IALA Israelyan Western Armenian Translation Grant 2026

The Israelyan Western Armenian Translation Grant from the International Armenian Literary Alliance will award $3,500 to one translator working from a Western Armenian source text into English, whose work-in-progress shows exceptional literary and creative ability. In 2026, the grant will be awarded for a work of literature (in any literary genre) written in Western Armenian from any period. The grant will be judged by Talar Chahinian and Tamar Marie Boyadjian.

Many in the Armenian diaspora and the English-speaking world are unable to read works in the original Armenian, and therefore, have centuries of literature inaccessible to them. Translators working with Armenian texts have traditionally lacked resources in the publishing world, as well as access to other funding, due to the overwhelming influence of so-called “majority languages.” IALA’s Israelyan Western Armenian Grant supports translators working with Armenian literature through a monetary award. Additionally, IALA will support grant recipients in promoting their publications through marketing on our website and social media channels, book reviews, readings and discussions.

Application now open through September 30, 2026 (11:59 PM ET).

For poetry, the application should include 8 to 10 translated poems from the collection the translator intends to use the grant to complete. For all other texts, the application should include a 5,000 word writing sample from the work the translator intends to use the grant to complete.

All applications require a brief bio and a personal statement summarizing the translator’s relationship to the work (i.e., why they’ve chosen to translate the work that they have selected). The full application will be posted online on September 1, 2026.

This grant was made possible by a generous donation from Souren A. Israelyan.

Also explore IALA’s Israelyan Eastern Armenian Translation Grant, Israelyan English Translation Grant and Creative Writing Grant.

Eligibility and Requirements

Age: Must be over 21 at the time of application.
Language: The translation must be made into English.
Applicants must be active members of IALA at the time of application. For those on a low income or who are unemployed, we offer several discounted or free memberships per year.
Not open to members of the IALA board of directors or advisory board.
No previous publication record is required.
Applicants may submit one application per year. Those who are not awarded the grant may re-apply in the future. Grant recipients are ineligible to re-apply for two years.
Source texts must be written in Western Armenian.
The work must be translated directly from the source language into the target language; intermediary (relay) translations are not permitted.
Grants are intended for translations that are in progress and not yet under any publication contract. If you have published a short excerpt from the larger work, you are still eligible to apply for this grant. However, no more than ten percent of the work should be previously published.
Applicants should be prepared to answer questions in the application regarding their vision for publication of the translation once completed (i.e. whether they have been in contact with a publisher or publishers interested in publishing this translation, or what presses they intend to submit it to for consideration, etc.)
If the work is not in the public domain, applicants are responsible for ensuring the translation rights to the selected work are available, and not already sold with a translation in process. Applicants should notify the rights holder they are translating a sample of the work as part of the application for this grant, with the intention of completing the translation and publishing the work if awarded the grant.
Applications or translation samples containing text generated by artificial intelligence or other machine-based tools are strictly prohibited.
The final manuscript of the translation must be completed by December 2027.
IALA expects members to engage respectfully and professionally with staff, board and fellow community members in order to maintain a safe and constructive environment. The organization reserves the right to deny, suspend, or terminate membership, restrict participation in events or programs, or deny applications where conduct is deemed inappropriate or harmful to the community.
IALA reserves the right to not award a given grant if the judges determine that the applications do not meet the review criteria.
All decisions are final and not subject to appeal or reconsideration.

Review Criteria

Applications will be reviewed through a “blind” panel process. Judging will be based on:

Literary excellence and originality of the original text; applicants should consider IALA’s dedication to diversity as expressed in our mission and vision statement within this criterion
Both the author’s craft and style and the translator’s adaptation of it; in other words, the quality of the translation in preserving the author’s intent
The author’s importance and relevance in Armenian literature; and
The relevancy of the work to contemporary readers.

In addition to considering issues of craft, we also prioritize the expression of experiences that haven’t been widely read about, such as those by marginalized writers. We expect the personal statement to also convey how receiving the grant will help the artist in the completion of their project.