The Azerbaijan Translation Centre under the Cabinet of Ministers (AzTC) announced Bay Leaf Prizewinners and Nominated Finalists Tuesday, March 17, 2015. Finalists had not been announced in advance. The books from series “Books of the Translation Centre”, late issues of Kazar World Literary Magazine were also introduced to the readers.

It is worth noting that Bay Leaf is the first contest stimulating the development of the translation as a field of activity founded by the Azerbaijan Translation Centre under the Cabinet of Ministers (AzTC). The contest was announced on October 24, 2015 just few months after AzTC came into existence. 115 translations from English, Russian, Polish, Spanish, German, French, Finnish , Arabic, Persian, Uzbek and Turkish were submitted to the contest.

The contest consisted of 3 stages:

In the first stage – the adequacy of the translations to originals had been checked and evaluated by language specialists at AzTC and non- AzTC specialists for Spanish, Polish, Finnish and Arabic languages. 

In the second stage – after evaluation, the translations were submitted to the Contest Working Group who discussed the literary materials with AzTC and non-AzTC Azerbaijani language specialists.  Out of 115 translations, 20 were selected.

The third stage identified 10 best translations, and then the Prizewinners. 

Dozens of language specialists, experts, famous poets and writers, translators contributed to the contest. 

It should be noted that the “Bay Leaf” Literary Contest is the first nation-wide event founded by AzTC – the institution that has translated and published hundreds of masterpieces of world literature over the past 25 years - to stimulate and improve the translation industry.  

The ceremony brought together well-known literates, public officials, representatives of foreign institutions functioning in the field of translation in Azerbaijan, literary figures, and media representatives.  

The winners were announced during the awards ceremony in the conclusion. Below are the winners:

Tevekgul Abulfat oglu Zeynally– First place for the best translated prose award nomination (successful translation of the short story "The Strength of God" by Sherwood Anderson)

Akif Ali oglu Ali – Second place for the best translated prose award (successful translation of the short story “The Candle Burned” by Mike Gelprin, translated from a second language)

Sherif Ziyadkhan oglu Aghayarov– Third place for the best translated prose award nomination (successful adaptation of the short story “Asphalt Road” by Sabahaddin Ali, a Turkish author, into the Azerbaijani language)

Shafiga Habil gizi Guliyeva – Invitation award for the best translated prose award nomination (successful translation of the short story “The Trout Playing Through Small Rivers” by Konstantin Paustovsky)

Nuri Matlab oglu  Alizade – Invitation award for the best translated poetry award nomination (successful translation of verses by Alexander Blok).