The finalists for the Best Translated Book Awards were announced Tuesday, featuring 25 works originally published in 16 languages — none of them English.

American publishing traditionally publishes a smaller percentage of works in translation than other nations — meaning we have a trade imbalance of culture. The blog Three Percent, which started the Best Translated Book Awards (BTBAs) in 2007, seeks to ameliorate that by highlighting excellent literature in translation.

BTBAs are awarded for both fiction and poetry (this year’s longlist has not been announced). The winning authors — and their translators — are each given a prize of $5,000.

The longlist includes authors of widely varied profiles, from little-known debut novelists to two Nobel Prize winners. There are 23 publishers on the list, from the world’s largest, Random House, to Tam Tam Books, a small independent press based in Los Angeles.

Three Percent, now run out of the University of Rochester and in conjunction with the translation publishing house Open…

Read more | latimes.com