Laura Pignatti receives Dutch Foundation for Literature’s Translation Prize 2024
17 October 2024
The 2024 Dutch Foundation for Literature’s Translation Prize goes to Laura Pignatti, the Italian translator of authors including Anjet Daanje, Edward van de Vendel and Hella Haasse. Laura Pignatti’s role as translator and trailblazer for Dutch literature is impossible to overstate. She moves effortlessly between contemporary Dutch novels and children’s books, but is also able to recreate classic works with skill and style. The Dutch Foundation for Literature’s Translation Prize is awarded to literary translators who have distinguished themselves both by the high quality of their oeuvre and by their efforts as ambassadors for literary translation in general. The winner receives the sum of €15,000. The prize will be presented at SPUI25 in Amsterdam on Monday 9 December.
Laura Pignatti (b. 1963) studied literary translation before beginning a fulltime career as a translator of Dutch and English books into Italian. She has since translated more than 160 works from the Dutch, an oeuvre as diverse as it is extensive. For the past thirty-five years Pignatti has been one of the driving forces behind the many translations of Dutch literature that have been published in Italy.
She has translated classics by Louis Couperus and Marcellus Emants, by Hella Haase, W.F. Hermans, Cees Nooteboom and Harry Mulisch, but also contemporary novels by Anjet Daanje, Herman Koch and Stefan Hertmans, as well as children’s and young adult titles by authors including Hans Hagen, Ted van Lieshout, Bart Moeyaert and Edward van de Vendel. She has several translations of graphic novels to her name too, including works by Brecht Evens, Aimée de Jongh and Barbara Stok.
Aside from her own translations, Laura Pignatti has managed for years to bring Dutch literature more generally to the attention of Italian publishers, making her a true ambassador. She regularly writes reader’s reports for important publishers such as Neri Pozza, Rizzoli, Coconino and Iperborea. Pignatti also champions the translating profession, sharing her knowledge by mentoring translators who are just starting out and by regularly moderating translation workshops.
A few books translated by Laura Pignatti. Peter Buwalda - Un sole caldo e assassino (Bonita Avenue), Edward van de Vendel - Misha (Misjka), Anjet Daanje - Il canto della cicogna e del dromedari (Het lied van ooievaar en dromedaris) and Hella Haasse, Le vie dell'immaginnazione (De wegen der verbeelding).
About the Dutch Foundation for Literature’s Translation Prize
The Dutch Foundation for Literature’s Translation Prize is a lifetime achievement award for translators who have distinguished themselves both by the outstanding quality of their translation work and by their efforts as ambassadors for a specific language area or genre, and/or for literary translation in general. It is intended to turn the spotlight on the important but often underappreciated contribution that translators make as creative artists and as intermediaries between languages, literatures and cultures. In the odd years the prize goes to a translator into Dutch, in the even years to a translator from Dutch. The winner receives the sum of €15,000. Last year the prize was awarded to Barbara de Lange for her translations from English. 2024 is the fifteenth year in which the prize has been awarded.
On Monday 9 December, Laura Pignatti will receive the award at SPUI25 in Amsterdam. More information about the award ceremony will follow as soon as possible.