Sophie Castille Awards

Sophie Castille Awards for Comics in Translation is an award focused on recognizing the best translations of comic books into various languages. Its name honors Sophie Castille.

History

In 2022, Ivanka Hahnenberger, founder of the copyright company VIP Brands, developed a project for a global award focused on comic book translation, intended to honor Sophie Castille, who had passed away that year.

The first edition of the Sophie Castille Awards for Comics in Translation, focused on translations of comics into English, was held in 2023 in partnership between VIP Brands and the British events London Comics Festival (Comica) and Lakes International Comic Art Festival (LICAF). Ninety works were submitted, of which 15 were shortlisted for review by judges Karen Green, Peter Kessler, and Dean Simons, who then chose three finalists.

In 2024, the Spanish event Comic Barcelona organized, together with Red Vértice (Spanish network of associations of translators, interpreters and proofreaders), an edition of the award focused on translations into Spanish or Catalan. In the same year, new Sophie Castille Awards' editions were held in Italy (as part of the Napoli Comicon awards), Poland (with the Łódź International Comics and Games Festival), and Slovenia (with the Tinta festival, as part of the Zlatirepec award and divided into two categories: translation for children and young adults, and translation for adults).

In 2025, the Greek Academy of Comics (Ελληνική Ακαδημία Κόμικς) incorporated the Sophie Castille Award into its traditional ΕΛ.ΒΡΑ.ΚΟ. award. In 2026, the award also began to include editions in Brazilian Portuguese (in partnership with Troféu Angelo Agostini) and in French (in partnership with SoBD).

Sophie Castille

Sophie Castille was director of foreign rights for the Franco-Belgian comics publishing houses Dargaud, Dupuis and Le Lombard.

Castille was born in Caen, France, in 1970. She began her career in the 1990s in Dargaud, managing foreign rights. In 2015, she was co-founder of the comics and graphic novel digital venture Europe Comics, a consortium of 13 European comic book publishers.

She died on July 11, 2022, at the age of 51. In Frankfurt Book Fair, a group of international comics publishing professionals, colleagues, and friends organized a virtual memorial to pay tribute to her memory and career.

Winners and nominees

English

Spanish or catalan

Italian

Polish

Slovenian

• 2024:
• Translation for children and young adults:
• DuÅ¡anka Zabukovec, for Kaj bo zakuhal krokodil? (KUD Sodobnost International) - original work by Federico Appel
• Neža Vilhelm, for Globalno (Morfemplus) – original work by Giovanni Rigano, Eoin Colfer and Andrew Donkin
• Polonca Kovač, for Dnevnik Ane Frank: likovna priredba (Morfemplus) – original work by David Polonsky and Ari Folman
• Å pela Žakelj, for Garulfo: prva & druga knjiga (Graffit) – original work by Bruno Maïorana and Alain Ayroles
• Translation for adults:
• Liza Linde, for Teorija umetnosti vs. gospa Goldgruber (Zavod VigeVageKnjige) – original work by Nicolas Mahler
• Marko Bratina, for Å ola padanja (Forum) – original work by Mikael Ross
• Polona Mertelj, for Sapiens v stripu. Del 1, Rojstvo človeÅ¡tva (Mladinska knjiga) – original work by Daniel Casanave, Yuval Noah Harari and David Vandermeulen

• 2025:
• Translation for children and young adults:
• Jaka Bulc, for Astrobučman (Mladinska knjiga) – original work: Astrochimp, by David Walliams
• Jedrt Maležič, for Supervikend ob oceanu (Morfemplus) – original work: Le Super week-end de l'océan, by Gaëlle Almeras
• Katja Å aponjić and Anja Zag Golob, for Ariol – Račji ples (VigeVageKnjige) – original work: Ariol – Le canard calé, by Emmanuel Guibert and Rémi Chaurand
• Translation for adults:
• Jedrt Maležič, for Berlinska trilogija 1: Kristalno poletje (Morfemplus) – original work: La trilogie berlinoise: L’été de cristal, by Pierre Boisserie and François Warzala
• Julija Potrč Å avli, for Oksi (VigeVageKnjige) – original work: Oksi, by Mari Ahokoivu
• Polona Mertelj, for Sapiens v stripu 2: Stebri civilizacije (Mladinska knjiga) – original work: Sapiens: A Graphic History, Volume 2: The Pillars of Civilization, by Yuval Noah Harari, David Vandermeulen and Daniel Casanave

Greek

• 2025:
• Gabriel Tompalidis, for Camelot 3000 (Mikros Iros) - original work: Camelot 3000, by Mike W. Barr and Brian Bolland
• Kasumi Mori, for Η Πριγκίπισσα του Αέναου Κάστρου (Jemma Press) – original work: The Princess of Never-Ending Castle, by Shintaro Kage
• Tatiana Rapakoulia, for Ο Πόλεμος του Λούκας (Mikros Iros) – original work: Lucas' Wars, by Laurent Hopman and Renaud Roche
• Tatiana Rapakoulia, for Ταναναρίβη (Mikros Iros) – original work: Tananarive, by Mark Eacersall and Sylvain Vallee
• Tatiana Rapakoulia, for Το Κάστρο των Ζώων #1: Μις Μπενγκαλορ (Mikros Iros) – original work: Animal Castle #1, by Xavier Dorison and Felix Delep

References