National Book Awards add translation category

NEW YORK – Starting this fall, works in translation will get a spotlight at the National Book Awards.

The National Book Foundation announced Wednesday that it has started a category for best translated literature, awarding a work of fiction or nonfiction translated into English and released in the U.S. The new prize should provide a boost for authors from overseas who have struggled to catch on in the U.S.

The National Book Awards for decades had four competitive categories: fiction, nonfiction, young people’s literature and poetry. The foundation also gives out two honorary prizes at the annual November ceremony.