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
1965
W. H. Darwell, for Dongo: The Last Act by Pier Luigi Bellini delle Stelle & Urbano Lazzaro
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
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)