FIT has an international translation award designed to promote the translation of literary works written in languages of limited diffusion. The objectives of the award are to improve the quality of such literary translations and to draw attention to the role of translators in bringing the peoples of the world closer together in terms of culture.
2014 winner
Kari Kemény
nominated by the Norwegian Association of Literary Translators (NO)
© Jørgen Christian Wind Nielsen, Wind Kommunikation, Denmark
Winners of the Karel Čapek Medal
| 2014 | Kari Kemény | Norway |
| 2011 | Daniel Kunene | South Africa |
| 2008 | Juhani Salokannel | Finland |
| 2005 | Dr. Christa Rothmeir | Austria |
| 2002 | Turid Farbregd | Norway |
| 1999 | Helena Kadecková | Czech Republic |
| 1996 | Jerzy Lítwiniuk | Poland |
RULES
(Approved by the FIT Council at its meeting in Geneva in April 1998)
Article 1
The Fédération international des traducteurs has an international translation award designed to promote the translation of literary works written in languages of limited diffusion. The objectives of the award are to improve the quality of such literary translations and to draw attention to the role of translators in bringing the peoples of the world closer together in terms of culture.
Article 2
Karel Čapek was a famous Czech author of fiction and non-fiction literature. The KAREL ČAPEK MEDAL was presented for the first time at the Xllth FIT Congress in 1990, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Karel Čapek's birth, which is observed as a UNESCO anniversary. The medal may be awarded either for the single translation of outstanding quality or for the entire body of work of a literary translator of books written in languages of limited diffusion.
Article 3
This medal may be awarded at FIT World Congresses, that is, normally once every three years, pursuant to the decision of an international jury as provided in Article 5.
Article 4
Candidates must be nominated by a FIT member and must be members in good standing of such an organization. No FIT member may nominate more than one candidate for this prize each time it is announced.
Article 5
The Medal shall be awarded on the basis of a decision made by an international jury consisting of at least five members appointed by the FIT Executive Committee. Jury members may be re-appointed. The jury shall convene not less than three months prior to the opening of the Congress during which the prize is to be awarded. The jury shall elect a chairperson and a rapporteur from among its members. The jury must be selected in such a way as to ensure that the jury always includes experts in the language areas covered by the nominations.
Article 6
The award shall be an honorary prize consisting of a Certificate of Merit and a Medal bearing a likeness of Karel Čapek (provided by the Czech translators' association).
Article 7
Nominations shall be accompanied by the following information:
- A general report on the nominee's merits and/or work, including in particular his or her titles, any awards which he or she may have received and the articles written about his or her work.
- A detailed analysis of the merits of the translation under consideration or of the quality of all the works of the candidate.
Nominations shall be submitted in French or in English. The file shall not exceed 10 pages.
Article 8
Nominations shall be submitted in six copies, and be in the hands of FIT'S Secretary General no later than six months prior to the opening of the Congress at which the prize will be awarded.
Article 9
Anything not provided for in these rules may be decided by the FIT Committee on Translation Prizes.
