Cover pages of Spanish translated “A Banggak Novel Murder” (direct translation), left, and Russian translated "Almond" / Courtesy of LTI Korea

The Literature Translation Institute of Korea's (LTI Korea) Translation Award this year stands out for the diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds of its recipients.

The state-run institute held the 2024 Korean Literature Translation Awards ceremony on Wednesday, recognizing the achievements of 20 translators who have adapted Korean literature, film and webtoons into nine languages.

Co-translators Julio Cesar Abad Vidal and Lee Seung-min, who translated author Kim Tak-hwan's novel “A Banggak Novel Murder” (translated) into the Spanish version “LAS NOVELAS ASESINAS,” won the Grand Prize, along with Georgij Nowossjelow, who translated Sohn Won-pyung's novel “Almond” into Russian.

The Grand Prize evaluates Korean literature translations published abroad from 2021 to 2023 and is awarded based on the influence of the targeted language, reception of Korean literature and translation quality.

The Translation Grand Prize winners will receive 20 million won ($14,100) in prize money, a certificate from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and a plaque from the president of LTI Korea.

The jury praised Vidal and Lee's work for its excellence in guiding foreign readers through the lengthy novel, which was set in the 1392-1910 Joseon Kingdom era, achieved through in-depth and thorough research.

During the awards ceremony held on Wednesday, in Jung District, Seoul, Vidal emphasized the power of literature in understanding different cultures.

“I lived with this book for a year while translating. Above all, I translated it with extensive research to help readers navigate the vast information in this excellent novel,” Vidal said as he is accepting the award.

“Through this book we can reflect on the power of literature and on the ways those in power have attempted to manage and control information and culture ... I would like to emphasize the greatness of literature in South Korea, Spain, and Hispanic America, and the power of mutual understanding. I am truly grateful.”

The jury added that Nowossjelow's translation did an exceptional job of delivering the story to local readers while capturing the original text's style.

“The work has garnered enthusiastic local responses, combining the original work's outstanding literary quality with the translator's exceptional translation skills. They received positive feedback for successfully preserving the original work's writing style while maintaining readability,” the jury's report said.

Nowossjelow expressed that working on the translated work led him to look back on the necessity of adolescent novels.

“Since its publication, I was delighted and pleased that the book sold well and was successful. But, at the same time, I thought ‘How much do we really know about young adult literature? Are we truly understanding it correctly?,'” he said.

“I hope many people will take more interest in the young people around them through author Sohn Won-pyung's novels and also take time to reflect on young adult literature.”

This year, 84 translated works in three languages, Spanish, Russian and Arabic, went through two rounds of review to determine the highest award-winning works.

A scene from the film "Somewhere In Between" / Courtesy of Myung Films

The Newcomer Award recognized nine emerging talents from various language backgrounds, including Adelle Wee Xing Min for English, Luka Camille for French, Laura Maria Schroeder for German, Marisol Moreno Ochoa for Spanish, Amina Muradalieva for Russian, Huang Ju Yun for Chinese, Shimizu Honami for Japanese, Nguyen Phuong Dung for Vietnamese and Scatena Nastasia for Italian.

A total of 453 translations competed for the Newcomer Award, covering three novels: "Sodaeseongjeon" of unknown authorship and era for classical literature and Hwang Se-yeon's "Stanley Milgram's Law" and Kim Ji-yeon's "Companion Debt" (direct translation) for modern category.

“This year, the number of submissions for the Newcomer Award in the literary category increased by 25 percent compared to the previous year, with submissions continuously rising — 279 in 2022, 362 in 2023 and 453 in 2024 — which vividly demonstrates the growing interest in literary translation both domestically and internationally,” LTI Korea said in a press release.

Since 2020, the institute has expanded its Newcomer Awards to include categories for webtoon and film translations in addition to literature, acknowledging the growing demand for diverse forms of Korean content.

For the film category, organized in hand with Wildflower Film Awards, the selected films were Jeon Jee-hee's “Somewhere In Between” and Bae Chang-ho's "Road." In the webtoon category, co-hosted with Corea Manhwa, the works “Baekro's Kitchen” and "Crown Prince Enrollment" were chosen for translation into English, French, Spanish and Japanese.

The competition drew 158 submissions from 20 countries, with 63 entries for films and 85 for webtoons. After two rounds of evaluations, four winners were selected in each of the webtoon and film categories. Among the winners, Gonzalez Llorente Ana, who translated Jeon's "Somewhere In Between" into Spanish and Kim Yu-jin, who translated the webtoon "Baekro's Kitchen" into Japanese, were honored as minister's prize winners.

Meanwhile, 40 percent of the Translation Newcomer Award recipients, seven out of 17, were graduates or current students of the Translation Academy operated by LTI Korea.

“This shows that we could confirm that the professional translation education program plays a significant role in enhancing the capabilities of emerging translators,” the institute said.