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Minford wins inaugural Medal for Excellence in Translation

John Minford has won the inaugural Medal for Excellence in Translation for his Chinese-to-English translation of I Ching (Yijing): The Book of Change (Viking).

A judging panel comprising Brian Nelson, Mabel Lee and Peter Doyle said Minford’s work ‘bids fair to become the definitive translation of this primary Chinese classic’.

‘An imposing example of the translator-scholar as cultural intermediary, it is both a tour de force of scholarship and a distinguished literary achievement,’ said the judges. ‘Minford adopts a thoughtful, original, flexible approach to the challenges of his task as translator, offering a significantly new interpretation of a piece of major world literature.’

The award, which is administered by the Australian Academy of the Humanities, honours an outstanding translation into English of a work of any genre from any language or period, by an Australian translator. As previously reported by Books+Publishing, a shortlist of three was announced in August.

Minford will be presented with the medal at a ceremony in Melbourne on 18 November. For more information, click here.

 

Category: Local news