The Freudenheim Translation Prize

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he Freudenheim Translation Prize celebrates excellence in translated fiction and non-fiction, highlighting the power of Jewish literature to engage diverse audiences.

Sponsored by Tom and Leslie Freudenheim, in honour of Adam Freudenheim.

2026 Award

Now open for applications

We are proud to launch the inaugural Freudenheim Translation Prize, the most ambitious award in the Jewish Literary Foundation’s history. This international prize celebrates excellence in translating fiction and non-fiction into English, highlighting the power of Jewish literature to engage international and diverse audiences. The inaugural prize will consider books published in English between June 2023 and June 2025. 

The longlist will be announced in November 2025 and the shortlist in January 2026. Presented in partnership with the Times Literary Supplement, the prize also includes an invitation to speak at Jewish Book Week 2026 in a special event on translation.

Open to translators worldwide, the prize recognises outstanding books that explore Jewish themes, history, identity or culture – or are of significant interest to Jewish and wider audiences. Sponsored by Tom and Leslie Freudenheim in honour of Adam Freudenheim, the prize offers a £3,000 award to the winning translator, introducing international Jewish writing to new readers.

The judging panel is chaired by journalist, critic, and former Independent literary editor Boyd Tonkin, who is joined by journalist and broadcaster Hephzibah Anderson and author, broadcaster, and educator Rabbi Shoshana Boyd Gelfand.

As Boyd Tonkin writes:

“Translations have long afterlives across space and time. They can live on in the minds and mouths of people who – like the millions of English-speakers who unwittingly quote the naturalised Hebrew and Greek of the 1611 Bible every day – never give a thought to the art. Or craft. Or mystery. However we categorise what literary translators do, they deserve more than anonymity and invisibility. The Freudenheim Translation Prize will enrich the unfolding dialogue between peoples, cultures, ages and subjects that translation has always, crucially, helped to convene.”

Books published in English between June 2023 and June 2025, originally written in any language other than English, are eligible. Translators, publishers, or authors may submit.

To submit a book for consideration, please ensure you have read the full terms and conditions, and then download and complete the submission form.

For queries related to the prize, please contact info@jewishliteraryfoundation.co.uk