Philippe Bouquet.

I was greatly saddened to learn of the death of Philippe Bouquet, a former Professor of Scandinavian Literature at the University of Caen, and also a translator of Swedish literature and a prominent specialist on the proletarian literary movement.

I had the great pleasure of working with him on a project that was close to his heart, a passion he had developed during stays in Sweden in the regions of Västergötland and Värmland — the study of country churches, often very small ones, richly decorated with paintings dating from the Middle Ages. We travelled through these regions together in the spring of 2009, visiting 31 churches in total, following a well-established routine: while Philippe supplemented his notes from previous visits, I made sure to document in photographs the buildings and the artworks they contain. The book Svenska landsbygdskyrkor / Swedish Country Churches finally saw the light of day last year, published at the author's own expense. But above all, Philippe leaves behind him an impressive list of works translated from Swedish into French. Stig Dagerman, Henning Mankell, Wilhelm Moberg, Björn Larsson, Aino Trosell, Carl-Henning Wijkmark and so many other Swedish authors owe it to him that they can be read in French today.

Philippe was a tireless discoverer who worked with curiosity and tenacity to "smuggle" new literary works across the borders to wider readership. He translated more than 200 literary works.

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Philippe Bouquet

Värmland, spring 2009

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Svenska landsbygdskyrkor

Eglises de campagne suédoises

The book present 30 churches from two regions of Sweden, Västergötland and Värmland.

The foreword and the texts for each church are written by Philippe Bouquet (texts in Swedish, French and English).

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"La maman du meurtrier", by Ida Linde.

I have translated now from Swedish into French the novel ”Mördarens mamma” written by Ida Linde (Norstedts, Stockholm 2018).

None of Ida Lindes novels have been translated into French yet, in spite of a prolific literary production (novels, short stories, poetry) and two literature prizes (Aftonbladets litteraturpris 2014, Norrlands litteraturpris 2015).

Ida Linde is translated into other European languages; Polish, Serbian, Norwegian, Icelandic, Russian and Belarusian.

I am now looking for a French publisher who would be interested in introducing Ida Linde's literary work to French readers.

Ida Linde is represented by Norstedts Agency (Stockholm); Linda Altrov Berg is responsible for the foreign rights.

You can read a brief synopsis of the story in French

A presentation of the book is even disponible at the Institut Suédois (Paris).

For more portraits of the author, please take contact with the Agence Opale (Paris).

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The French translator Emma Ramadan won the Pen America Literary Awards 2021...

...in the category Translation for "A Country for Dying" written by the Moroccan novelist Abdellah Taïa. Congratulation to her !

From the judges’ citation: “The jury is delighted to celebrate Emma Ramadan’s translation of A Country for Dying (Seven Stories Press, 2020) by Abdellah Taïa, a Moroccan novelist writing in French". Read more on the Pen America website.

The book A Country for Dying (Un pays pour mourir) is published in french at Éditions du Seuil (Paris, 2015), and in Swedish (Ett land att dö i) by Elisabeth Grate Förlag (Stockholm, 2016) in a translation by Håkan Lindquist and Davy Prieur.

All the portraits of Abdellah Taïa are available at the Opale Agency. You can also see the complete collection of author portrait at https://www.laurentdenimal.se/thecompletecollection

A portrait of Abdellah Taïa is presented in the photo book "Portraits d'Auteurs / Author Portraits" (Carlssons 2020).

Abdellah Taïa, Beyrouth 2010.

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