Scandal struck the rarified world of poetry translation when Nederlandse Poëzie Encyclopedie, a Dutch poetry website, accused Allen Prowle of plagiarism. The site provided evidence that Prowle’s Stephen Spender Prize for poetry translation-winning translation of Johnson Brothers Ltd by Rutger Kopland was closely based on prior translations by James Brockway, John Irons and Willem Groenewegen.
Poet Bart FM Droog wrote, ‘My conclusion is that Prowle is not particularly familiar with Dutch and has used the (Brockway and Groenewegen versions) as a template. This he has attempted to alter, but has no right to call the result his translation of the Dutch poem. If he does so, it is plagiarism.’
In December Prowle withdrew his entry and returned the £1,000 prize money.