Sophie Hughes

Born in Surrey, Sophie Hughes is a literary translator from Spanish and Italian

Hughes is the translator of more than 20 novels by authors such as Fernanda Melchor, Alia Trabucco Zerán and Enrique Vila-Matas. She has been shortlisted for the Dublin Literary Award, and the Valle Inclán Prize, and in 2021 she was awarded the Queen Sofía Translation Prize. Her translations have been longlisted or shortlisted for the International Booker Prize five times, most recently her translation of Vincenzo Latronico’s Perfection (shortlisted in 2025).

Her translations and writing have been published in McSweeney’s, the Guardian, The Paris Review, The White Review, Frieze and the New York Times. Hughes has also worked with the Stephen Spender Trust promoting translation in schools and is the co-editor of the anthology Europa28: Writing by Women on the Future of Europe, published in 2020 in collaboration with Hay Festival. She lives in Trieste.

An astute, cringe-making and often laugh-out-loud funny portrait of everyday privilege and modern aspirations

— The 2025 judges on Perfection

Read more on Perfection

An extract from Perfection by Vincenzo Latronico, translated by Sophie Hughes

A taut, spare sociological novel about the emptiness of contemporary existence – scathing and affecting in equal measure

Image of Perfection book cover, author and translator

An interview with Vincenzo Latronico and Sophie Hughes, author and translator of Perfection

With Perfection shortlisted for the International Booker Prize 2025, we spoke to its author and translator about writing a book almost completely made of descriptions, and why translations aren’t next-best-things

Reading guide: Perfection by Vincenzo Latronico, translated by Sophie Hughes

Whether you’re new to Perfection or have read it and would like to explore it more deeply, here is our comprehensive guide, featuring insights from critics, our judges and the book’s author and translator, as well as discussion points and suggestions for further reading.

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All nominated books

Perfection

A taut, spare sociological novel about the emptiness of contemporary existence – scathing and affecting in equal measure

By Vincenzo Latronico

Translated by Sophie Hughes

The Remainder

Intense, intelligent and extraordinarily sensitive, Alia Trabucco Zerán’s remarkable debut presents a new way to count the cost of generational trauma

By Alia Trabucco Zeran

Translated by Sophie Hughes

Hurricane Season

Fernanda Melchor’s formidable portrait of Mexico and its demons, written with a brutal lyricism that is as affecting as it is enthralling. The English edition is translated by Sophie Hughes

By Fernanda Melchor

Translated by Sophie Hughes

Mac and His Problem

A masterpiece of metafiction, Mac and His Problem is Enrique Vila-Matas’s testament to the power and playfulness of great literature

By Enrique Vila-Matas

Translated by Margaret Jull Costa Sophie Hughes

Paradais

Written in a chilling torrent of prose by one of Mexico’s most thrilling new writers, Paradais explores the explosive fragility of Mexican society. Translated by Sophie Hughes.

By Fernanda Melchor

Translated by Sophie Hughes