Patrick D. Hanan Book Prize

The Hanan Prize for Translation (China and Inner Asia) was established in 2015 and is given biennially to an outstanding English translation of a significant work in any genre originally written in Chinese or an Inner Asian Language, from any time period. 

Prize

$1,000 award for the translator.

Guidelines for Submission

• Only books bearing a copyright date of 2021 or 2022 will be eligible for the 2024 awards.
• Publishers must complete the book nomination form.
• Each press may nominate a maximum of six books for the Hanan Prize.
• Only publishers may nominate books.
• Upon receipt of a completed nomination form, publishers will be provided with addresses for prize committee members. A copy of each entry, clearly labeled “Patrick D. Hanan Book Prize,” must be sent to each member of the appropriate committee.

There is no Hanan Prize competition for 2023. Information about nominating books for the 2024 awards will be posted in spring 2023.

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2022 Awards

Winner and Citation

Wai-yee Li, editor & translator, Plum Shadows and Plank Bridge: Two Memoirs about Courtesans (Columbia University Press, 2020)

Li’s language is highly readable throughout, across a range of modes and styles. The footnotes are consistently helpful and provide rich information on literati communities of the time, including their lifestyles, political activism, social habits, and much more. While these are texts by written men, they do make an attempt to capture the female experience, and Li is sensitive to seemingly every nuance of the originals, demonstrating her mastery over issues of genre and gender. This translation represents the best of what an academic translation can do.

Honorable Mention

Past Awards