The National Book Award for Translated Literature (2025)

"In the third installment of Solvej Balle’s seven-part series, On the Calculation of Volume (Book III), translated from Danish by Sophia Hersi Smith and Jennifer Russell, Tara Selter learns that she is no longer alone in her endless November day. A profound meditation on loneliness, the power of connection, and the subtle and often untraceable ways in which we move through time and space, Balle asks readers to consider what we owe to one another and to the world we all share."

"Translated from the Spanish by Christina MacSweeney, The Queen of Swords paints the portrait of an influential writer, mother, socialite, and activist who—despite troves of photographs, journals, letters, and published works—might never be fully known to her loved ones, or her readers."

"We Are Green and Trembling by Gabriela Cabezón Cámara, translated by Robin Myers, is based on the real-life figure Antonio de Erauso, who was raised in a Basque convent and fled to the New World during the Spanish conquest. In this subversive historical fiction, Antonio recounts his explorations—as a former conquistador now caring for two young Indigenous girls—in letters to his prioress aunt that examine gender identity, religion, and the intrinsic violence of colonialism."

"In Anjet Daanje’s The Remembered Soldier, amnesiac veteran Noon Merckem—found without any identifying information after World War I—lives in a psychiatric asylum, visited by countless women searching for their missing husbands. A woman who claims she is his wife takes him home against medical advice and attempts to rebuild their lives, but they are both haunted by unreliable memories and the enduring traumas of war in this translation from the Dutch by David McKay."

"In Han Kang’s We Do Not Part, a recently injured Inseon asks her friend Kyungha to return to Jeju Island after the Korean War to care for her beloved pet bird. As Kyungha travels in the middle of a snowstorm to fulfill her friend’s wishes, she wonders if she will survive the storm, let alone the darkness waiting ahead. Translated from the Korean by e. yaewon and Paige Aniyah Morris, the novel unveils a hidden chapter of Korean history and, through the story of two friends, questions how legacies are preserved even—and especially—in the face of unimaginable tragedy."

"Upon his release after seven years in prison, translator Warif finds his native Cairo irrevocably changed—the city has been overtaken by expats, and foreigners are running government offices, making it nearly impossible for him to return to the job he loved and his old life in Mohamed Kheir’s Sleep Phase. In this disorienting tale, translated from the Arabic by Robin Moger, reality, memory, and fantasy intertwine as the novel examines life post-incarceration and interrogates free speech, colonialism, and globalization. "

"Hunchback follows Shaka, who was born with a congenital muscle disorder and relies on an electric wheelchair and a ventilator. Shaka is deeply immersed in her virtual life and finds herself pushing boundaries in a realm where physical constraints are immaterial—taking online courses, trolling on social media, publishing explicit fan fiction, and unapologetically seeking pleasure. Translated from the Japanese by Polly Barton, this novel invites readers to question the sexism and ableism that run rampant in society."

"In the late 1980s, French poet and psychologist Jon-Perse becomes captivated with computers, and wonders if this promising invention is capable of analyzing, translating, and creating literature. After becoming enamored with Persian poetry, Jon-Perse builds an artificial intelligence program in Hamid Ismailov’s We Computers: A Ghazal Novel, translated from the Uzbek by Shelley Fairweather-Vega. At once poetic and historical, We Computers raises questions about authorship, digital intelligence, and the very nature of art and human curiosity."

"In Vincenzo Latronico’s Perfection, Anna and Tom, a millennial expat couple living as digital nomads in Berlin, lead seemingly ideal lives in a beautifully decorated apartment, surrounded by other expats and an ever-growing slate of cultural activities. As their friends move back home, the couple remains, bored and perpetually chasing authenticity and a sense of meaning in this translation from the Italian by Sophie Hughes."

"In Sad Tiger, Neige Sinno chronicles years of sexual abuse at the hands of her stepfather, alongside a close reading of literary works that depict incest and pedophilia by Vladimir Nabokov, Virginia Woolf, Toni Morrison, and others. A blend of memoir and literary criticism translated from the French by Natasha Lehrer, Sad Tiger challenges society’s role in enabling and mischaracterizing abuse, and a guide for how to speak about the unthinkable."