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.