MARESI RED MANTLE – 2020 Global Literature in Libraries Translated YA Book Prize Winner

Huge congratulations to Maria Turtschaninoff and her English translator A.A. Prime, whose YA novel Maresi Red Mantle has been awarded as the best translated book of the year. The book is published in the UK by Pushkin Press. Its US edition, published by Abrams Books, is titled Red Mantle.

Administered by the Global Literature in Libraries Initiative, the two-year-old prize recognizes publishers, translators, and authors of books in English translation for young adult (YA) readers.

“Maresi Red Mantle is a stirring epistolary novel that presents a young woman caught between two homes, cultures, and communities. It is the concluding title in the Red Abbey Chronicles trilogy, but we were very impressed with how beautifully it works as a stand-alone title.” – Committee Chair Annette Y. Goldsmith.

The announcement of the prize is timed to coincide with International Children’s Book Day, which falls on April 2, the birthday of Hans Christian Andersen. Fewer young adult (YA) books are translated into English than any other category of children’s literature, and the prize aims to bring attention to gems of world literature for teens.
“The worldwide spread of the Covid-19 pandemic shows just how interconnected we have become,” said GLLI Director Rachel Hildebrandt Reynolds, “There couldn’t be a better time for teens to develop a global perspective on issues of concern to them, and reading is a great way to do that, especially when everyone is spending so much time indoors right now.”

Maresi Red Mantle is the last book in the Red Abbey Chronicles trilogy – international rights sold to 23 territories and a Hollywood feature film under development by Film4/The Bureau.