Jaipur - The Ambassador of France to India, H.E. Mr Emmanuel Lenain, today announced that, as part of a reciprocal invitation, India is the guest of honour this year at Livre Paris (Paris Book Fair), while France will be the guest of honour at the New Delhi World Book Fair, January (2022). India was the Guest Country in Paris in 2002 and 2007 as well.
Leading and emerging Indian authors will be invited to Paris to meet readers, while publishing industry professional will consolidate the cooperation between France and India in this area during networking events.
H.E. Mr Emmanuel Lenain, said ‘having India as a guest of Honour at Livre Paris is a great opportunity to bring our minds closer and understand each other better. The fair will give a boost to the translations and publications of Indian books by French publishers and to the dynamic network between the French and Indian publishing industries.”
Announcing the winner of the Romain Rolland Book Prize, awarding every year the best translation of a French title into any Indian language, including English, H.E. Mr Emmanuel Lenain said, ‘Three years into the existence of the Romain Rolland Book Prize, we have seen some talented translators and publishers awarded for their works. This year, we received 7 titles including fiction and a comic series. I am glad to announce that out of the four short-listed works, the Franco-Indian jury selected this year: the first three albums of the Astérix series: Asterix and the Golden Sickle, Asterix and the Goths and Asterix the Gladiator, translated into Hindi by Dipa Chaudhuri and Puneet Gupta and published by Om Books International.
I understand that the translation of Asterix was not easy, the names of the characters being products of word play with references to French terms. The translators have indeed done an exceptional work of contextualising some of these names while staying true to its original meaning. It is amazing to see such a part of French heritage, a glimpse into the history of the country from where the language originates, now being available to Hindi readers.’
The announcement was made in presence of Jean-Claude Perrier, advisor on India to the SNE (Syndicat National de l’Edition Française, organisers of the Paris book fair), Vera Michalski-Hoffman, Publisher and President of the BIEF (International Bureau of French Publishers).
H.E. Emmanuel Lenain, along with Leila Slimani, novelist and French President Emmanuel Macron’s personal emissary for Francophone Affairs, conferred the prize on the translator and publisher in a special ceremony at Jaipur Book Mark.
The book is priced at Rs 295 each.