QWF Awards Call for Submissions: Translation

On November 10, 2025, QWF will award a prize of $3,000 to honour excellence in the category of translation. The 2025 prize will be given for a book translated from French to English. Next year, it will be given to a book translated from English to French. The prize will continue to alternate on an annual basis between the two sub-categories with a two-year eligibility span for each. Note that the two sub-categories have very different eligibility criteria

Publishers with eligible titles are asked to send (or arrange to have sent) 5 copies of the translated book, 3 copies of the original French work, and one PDF of each (French and English), as well as a completed submission form, and a $35 non-refundable submission fee for each title submitted by the appropriate deadline date.

It is the responsibility of the publisher (or author) who is submitting the books, whether electronic or hard copies, to ensure that the submission has been received.

A publisher submitting five or more titles is eligible for a $5 discount on the submission fee. For example, for five titles, the total fee would be $150 rather than $175.

Online Payment and Submission

Submission and payment of registration fees can be made electronically via Submittable.

Eligibility Criteria for French-to-English Translation Prize

1. Books must have been translated into English from works originally written in French. Works of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry are eligible, as well as translated plays published within the eligibility period. “Graphic novels” are eligible.
2. Books may contain both the original French and the English translation as long as the two texts independently meet all other relevant eligibility criteria.
3. The translator must be alive at the time of submission and must have a residence in Quebec. A person who has been living outside of Quebec continuously for more than the past five years will be considered ineligible. If there are two translators, one of them must satisfy all of the above requirements. Books with more than two translators are ineligible.
4. The prize will be awarded to the translator. Should a book with two translators win, the prize will be divided equally between them, or, if one of them is deceased, between the living translator and the deceased translator’s estate. Books with more than two translators are not eligible.
5. Books must have an ISBN, be commercially available to the public, and contain at least 48 pages of text, excluding illustrations, acknowledgments, etc. (Exception for “graphic novels”: the illustrations will be considered an integral part of the work, and therefore the work as a whole, not the textual component alone, must have at least 48 pages.)
6. Electronic and print-on-demand books are eligible provided that they become commercially available in their final form during the eligibility period, and that they meet all of the other criteria listed here.
7. There is no restriction on the residence of the original author/playwright or on the place of publication.
8. A book may be submitted to the QWF Awards only once.
9. Anthologies, reprints, and previously published translations are not eligible.
10. A translated work containing 15% of material that has previously been submitted to the QWF Translation prize is not eligible. Also excluded are children’s books, young adult literature, and non-literary books such as: textbooks or books designed primarily for the education market; tertiary material such as indexes, bibliographies, etc.; catalogues; professional reference books; travel guides; manuals or instruction or self-help books, including books that describe how-to techniques, skills, or games; cookbooks; calendars, agendas, and colouring books.

QWF reserves the right to make the final decision regarding the eligibility of any submission.

Submission Deadlines

• Books published between August 1, 2023 and September 30, 2025 may be submitted, provided that they were not submitted for the 2023 Awards.
• Books published between August 1, 2023 and May 15, 2025 must be submitted for the June 1, 2025 deadline, along with a completed submission form and a $35 non-refundable submission fee.
• Publishers or authors with titles coming out between May 16, 2025 and September 30, 2025 must send in a completed submission form and submission fee by the June 1, 2025 deadline. PDFs of completed books must be received by August 1, 2025. If the final published book is not available by August 1, 2025, we must also receive three advanced reader copies (ARCs) by August 1. The final published books must be received by September 30, 2025, or the title will be disqualified. ARCs do not need to be sent if the final published books are received by August 1, 2025.
• Books between August 1, 2025 and September 30, 2025 may instead be submitted for the 2027 awards.
• In the spring of 2026, there will be a call for submissions for books translated from English to French for the 2026 awards. (The 2024 English-to-French Translation Prize criteria are available on request.)

Additional Information

Books may be submitted by publishers or translators.

Submissions should be sent to:
Quebec Writers’ Federation Awards
1200 Atwater Avenue, Room 3, Westmount QC, H3Z 1X4

Note: The submitter is responsible for all shipping fees, including duties and taxes. If QWF must cover these fees to receive a package, we will invoice the submitter for the total amount. Failure to pay will result in the submission being disqualified.

PDFs should be uploaded to Submittable or sent to riley@qwf.org

For cheque payments, please make cheques payable to Quebec Writers’ Federation.

For further information: (514) 244-9088 or riley@qwf.org.

A paper copy of this call for submissions is available upon request.

Submissions to the 2025 QWF Literary Awards are now closed.