It’s an exciting day for lovers of French literature everywhere. Today in Sweden, French author Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio was awarded the 2008 Nobel Prize for Literature, becoming the first French-language author to do so since Claude Simon in 1985 (Gao Xingjian, a French citizen who writes in Chinese, won in 2000).
Le Clézio has a very interesting life story , and at the moment few English translations of his works are in print, with the notable exception of “The Mexican Dream,” a novel that depicts Mexico without European settlers. It was published by the University of Chicago Press in 1993, but hopefully we’ll soon see more translations of Le Clézio’s work on the market!
Corinne,
I am a French>English translator very interested in translated fiction. How do I start with this? Should I approach English language publishers to gauge their interest first? Do I query the French publishers regarding permissions?
I have read Clézio’s work in several classes and I agree that it is well-worth translating. I had not realized that encountering his work first in the original French was not just the preferred option, but my only option.
Thanks,
Jenn
@Jenn, thanks for your comment. Wouldn’t it be great if the non-French speaking world could read more of these wonderful authors! Literary translation is a whole different industry than non-literary translation; a good source of information is the American Literary Translators Association (www.literarytranslators.org), they have a lot of really useful information on their site. My understanding is that the key issue is whether the person or company holding the translation rights to the original work is willing to release/sell them and whether an English-language publisher is interested in purchasing the rights and publishing the translation; that seems to be the first step. Another good source for French works is the French Publishers Agency in New York. Best of luck to you!
Corinne:
Thanks for this post. JMG le Clezio is a great writer and I was so happy to hear about his Nobel Prize today.
One of is less known book and great work is called “Diego et Frida” (about Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo) and it would be great if it was translated (I don’t believe it has been).
And like JMG Le Clezio stated after receiving his prize “keep reading novels, it is a good way to understand the current world”.
Marianne
Corinne,
Thanks for the great advice!
-Jenn