https://www.republicofconsciousnessprize-usa.com
Melvill by Rodrigo Fresán, translated from the Spanish by Will Vanderhyden (Open Letter) has won the third annual Republic of Consciousness Prize, U.S. and Canada, designed to celebrate "the commitment of independent presses to fiction of exceptional literary merit."
One of the judges, Dorian Stuber, said, "Opening Rodrigo Fresán's Melvill, readers will know from the array of footnotes on the first few pages that this book is for the head. But the further they get into its gorgeous prose, so dizzyingly translated by Will Vanderhyden, the more they will see that it's also for the heart. Fresán imagines the future Whaler and scribbler as a boy, loitering at the foot of his father's sickbed, listening to the man tell fevered stories of his life, stories the boy will later mine for his works. How satisfying that the tale of how one of the great American writers came to be, should be told by an Argentinian who has lived for decades in Spain. For Melville, like the United States itself, belongs to everyone. And now, thanks to Open Letter, so does Melvill."
A total of $35,000 will be distributed to the 10 presses, authors, and translators named as finalists for the prize. Each press included in the longlist will receive $2,000. The five shortlisted books will be awarded an additional $3,000 each, split equally between the publisher and author, or publisher, author, and translator, where applicable.