The 2026 Student Translation Prize winner, Ilse Meiler

World Literature Today, the University of Oklahoma’s award-winning magazine of international literature and culture, has announced the winner of its annual Student Translation Prize. 

Ilse Meiler was recently named the recipient of the seventh annual translation prize for students. Consistent with World Literature Today’s commitment to publishing literature in translation, the WLT Student Translation Prize recognizes the talent and promise of students worldwide.

Originally from Colorado, Meiler is a translator and interpreter who speaks six languages and translates four. She is pursuing a doctorate in comparative literature at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Her winning submission is the dystopian short story “Raining out there,” by Polesian writer Alexandra Senkevich. Corine Tachtiris, associate professor of translation studies within the Program in Comparative Literature at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, sponsored the submission. 

The editors of WLT judged the competition: Daniel Simon, assistant director and editor in chief; Michelle Johnson, managing and culture editor; and Rob Vollmar, book review and online editor. The prizewinner will receive a cash award, and her winning translation will be published in an upcoming issue of WLT.

Robert Con Davis-Undiano, WLT’s executive director, noted that this prize “recognizes the fact of translation as one of the most vital and important things we ever do as a culture.” He added that “WLT is proud to be encouraging emerging translators to hone skills in the practice of this indispensable activity in the publishing world.”