Another Award for Randi Ward’s Translations of Faroese Literature
Randi Ward has received the Cliff Becker Book Prize in Translation for her translation from Faroese of The Biological Composition of a Drop of Seawater Is Reminiscent of the Blood in My Veins by Kim Simonsen. The English edition will be published by White Pine Press in November.
The Cliff Becker Book Prize in Translation is an American award established in 2011 in memory of Cliff Becker, former Literature Director at the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). Each year, the prize supports the publication of a bilingual poetry collection in English translation by White Pine Press. Cliff Becker believed that translation is a vital connection between readers, languages and cultures:
This year, the prize goes to Randi Ward’s translation. Randi Ward has been translating Faroese literature into English for many years, and through her work, Faroese poetry once again reaches American readers.
About the translator:
Randi Ward is a poet, translator, lyricist, and photographer from Belleville, West Virginia.
She earned her MA in Cultural Studies from the University of the Faroe Islands and has twice won the American-Scandinavian Foundation’s Nadia Christensen Prize.
Photo Credit: Perry Bennett
“Translation is the medium through which American readers gain greater access to the world. By providing us with as direct a connection as possible to the individual voice of the author, translation provides a window into the heart of a culture.”
Photo collage from publisher Eksil.
The Cliff Becker Book Prize in Translation prize supports the annual publication of a bilingual book of poetry.
Becker (1964–2005) served as the NEA’s Literature Director from 1999 to 2005. He joined the NEA in 1992, became Acting Director in 1997, and led the Literature Department from 1999. During his tenure, he expanded support for individual translators and helped develop the NEA Literature Translation Initiative.
After his death, his family established the Cliff Becker Endowment for the Literary Arts to carry forward his conviction that literature and translation should reach readers regardless of the fluctuations of the marketplace or political change.
The prize-winning book The Biological Composition of a Drop of Seawater Is Reminiscent of the Blood in My Veins by Kim Simonsen is published by White Pine Press, founded and directed by the poet, translator and publisher Dennis Maloney.
Maloney took part in the Faroe Islands International Literature Festival in 2026. Maloney’s participation paved the way for White Pine Press to now bring a translation from Faroese to American readers.