Tamil translation of French book wins Romain Rolland Book Prize

The Tamil translation of Frenchnovel 'Le mariage de plaisir' won the Romain Rolland BookPrize at the three-day Apeejay Kolkata Literary Festival whichended here on Sunday.

The winners of the prize are translator Dr S A VengadaSoupraya Nayagar and publisher Amutharasan Paulraj of ThadagamPublishers for the Tamil translation of the book, authored byTahar Ben Jelloun, the organisers said in a statement.

The publisher and translator will be invited by theFrench Institute in India to the Paris Book Fair 2021 (LivreParis 2021) where India will be the guest of honour.

Romain Rolland Book Prize, started in 2017, aims atawarding the best translation of a French title into anyIndian language, including English.

An Indo-French jury takes into account the qualitiesof the translation and the publication.

Emmanuel Lebrun-Damiens, counsellor for education,science and culture, Embassy of France, and the director ofthe French Institute in India, said in a statement, ''It hasnow been four years that the Romain Rolland Book Prize wascreated and we have seen some talented translators andpragmatic publishers awarded for their works.

''In the perspective of the Paris Book Fair 2021 whereIndia is the focus country and which will see at least 30Indian authors and publishers invited to Paris in May 2021 tomeet the French readers, the French Institute in India isworking more and more to increase translation of French booksin Indian languages,'' he said.

The jury included renowned scholars and experts fromFrance and India, including Annie Montaut, Michle Albaret-Maatsch, Renuka George, Sindhuja Veeraragavan, GeethaKrishnankutty and Chinmoy Guha.

Apart from the winning entry, the short list includedMalayalam translation of 'Souvenirs Dormants', and Hinditranslation of 'Pour que tu ne teperdes pas dans le quartier',the statement said.