Frontlist | Tamil translated French novel wins Romain Rolland Book Prize

The Tamil translation of French novel 'Le mariage de plaisir' won the Romain Rolland Book Prize at the three-day Apeejay Kolkata Literary Festival which ended in Kolkata on Sunday. The winners of the prize are translator Dr S A Vengada Soupraya Nayagar and publisher Amutharasan Paulraj of Thadagam Publishers for the Tamil translation of the book, authored by Tahar Ben Jelloun, the organisers said in a statement. The publisher and translator will be invited by the French Institute in India to the Paris Book Fair 2021 (Livre Paris 2021) where India will be the guest of honour. Romain Rolland Book Prize, started in 2017, aims at awarding the best translation of a French title into any Indian language, including English. An Indo-French jury takes into account the qualities of the translation and the publication. Emmanuel Lebrun-Damiens, counsellor for education, science and culture, Embassy of France, and the director of the French Institute in India, said in a statement, It has now been four years that the Romain Rolland Book Prize was created and we have seen some talented translators and pragmatic publishers awarded for their works. In the perspective of the Paris Book Fair 2021 where India is the focus country and which will see at least 30 Indian authors and publishers invited to Paris in May 2021 to meet the French readers, the French Institute in India is working more and more to increase translation of French books in Indian languages, he said. The jury included renowned scholars and experts from France and India, including Annie Montaut, Michle Albaret- Maatsch, Renuka George, Sindhuja Veeraragavan, Geetha Krishnankutty and Chinmoy Guha. Apart from the winning entry, the short list included Malayalam translation of 'Souvenirs Dormants', and Hindi translation of 'Pour que tu ne teperdes pas dans le quartier', the statement said.