Osama was out last year in several European countries, and subsequently I found out that:
- In Germany, my translator, Juliane Gräbener-Müller, is nominated for the Kurd Lasswitz Prize, in the Best Translation category, for her translation of Osama (pub: Rogner & Bernhard).
- In France, my cover artist, Pedro Marques, is nominated for the Prix Imaginales, for his cover of Osama (pub: Panini/Eclipse).
This is fantastic news – Pedro’s cover was the last thing I expected for Osama, but as soon as I first saw it I knew it was absolutely right – I love that 1950s Penguin paperback vibe it has, that cool modernism. It ended up being used on the mass market paperback, the French, and the German editions of the book and was previously nominated for a BSFA Award.
As for Juliane, I can’t judge the German translation myself, but it’s been an utter pleasure working with her (and indeed, with everyone at Rogner & Bernhard, who have been amazing throughout), and I’m delighted to see her work recognised – in fact, I wish translators were recognised a lot more than they usually are, and it’s great to see the Kurd Lasswitz has a special category explicitly for translators.
Fingers crossed!
