Fenia and Yaakov Leviant Memorial Prize in Yiddish Studies
Open to Members and Nonmembers of the Association
The Committee on Honors and Awards of the Modern Language Association is pleased to invite authors to compete for the eleventh and twelfth Fenia and Yaakov Leviant Memorial Prize. The prize, established in 2000 by the family of Fenia and Yaakov Leviant, is offered each even-numbered year and is awarded alternately to an outstanding translation or an outstanding scholarly work in the field of Yiddish.
Competition in 2024 for Scholarly Works Published from 2020 to 2023
In 2024, the prize will be awarded to an outstanding scholarly work in English in the field of Yiddish published between 2020 and 2023. Cultural studies, critical biographies, or edited works in the field of Yiddish folklore or linguistic studies are eligible to compete. The 2024 Leviant Memorial Prize, which consists of a cash award and a certificate, will be presented to the winning translator at the association’s annual convention in January 2025.
Competition in 2026 for Translations Published from 2022 to 2025
In the 2026 competition, the prize will be awarded to an English translation of a Yiddish literary work published between 2022 and 2025.
Authors, translators, or publishers who wish to submit a work are asked to fill out a submission form.
- If you are an author or translator submitting a work, please use this form.
- If you are a publisher submitting a work, please use this form.
Publishers may enter more than one title. Provided they meet eligibility requirements, books entered in this competition may also compete for one of the following prizes: the James Russell Lowell Prize, the MLA Prize for a First Book, or the MLA Prize for an Edited Collection. Entries may be sent at any time but must be received by 1 May 2024 for the 2024 competition and by 1 May 2026 for the 2026 competition. The winning author will be contacted in September, and a public announcement will be made in early December. Because of the volume of submissions, we regret that we are unable to contact each entrant individually.
For further information, write the coordinator of book prizes (awards@mla.org).
Past winners of this prize