The Lois Roth Persian Translation Prize is awarded by the American Institute of Iranian Studies in recognition of excellence in translating Persian literature into English and is funded by the Lois Roth Foundation. The prize is awarded in memory of Lois Roth, whose interest in and affection for Iran and Iranian culture dates back to the late 1960s when she lived and worked in Iran as Assistant and then Deputy Cultural Attaché in the USIA and as Director of the Iran America Society. At that time Lois Roth was one of a group of persons who helped initiate and encourage the founding of the American Institute of Iranian Studies. After her death in 1986 the Lois Roth Foundation was created. Since 1999 the Foundation has included, among many contributions to international programs, funding for the Lois Roth Persian Translation Prize, which is awarded by a jury selected by the American Institute of Iranian Studies.
2000: My Uncle Napoleon, Iraj Pezeshkzad. Translated by Dick Davis (Mage Publishers, 1996)
2001: The Conference of the Birds, Farid al-Din Attar. Translated by Afkham Darbandi and Dick Davis (Penguin, 1984)
2002: In the Dragon's Claws: The Story of Rostam & Esfandiyar, Ferdowsi. Translated by Jerome W. Clinton (Mage Publishers, 1999)
2003: The Sands of Oxus: Boyhood Reminiscences of Sadriddin Aini. Translated by John Perry and Rachel Lehr (Mazda Books, 1998)
2004: The Haft Paykar: A Medieval Persian Romance, Nizami. Translated by Julie Meisami (Oxford World Classics, 1995)
2005: The Masnavi, Book 1, Jalal al-Din Rumi. Translated by Jawid Mojaddedi (Oxford University Press, 2003)
2006: A Cup of Sin: Selected Poems, Simin Behbahani. Translated by Farzaneh Milani and Kaveh Safa (Syracuse University Press, 1999)
2008: Translating the Garden, Shahrokh Meskoob. Translated by Mohammad Ghanoonparvar (University of Texas Press, 2001)
2010: Sin: Selected Poems of Forugh Farrokhzad. Translated by Sholeh Wolpe (University of Arkansas Press, 2008)
2012: Vis and Ramin, Fakhraddin Gorgani. Translated by Dick Davis (Mage Publishers, 2008 Penguin Classics, 2009)
2014: Hafez: Translations and Interpretations of the Ghazals. Translated by Geoffery Squires (Miami University Press, 2014)
2016: Born upon the Dark Spear: Selected Poems of Ahmad Shamlu. Translated by Fason Bahbak Mohaghegh (Contra Mundum Press, 2015)
2021: Hafez in Love, Iraj Pezeshkzad. Translated by Patricia J. Higgins and Pouneh Shabani-Jadidi (Syracuse University Press, 2021)
2023: Blind Owl, Sadeq Hedayat. Translated by Sassan Tabatabai (Penguin Classics, 2022)
2024: Layli and Majnun, Nizami. Translated by Dick Davis (Mage Publishers, 2020 Penguin Classics, 2021) and Khosrow and Shirin, Nizami. Translated by Dick Davis (Mage Publishers, 2024 Penguin Classics, 2025).
