Kim Simonsen and Randi Ward shortlisted for the 2026 ALTA First Translation Prize
FarLit warmly congratulates Faroese writer Kim Simonsen and translator Randi Ward. Their English edition ofWhat Good Does It Do for a Person to Wake Up One Morning This Side of the New Millennium, published by Deep Vellum, has been shortlisted for the 2026 ALTA First Translation Prize.
The prize recognises an outstanding first literary translation into English. It is a significant international acknowledgement of both Ward’s work and Simonsen’s poetry, which brings intimate loss, ecological grief and close attention to the living world into a shared poetic field.
The jury writes:
“Randi Ward’s lucid translation of Kim Simonsen’s luminous poems in What Good Does It Do for a Person To Wake Up One Morning This Side of the New Millennium skillfully navigates the poet’s continually shifting tone between the elegiac and the celebratory. Grief operates on several levels here: the poet mourns the loss of his beloved, the ongoing destruction of our environment, and losses to come. Nevertheless, his delight in the natural world shines through. Close observation offers one way to overcome our estrangement from nature and ourselves. Simonsen is a keen, clear-sighted observer and Ward opens a clear, sparkling window onto his world.”
Thank you to the American Literary Translators Association and the jury for this recognition, and to Deep Vellum for bringing the book to English-language readers.
Congratulations to Kim and Randi.
