Alexa Frank Wins 2024 Sophie Castille Award for Comics Translation – English
The Lakes International Comic Art Festival, in partnership with Comica and VIP Brands, is pleased to announce that Alexa Frank has won the Sophie Castille Award for Comics in Translation – English for 2024. She received the award for her translation of "沖合の雷" ("Offshore Lightning") by Saito Nazuna from Japanese, which was published by Drawn & Quarterly.
The Sophie Castille Awards for Comics in Translation recognize the best translations of comics into local languages. English language publishers submitted a diverse range of works translated into English. The quality of the submissions made selecting a short list a difficult task.
This year's Sophie Castille Award – English prize was announced at this year's Lakes International Comic Art Festival in Bowness-on-Windermere by two of the three judges, Associate Professor in the Nottingham School of Art & Design, writer and artist Carol Adlam, and comic archivist, author, publisher and longstanding comics advocate Paul Gravett.
Alexa Frank is a translator, writer, and editor who lives in New York. In 2019, she was awarded a Fulbright fellowship, through which she researched and wrote at Waseda University in Tokyo. She is the translator of a wide range of Japanese manga, ranging from "alternative" or "literary" manga to cosy romance, fantasy, and cat manga. In addition to her translation of Offshore Lighting, her recent work includes River's Edge by Kyoko Okazaki (Vertical Comics, 2023), and A Story of Seven Lives by Shirakawa Gin (Seven Seas, 2023).
Although unable to be present, Frank thanked author Saito Nazuna, the team at Drawn & Quarterly, her "many Japanese teachers," and others in a comment read to the audience on her behalf.
"Juliette: Or, the Ghosts Return in the Spring" ("Juliette: Les fantômes reviennent au printemps") by Camille Jourdy, translated from French by Aleshia Jensen, published by Drawn & Quarterly was announced as runner-up. "Inside the Mind of Sherlock Holmes" ("Dans la Tête de Sherlock Holmes") by Cyril Lieron and Benoit Dahan, translated from French by Christopher Pope, published by Titan Comics and "The Cliff" ("La falaise") by Manon Debaye, translated from French by Montana Kane, published by Drawn & Quarterly were both "Highly Commended".
Launched last year, the Sophie Castille Award – English is an award for the best translation of a non-English graphic novel into English, a project initiated by VIP Brands Ltd., in partnership with Comica and the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. Michele Hutchison was announced as the winner of the inaugural Award, for her translation from Dutch of "The Philosopher, The Dog and the Wedding" by Barbara Stok, published in English by SelfMadeHero.
These awards have been created in honour of Sophie Castille, international rights director and V. P. of licensing for Mediatoon, cofounder and director of Europe Comics, who died unexpectedly in 2022. Since the late 1990s, Sophie built bridges for bandes dessinées and their authors, from France and around the world. She was a constant source of creativity, motivating publishers across the globe and encouraging them to exchange ideas and, as a result, she became a key figure in the growth of translation of comics and graphic novels around the world.
The goal is to have these awards in as many countries in the world as possible. Since the Award was launched in the UK last year, five other countries have joined: FICOMIC - Barcelona, Spain, where Regina López Muñoz received the award for Lizzy Stewart's "Alison" ("Errata Naturae"), Comicon, Naples - where Samata K. Milton Knowles received the award for Liv Stromquist's "Astrologia" ("Fandango"). Łódź International Festival of Comics and Games Poland will announce their first winner the 14th September 2024, while Slovenia's Tinta Festival Stripa will have two awards, one for a children's comic and one for an adult comic, and will announce their first winners at this year's festival (9th – 13th October). ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΗ ΑΚΑΔΗΜΙΑ ΚΟΜΙΚΣ (Greek Comics Academy) will announce their first award in May 2025.
Comics and graphic novels, considered in France as The Ninth Art, are a diverse and dynamic international medium that are growing in popularity every year and are loved the world over. Spreading these works internationally through translation is a way to bring the world together.
With comics in translation becoming an important influence in the publishing world, VIP Brands Ltd, Comica and LICAF have decided to honour Sophie's memory and continue her work to promote comics in translation around the world with these new Awards.
The UK jury again comprised of three judges: Associate Professor in the Nottingham School of Art & Design, writer and artist Carol Adlam; comic archivist, author, publisher and longstanding comics advocate Paul Gravett; and Gemma Sosnowsky, of Lancaster University.
"The Sophie Castille Awards are global awards to recognise the work of translators in the medium," explains Ivanka Hahnenberger, General Manager of VIP Brands and founder of the Sophie Castille Awards, "as well as to highlight the importance of the work of translation in the world of comics, recognising the skill and dedication of those who contribute significantly to the dissemination and understanding of comics around the world which was very important to Sophie Castille. We are very proud to have 6 countries onboard through six organisations that are very important to the world of local and international comics."
"We were delighted to again be hosting the awards ceremony for the Sophie Castille Award – English prize," says Festival Director Julie Tait. "Alongside the launch of the International Rights Market at the Festival, a project also supported by VIP Brands, this was another good reason for comic creators and publishers to come to Bowness."
