The John Florio Prize for Italian translation is awarded by the Society of Authors, with the co-sponsorship of the Italian Cultural Institute and Arts Council England. Named after the Tudor Anglo-Italian writer-translator John Florio, the prize was established in 1963. As of 1980 it is awarded biannually for the best English translation of a full-length work of literary merit and general interest from Italian.

Winners and shortlistees

1960s

= winner

1963

Donata Origo, for The Deserter by Giuseppe Dessi

Eric Mosbacher, for Hekura by Fosco Maraini

1964

Angus Davidson, for More Roman Tales by Alberto Moravia

Professor E. R. Vincent, for A Diary of One of Garibaldi's Thousand by Giuseppe Cesare Abba H. S. Vere-Hodge, for The Odes of Dante

John Florio Prize

1965

W. H. Darwell, for Dongo: The Last Act by Pier Luigi Bellini delle Stelle & Urbano Lazzaro

John Florio Prize

1966

Stuart Woolf, for The Truce by Primo Levi

Jane Grigson and Father Kenelm Foster, for The Columns of Infamy of Crime and Punishments by Cesare Beccaria

John Florio Prize

1967

Isabel Quigly, for The Transfers by Silvano Ceccherini

1968

Muriel Grindrod, for The Popes in the 20th Century by Carlo Falconi

Raleigh Trevelyan, for The Outlaws by Luigi Meneghello

1969

Sacha Rabinovitch, for Francis Bacon: from Magic to Science by Paolo Rossi

William Weaver, for A Violent Life by Pier Pasolini

1970s

1970

Angus Davidson, for On Neoclassicism by Mario Praz

1971

William Weaver, for The Heron by Giorgio Bassani and Time and the Hunter by Italo Calvino

1972

Patrick Creagh, for Selected Poems by Giuseppe Ungaretti

1973

Bernard Wall, for Wrestling with Christ by Luigi Santucci

1974

Stephen M. Hellman, for Letters from Inside the Italian Communist Party by Maria Antonietta Macciocchi

1975

Cormac O’Cuilleanain, for Cagliostro by Roberto Gervaso

1976

Frances Frenaye, for The Forests of Norbio by Giuseppe Dessi

1977

Ruth Feldman & Brian Swann, for Shema, Collected Poems of Primo Levi

1979

Quintin Hoare, for Selections from Political Writings 1921-26 by Antonio Gramsci

1980s

1980

Julian Mitchell, for Henry IV by Pirandello

1982

Christopher Holme, for Ebla: An Empire Rediscovered by Paolo Matthiae

1984

Bruce Penman, for China (The moments of civilisation) by Gildo Fossati

1986

Avril Bardoni, for The Wine Dark Sea by Leonardo Sciascia

1988

J. G. Nichols, for The Colloquies by Guido Gozzano

1990s

1990

Patrick Creagh, for Danube by Claudio Magris

Patrick Creagh, for Blind Argus by Gesualdo Bufalino

1992

William Weaver, for The Dust Roads of Monferrato by Rosetta Loy

Tim Parks, for Sweet Days of Discipline by Fleur Jaeggy

1994

Tim Parks, for The Road to San Giovanni by Italo Calvino

1996

Emma Rose, for His Mother's House by Marta Morazzoni

1998

Joseph Farrell, for Take-Off by Daniele del Giudice

2000s

2000

Martin McLaughlin, for Why Read the Classics? by Italo Calvino

2002

Stephen Sartarelli, for Prince of the Clouds by Gianni Riotta

Alastair McEwen, for Senior Service by Carlo Feltrinelli

2004

Howard Curtis, for Coming Back by Edoardo Albinati

2006

Carol O’Sullivan and Martin Thom, for Kuraj by Silvia Di Natale

Runner-up: Aubrey Botsford, for The Ballad of the Low Lifes by Enrico Remmert

2008

Peter Robinson, for The Greener Meadow by Luciano Erba

Runner-up: Alastair McEwen, for Turning Back the Clock by Umberto Eco

2010s

2010

Jamie McKendrick, for The Embrace: Selected Poems by Valerio Magrelli

Runner-up: Abigail Asher, for The Natural Order of Things by Andrea Canobbio

2012

Anne Milano Appel, for Scent of a Woman by Giovanni Arpino

Commended: Howard Curtis, for In the Sea There are Crocodiles by Fabio Geda

Commended: Shaun Whiteside, for Stabat Mater by Tiziano Scarpa

2014

Patrick Creagh, for Memory of the Abyss by Marcello Fois

Commended: Cristina Viti, for A Life Apart by Mariapia Veladiano

2016

Jamie McKendrick, for Archipelago by Antonella Anedda

Commended: Richard Dixon, for Numero Zero by Umberto Eco

2018

Winner: Gini Alhadeff for her translation of I Am the Brother of XX by Fleur Jaeggy (And Other Stories)