from my email: Deep Vellum

Dear readers, We are three months away from the release of the third edition of our celebrated anthology, Best Literary Translations. We are honored to showcase literary translators’ work to make possible literary encounters from around the world for the English-language reader.

Preorder Guest edited by National Book Award winner Arthur Sze, Best Literary Translations 2026 features poetry and prose written in languages both widely spoken and critically endangered, brought into English by some of the most talented translators working today. Compiled from over 450 submissions written in 62 original languages, the third edition of this groundbreaking annual anthology features a chorus of voices from across the globe. Collecting translated works from French to Xitsonga, Farsi to Korean, Ukrainian to Guaraní, Best Literary Translations 2026 is a vibrant collection of poetry, essays, and short fiction, and hybrid work, each accompanied by a translator’s note reflecting on the discovery, translation, and resonance of the original work. For enthusiasts of literature in translation and newcomers to global literary traditions alike, Best Literary Translations offers a glimpse into essential writing from many corners of the world.

The Best Literary Translations (BLT) has arisen out of a tangible public demand for inclusive and transparent cultural conversations. The past few years have brought an urgent emphasis on listening to underheard voices from cultures around the world, acknowledging who speaks and how, and naming the people who make our global literary conversations possible. BLT offers some of the best of global literature in English-language translation, presenting an opportunity to expand the audience for world literature. It will deepen public knowledge and understanding of the translation process and give translators working today the recognition they deserve. This anthology will help redefine the canon of world literatures.

Looking forward to Best Literary Translations 2027

We're thrilled to announce that Best Literary Translations 2027 will be guest edited by Emily Wilson. There are still a few more days to submit to this edition of BLT! Submissions close January 9th, 2026. For more details, please refer to the information below or visit our website. For this anthology, the editors seek works of poetry, short fiction, literary essays, and hybrid-genre texts, translated into English from any language(s) and published online or in print in a US or US-affiliated literary journal or magazine during the calendar year 2025. Journals and magazines are invited to nominate for consideration up to seven pieces that they have published in this time frame while individual translators may nominate up to two of their own pieces published in the same period. Unpublished or self-published translations, translations that have appeared only in book form, and translations published outside the US or US-affiliated publications are ineligible. (Please see FAQ #11, linked below.) We have a broad definition of “translation” and admire both “traditional” translations (those rendered so seamlessly into English that they seem to have been first written in it) but also more conceptual or experimental approaches to translation, especially where they reveal the often fraught and complex relationships between languages and cultures. We especially welcome translations into English from underrepresented languages, literature by women, LGBTQIA+, and BIPOC translators, as well as from literatures that represent languages, cultures, and communities that have been minoritized. Nominations can be made through Submittable here until January 9, 2026. Our Submittable page will also ask you to complete a questionnaire (Google Form) that is a required part of your submission. (Thanks for your patience with this two-part process.) Both are important to completing your application. Thank you for your interest in and support for Best Literary Translations 2027. Submit Here

Best Literary Translations 2025

Order Now Guest edited by Pulitzer Prize winner Cristina Rivera Garza, Best Literary Translations 2025 features poetry and prose originally written in nineteen languages, brought into English by some of the most talented translators working today. Contemporary and historical works stand side by side in the second edition of the annual anthology, including poems, short stories, essays, and hybrid works drawn from submissions spanning dozens of countries and languages. Featuring work from the top literary journals with U.S.-based editors, ranging from ANMLY to World Literature Today, BLT 2025 honors excellent literature from a diverse range of authors and translators.

Best Literary Translations 2024

Order Now Best Literary Translations 2024 features both contemporary and historical poetry and prose originally written in nineteen languages—including some not commonly seen in U.S. translations, such as Burmese, Kurdish, Tigrinya, and Wayuu—brought into English by thirty-eight of the most talented translators working today. These poems, short stories, essays, and hybrid pieces were drawn from nominated works published in U.S. literary journals during 2023 that spanned more than eighty countries and nearly sixty languages. The four series coeditors, Noh Anothai, Wendy Call, Öykü Tekten, and Kọ́lá Túbọ̀sún, selected the finalists from over five hundred nominations.