In recognition of her masterful translation of Bill Bryson’s At Home: A Short History of Private Life (Une histoire du monde sans sortir de chez moi, éditions Payot-Rivages). Describing the volume, Marc Chénetier writes: “There is humor, immense erudition. There is delicacy, the abolition of expected distances: in time, in space, between an American and the English place he describes, between the translator and the malicious game of intertwined tonalities. Wit, play and elegance, cultured without pretention, funny, surprising: these qualities are shared by Bill Bryson and Hélène Hinfray…. You must read this history of the world, this curious voyage, this voyage of a curious man around his room … to realize that we do not really know how to look at or interrogate the things that surround us.”
Awardees
Mathilde Bach
Mathilde Bach received a recognition for her translation of William Giraldi’s Hold the Dark (Aucun homme ni dieu, editions Autrement).
Nicholas Richard
For his groundbreaking translation of Russell Hoban’s Riddley Walker, which he entitled Enig marcheur. Hoban, who died in December 2011, was known for the spectrum of genres in which he wrote, including a very popular children’s series. Riddley Walker, his award-winning 1980 science fiction novel, presents a particular challenge to the translator, as its first-person narration is conducted in a language Hoban created. Nicolas Richard has translated work by a range of American authors, including Philip K. Dick, Hunter S. Thompson, Richard Brautigan and Thomas Pynchon.
Pierre Demarty
For his translation into French of Paul Harding’s Tinkers (French title, Les Foudroyés). This second Coindreau prize in our 2012 program year reflects the shift of the annual award ceremony in Paris from December to June.
Jacques Mailhos
For his translation into French of environmentalist Edward Abbey’s non-fiction work, Desert Solitaire.
Laurence Viallet
For her fine translation of The Brief, Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, by the Dominican author Junot Diaz. This novel, which won the Pulitzer Prize in 2008, was published in France by Plon, in their Feux Croisés collection.
Serge Chauvin
For his translations of Apex and The Colossus of New York (Gallimard), by the New York novelist and MacArthur Fellow Colson Whitehead.
Agnès Desarthe
For her translation of Cynthia Ozick’s The Puttermesser Papers.
France Camus‐Pichon
For her translations of Orphans and The Dead Fish Museum (Albin), both by Charles d’Ambrosio.
Marc Amfreville
For the translation of Monique Truong’s The Book of Salt (Houghton-Mifflin 2003).
Marie‐Claude Pasquier
For her translation of The Piano Tuner, by Daniel Mason.
Antoine Cazé
For his translations of A Box of Matches and The Size of Thoughts, both by Nicholson Baker.
Christophe Claro
For his fine translations into French of Mark Danielewski’s The House of Leaves and John Barth’s The Sotweed Factor.
Françoise Cartano
For the translation of Martin Dressler: The Tale of an American Dreamer, by Steven Millhauser.
Sabine Porte
For her translation of For the Time Being, by Annie Dillard.
Anne Damour
For her translation of The Hours, by Michael Cunningham.
Bernard Hoepffner
For his translation into French of Red the Fiend, by Gilbert Sorrentino
Jean Pavrans
For his translation of Edith Wharton’s autobiography, A Backward Glance (published as Les Chemins parvenus)
Anne Wicke
For her translation into French of The Same River Twice, by Chris Offutt
Michel Lederer
For his translations into French of Jane Welch’s Winter in the Blood and Harold Brodsky’s Angel (volume two of Brodsky’s Stories in an Almost Classical Mode)
Paol Keineg
For his translation into French of William Bronk’s volume of poems entitled The World, The Worldless
*The Prix Coindreau Prize, The Jeanne Varnay Pleasants Prize for Language Teaching, and the CASVA-Henry & Judith Millon Award are currently inactive.