Jaipur, Jan 25 (IANS) S.R. Kichenamourty's Tamil translation of "La vie d'un homme inconnua" (The Life of an Unknown Man) by Andrei Makine, published in France by Le Seuil and in India by Kalachuvadu, was on Friday awarded the second Romain Rolland Prize for literary translation at the Jaipur Literature Festival.

French Ambassador Alexandre Ziegler announced the winner.

"I warmly congratulate S.R. Kichenamourty and the publishing house Kalachuvadu on winning the Romain Rolland Book Prize this year. For the second edition of the Prize, we had many excellent translations," Ziegler said.

He added that this was a cause for celebration, as the people-to-people and intellectual exchanges between India and France is not restricted to one city or one language.

"Moreover, India will be the Guest of Honour at the 2020 Paris Book Fair, which is a great opportunity to expand the number of translations and publications of Indian books by French publishers and build a dynamic network between the French and Indian publishing industries," he said.

The Romain Rolland Book Prize, launched during the 2018 Jaipur Literature Festival
as an annual award, is supported by the Apeejay Trust. It consists of an invitation to the Paris Book Fair 2019 in March for the publisher of the work and an invitation for the translator to attend a one-month residency in France.

--IANS ss/vm