They've announced the winner of Le prix Mémorable Initiales -- "un prix qui salue la réédition d’un auteur malheureusement oublié, d’un auteur étranger décédé encore jamais traduit en français, ou d’un inédit ou d’une traduction révisée, complète d’un auteur" (i.e. basically for an overlooked book) -- and it goes to the French translation of John Williams' Stoner (which New York Review Books reissued a few years back; see their publicity page, or get your copy at Amazon.com).
What's particularly noteworthy: the prize-winning French translation is by Anna Gavalda -- yet another instance of a foreign author who also dabbles in translation. While it's true she wasn't one of the top ten bestselling French authors last year -- see my previous mention -- she remains (rather inexplicably, to my mind ...) among the most successful French authors, and -- by American standards -- it's astonishing that someone of her stature would spend her time doing something like this. (No comparable American author would.)
What's particularly noteworthy: the prize-winning French translation is by Anna Gavalda -- yet another instance of a foreign author who also dabbles in translation. While it's true she wasn't one of the top ten bestselling French authors last year -- see my previous mention -- she remains (rather inexplicably, to my mind ...) among the most successful French authors, and -- by American standards -- it's astonishing that someone of her stature would spend her time doing something like this. (No comparable American author would.)