Swiss translator Eva Luedi Kong gives a speech after winning the translation prize at this year's Leipzig Book Fair Prize on March 23. Kong won the prize for her translation of "Journey to the West", the first ever complete German translation of the Chinese literary masterpiece. [Photo/zjol.com.cn]

The 13th Leipzig Book Fair Prize was held in Germany on March 23, and the translation prize for this year's event went to Swiss translator Eva Luedi Kong for her translation of "Journey to the West", the first ever complete German translation of the Chinese literary masterpiece.

Born in 1968, Kong lived in China for 25 years and acquired a master's degree in ancient Chinese literature from Zhejiang University.

"Lin Xiaofa (Kong's Chinese name) was my undergraduate student. Her graduation thesis was about research on 'Journey to the West'," said Lou Hansong, professor at Zhejiang University. "She has been working on her German translation of the book since then. The project is very difficult and that's why there had been no complete German translation of the novel before."

"To refine my German writing, when I was translating, I studied 18th and 19th century German literature at the same time, and got great help with my poetic rhetoric from Goethe's writing," said Kong.

Before Luedi Kong, there were picture books and selected translations of the famous story of the monk and the Monkey King. But her work is based on the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) version of the book.

Published in October last year by Reclam, the first batch of 2,000 books sold out almost immediately. The novel was also listed as one of the most suitable book gifts for Christmas by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung in December last year.

The cover of the German edition of Journey to the West. Published in October last year by Reclam, the first batch of 2,000 books sold out almost immediately. [Photo/zjol.com.cn]