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Poll: "Over 1.9M translated fiction titles sold only in the UK in 2022", why the rising interest?
Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
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May 26, 2025

This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question ""Over 1.9M translated fiction titles sold only in the UK in 2022", why the rising interest?".

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Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 22:49
Member (2007)
Inggris menyang Portugis
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N/A May 26, 2025

This question seems to have been taken from an article published last Saturday in 'The Observer', which, interestingly, has nothing to do with the number of works of fiction translated, but rather with AI. The title of the article is ‘AI can't match the human art of translation’. Given that we are now in 2025, I see no other reason to mention..... See more
This question seems to have been taken from an article published last Saturday in 'The Observer', which, interestingly, has nothing to do with the number of works of fiction translated, but rather with AI. The title of the article is ‘AI can't match the human art of translation’. Given that we are now in 2025, I see no other reason to mention... 2022.

https://observer.co.uk/culture/books/article/minding-their-language-the-art-of-translation

[Edited at 2025-05-26 13:40 GMT] ▲ Collapse


Maria Laura Curzi
Andrea Quintana
Philip Lees
 
Dr. Matthias Schauen
Dr. Matthias Schauen  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 23:49
Member (2007)
Inggris menyang Jerman
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But is it rising? May 26, 2025

2015: 7% of all UK fiction sales
2022: 3.3% of all UK fiction sales

Translated fiction sells better, overall, than English literary fiction and made up 7% of all UK fiction sales... See more
2015: 7% of all UK fiction sales
2022: 3.3% of all UK fiction sales

Translated fiction sells better, overall, than English literary fiction and made up 7% of all UK fiction sales in 2015. Source: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/sep/30/translated-book-sales-are-up-but-britain-is-still-cut-off-from-foreign-literature

After a tumultuous two-year period where in-store footfall was dramatically affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, sales of translated fiction are bouncing back. In 2022, over 1.9 million copies of translated fiction were sold in the UK, an increase of 22% on 2021, and accounting for 3.3% of overall fiction sales. Source: https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-library/features/generation-tf-who-is-really-reading-translated-fiction-in-the-uk

(Edited to show the most pertinent info in the first lines without ProZ hiding it.)

[Edited at 2025-05-26 09:21 GMT]


[Edited at 2025-05-26 09:26 GMT]

[Edited at 2025-05-26 09:27 GMT] ▲ Collapse


Dan Lucas
Maria Laura Curzi
Andrea Quintana
Philip Lees
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Michelle den Boer
 
Helena Chavarria
Helena Chavarria  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 23:49
Member (2011)
Spanyol menyang Inggris
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I prefer not to read translated fiction May 26, 2025

I've always loved reading but I've read relatively few translated books.

I've been living in Spain since 1977 and reading modern fiction every day keeps me up to date with my native language (English).

Ines Radionovas-Lagoutte, PhD
Dan Lucas
 
Maria Laura Curzi
Maria Laura Curzi  Identity Verified
Argentina
Local time: 18:49
Inggris menyang Spanyol
+ ...
Is this the source? May 26, 2025

Found this blog post from The Booker Prizes from April 2023: Generation TF: who is really reading translated fiction in the UK with this sentence
“In 2022, over 1.9 million copies of translated fiction were sold in the UK, an increase of 22% on 2021, and accounting for 3.3% of overall fiction sales.”

Could this be the source of this poll?

Philip Lees
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
 


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Poll: "Over 1.9M translated fiction titles sold only in the UK in 2022", why the rising interest?






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