English Section

Polish state honour for leading British translator

03.07.2026 20:30
Acclaimed British translator Antonia Lloyd-Jones has been awarded Poland's Gloria Artis Gold Medal for Merit to Culture, one of the country's highest cultural honours, in recognition of her contribution to promoting Polish literature abroad.
Antonia Lloyd-Jones. Photo courtesy of the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage
Antonia Lloyd-Jones. Photo courtesy of the Polish Ministry of Culture and National HeritageKuba Ociepa/Polish Book Institute

The citation praised her "outstanding creative achievements and a notable contribution to the development and promotion of Polish culture."

The award was presented during the World Congress of Translators of Polish Literature in the southern city of Kraków.

Addressing participants, Polish Culture Minister Marta Cienkowska thanked translators for helping bring Polish literature to readers around the world.

"For literature to travel, it needs people who can hear not only what the author wrote but also what remains hidden between the lines," she said.

"That is why translators are co-creators of encounters between cultures," she added.

At the same ceremony, Polish poet, novelist and translator Jacek Dehnel received the Gloria Artis Bronze Medal for Merit to Culture.

Lloyd-Jones is one of the foremost translators of Polish literature into English, with a body of work spanning fiction, nonfiction, poetry and children's books.

She has translated works by Nobel Prize-winning author Olga Tokarczuk, as well as writers including Stanisław Lem, Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz and Ryszard Kapuściński.

Her translation of Tokarczuk's Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead was shortlisted for the 2019 Man Booker International Prize.

Lloyd-Jones is also a two-time recipient of the Transatlantyk Prize, awarded annually by the Polish Book Institute to outstanding promoters of Polish literature abroad. She received the honour in 2009 and 2013.

(mk/gs)

Source: bookinstitute.pl/gov.pl