of XX by Fleur Jaeggy (And Other Stories)

Runner-up: Cristina Viti for her translation of Stigmata by Gëzim Hajdari (Shearsman Books)

Shortlistees:

• Jamie McKendrick for his translation of Within the Walls by Giorgio Bassani (Penguin Classics)
• Mario Petrucci for his translation of Xenia by Eugenio Montale (Arc Publications)
• Cristina Viti for her translation of The World Saved by Kids by Elsa Morante (Seagull Books)

2020s

2020

• Winner: Jhumpa Lahiri for her translation of Trick by Domenico Starnone (Europa Editions)

Runner-up: Jenny McPhee for her translation of The Kremlin Ball by Curzio Malaparte (New York Review Books)

Shortlistees:

• Anne Milano Appel for a translation of A Devil Comes to Town by Paolo Maurensig (World Editions)
• Ekin Oklap for a translation of Flowers Over the Inferno by Ilaria Tuti (Weidenfeld & Nicolson)
• Taije Silverman and Marina Della Putta Johnson for a translation of Selected Poems of Giovanni Pascoli by Giovanni Pascoli (Princeton University Press)
• Howard Curtis for a translation of Soul of the Border by Matteo Righetto (Pushkin Press)

2022

• Winner: Nicholas Benson and Elena Coda for a translation of My Karst and My City by Scipio Slataper (University of Toronto Press)

Runner-up: J Ockenden for a translation of Snow, Dog, Foot by Claudio Morandini (Peirene Press)

Runner-up: Tim Parks for a translation of The House on The Hill and The Moon and the Bonfires by Cesare Pavese (Penguin)

Shortlistees:

• Elena Pala for a translation of The Hummingbird by Sandro Veronesi (Weidenfeld & Nicolson)
• Stash Luczkwi for a translation of Without Ever Reaching the Summit by Paolo Cognetti (Harvill Secker)
• Stephen Twilley for a translation of Diary of a Foreigner in Paris by Curzio Malaparte (New York Review Books)