In memory of
Sophie Castille
SOPHIE CASTILLE AWARDS
for comics in translation
The Sophie Castille Awards for Comics in Translation are for the best translation of graphic novels into a variety of languages around the world.
These awards are to honor translators who are, more often than not, the unsung heroes of comics in translation. The difference between a good and bad translation will be the difference in the success of the comic in translation. This award is for translators and all unsung heroes in the comics industry. A way to remind us all to remember and respect all those that make comics the wonder that they are.
They have been created in honour of Sophie Castille, international rights director and V. P. of licensing for Mediatoon and cofounder and director of Europe Comics, who died unexpectedly in 2022. Since the late nineties, Sophie built bridges for bandes dessinées and their authors from France and around the world. She was a constant source of creativity, motivating publishers from all over the world and encouraging them to exchange ideas. She became a key figure in the growth of comics and graphic novel translations around the world.
Comics and graphic novels, considered in France as The Ninth Art, are a diverse and dynamic international medium that is growing in popularity every year and is loved the world over. Spreading these works internationally through translation is a way to bring the world together.
With comics in translation becoming an important influence in the publishing world, VIP Brands ltd, Comica and LICAF have decided to honour Sophie’s memory and continue her work to promote comics in translation around the world with these new Awards.
We are hoping to widen the scope of these awards and are thus looking for even more partners to host these awards around the world to help us have a Sophie Castille Award for as many languages as possible.
We are also looking for sponsors.
If you would like to be a part of these memorial awards, please contact: i.hahnenberger@vip-licensing.net
PARTICIPANTS
We are happy to have six Sophie Castille Awards: English, Greek, Italian, Polish, Slovenian and Spanish/Catalan.
The hosts are the following organizations:
LICAF in Cumberland in England, https://www.comicartfestival.com/
The Greek Comics Awards, https://ebk.gr/
Comicon Napoli, Italy, https://www.comicon.it/
Łódź International Festival of Comics and Games, Poland, https://komiksfestiwal.com/
Tinta Comics Festival, Ljubljana, Slovenia, https://www.tinta.si/
Comic Barcelona, Spain, https://www.ficomic.com/en/comic-barcelona.cfm
These six countries and organizations reach hundreds of thousands of comics and graphic novels readers and professionals around the world.
LICAF 2025 Nominees
Martha Kuhlman and Tereza Čechová for Bald, by Tereza Čechová, Art by Štěpánka Jislová. English edition by Graphic Mundi.
Diana Schutz and Brandon Kander for Blacksad: They All Fall Down, Part Two, by Juan Díaz Canales, Juanjo Guarnido. English edition by Dark Horse Comics.
Margaret Morrison for Capital & Idiology, by Claire Alet, Benjamin. English edition by Abrams Comic Arts.
Jerome Saincantin & Erica Olson Jeffrey for Harry Dickson – Mysterion, by Jean Ray, Onofrio Catacchio, Doug Headline and Luana Vergari. English edition by Cinebook.
Victor Martins for Not Today: Undoing Home Repairs by Ana Margarida Matos. English Edition by Fieldmouse Press.
Ryan Holmberg for Oba Electroplating Factory by Yoshiharu Tsuge. English edition by Drawn & Quarterly.
Andrea Rosenberg for Return to Eden by Paco Roca. English edition by Fantagraphics.
Montana Kane for The Incredible Story of Cooking: From Prehistory to Today, 500, 000 Years of Adventure by Benoist Simmat. English Edition by NBM.
Robin Lang and Helge Dascher for The Jellyfish by Boum (Samantha Leriche-Gionet). English edition by Pow Pow Press.
COMIC Barcelona 2025 Winner and Nominees
Winner of the 2025 Sophie Castille Award - Spanish/Catalan:
Carlos Mayor for his translation of: Obra hermética, de Moebius. Edita Reservoir y traduce
Other nominees:
Irene Oliva Luque for Deep me, de Marc-Antoine Mathieu. Edita Salamandra Graphic y traduce.
Montse Meneses Vilar for Lo que más me gusta son los monstruos 2, de Emil Ferris. Edita Reservoir.
Óscar Palmer for Raíces de ginseng, de Craig Thompson. Edita Astiberri y traduce .
Daniel Cortés, Philippe July y Purificación Meseguer for Si los hombres tuvieran la regla, de Éric le Blanche y Camille Besse. Edita Hachette Graphic.
COMICON Naples 2025 Winner and Nominees
Winner of the 2025 Sophie Castille Award - Italian:
Toma Gudelyte for his translation of: La ragazza con il fucile, di Lina Itagaki e Marius Marcinkevičius (Lavieri Edizioni)
Other nominees:
Luce Lacquaniti for Shubbek Lubbek. Ogni tuo desiderio, di Deena Mohamed(Coconino Press)
Stefano Andrea Cresti for Diario (Journal), di Fabrice Neaud (Tunué)
Giovanni Stigliano Messut for Esther, di Keizo Miyanishii (In Your Face Comix)
Anders Fransson for Le Lanterne di Nedzu, di Rui Tenreiro (Saldapress)
GREEK Comics Academy Awards 2025
Winner and Nominees
Winner of the 2025 Sophie Castille Award - Greek:
Tatiana Rapakoulia for her translation of: Tananarive, Mark Eacersall & Sylvain Vallee (Mikros Iros Publications)
Other nominees:
Tatiana Rapakoulia for Lucas' Wars, Laurent Hopman & Renaud Roche (Mikros Iros Publication)
Kasumi Mori for The Princess of Never-Ending Castle, SHintaro Kage (Jemma Press)
Tatiana Rapakoulia for Animal Castle #1, Xavier Dorison & Felix Delep (Mikros Iros Publication)
Gabriel Tompalidis for Camelot 3000, Mike W. Barr & Brian Bolland (Mikros Iros Publication)
AWARDS
Comic Barcelona - Spanish/Catalan, 4 April 2025
Comicon, Naples - Italian, 3 May 2025
ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΗ ΑΚΑΔΗΜΙΑ ΚΟΜΙΚΣ (Greek Comics Academy) - 16 May 2025
LICAF, Bowness-on-Windemere - English. 27 September, 2025
Łódź International Festival of Comics and Games - Polish, 27 September, 2025
TINTA - festival stripa - Slovenian, Children and adult, 11 October, 2025
