A LEVEL GERMAN STUDENT CELEBRATES SUCCESS IN NATIONWIDE COMPETITION

Over 15,000 students participated this year in the prestigious Anthea Bell Prize for Young Translators, with a student from Alton College receiving a commendation for her work.

A Level German student Anna Best recently celebrated success in the annual competition set by The Queen’s College, Oxford University, which marks the second year running that an individual from our Alton College has received a commendation for outstanding translation work.

The translation competition is introduced to both first and second year students in the autumn term, using the resources of the Translation Exchange to practise literary translations.

The competition, which is open to schools across the UK, required participants to translate a poem, in Anna’s case from German to English. The poems were then judged by a team consisting of undergraduates and professional translators who expressed the excellent standard of entries this year.

Anna’s entry was a translation of the poem ‘Der Panther’ written in 1902 by Austrian poet Rainer Maria Rilke which Programme Leader for Arts and Humanities Natalie Randall described as “powerful.”

Not only has Anna received a commendation for exceptional entry but her name will also be added to the website alongside a former student, who was also recognised for her translation in last year’s competition.  

Anna, who also studies A Level Media and Business added:

“I was very happy and excited to receive the news that I had won a commendation. I had never translated a poem before, so trying to figure out what the poet was trying to convey was really enjoyable and interesting for me.

I am planning to study German at university, so this has given me confidence in the future. This has also inspired me to look at German poetry as one of my modules as I enjoyed reading the poem.”

Dr. Cathrin Brockhaus, Anna’s German teacher, said:

“I am thrilled for Anna – being selected out of thousands of entries for a commendation in this prestigious translation competition is a wonderful achievement!

Anna has worked independently on this translation project while revising for her final A Level exams and should be very proud of this success.”

To find out more about the Anthea Bell Prize visit: here.