In 2020, when the Indian book industry was supposed to be its Guest of Honor, the French book fair Salon du Livre was among the many events that were canceled because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Now, two years later, on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of India’s independence, Indian literature will be celebrated at the first-again in-person book fair in France, which has been transformed into a multiple-location gig, the Festival du Livre de Paris from 21 to 24 April.
The organization of the French book fair Salon du Livre will center around a 10,000-square-meter exhibition space and ‘small lounges’ at the ‘Grand Palais Ephémère,’ a temporary wooden structure close to the Eiffel Tower, created to house events during renovations of the Grand Palais for the 2024 Olympics. Access to the fair will be free of charge but has to be reserved online in advance. During the main three days of the festival, author presentations and book readings will be held at several other locations, as well as a series of guided literary tours around the city.
Friday 22 April
Write-Rewrite History
Shashi Tharoor, diplomat, politician, author
Aanchal Malhotra, historian
Mirza Waheed, author
Christophe Jaffrelot, political science specialist on India
Moderator: Jean-Claude Perrier
Location: Centre de Recherches Internationales
Current literary trends
Perumal Murugan, author, literary critic
Geetanjali Shree, author
Deepak Unnikrishnan, author
Moderator: Karthika Nair
Location: Grand Palais Éphémère
Living in India: Global Cities and the Environment
Anuradha Roy, author, journalist, editor
Bijal Vachharajani, author
Shoba Narayan, author
Moderator: Vaiju Naravane
Location: Grand Palais Éphémère
Living in the World: Calcutta, Abu Dhabi and London
Sandip Roy, author and journalist
Deepak Unnikrishnan, author
Mirza Waheed, author
Moderator: Dominique Vitalyos
Location: Grand Palais Éphémère
Meeting with Geetanjali Shree and Aanchal Malhotra
with, Annie Montaut (specialist on Hindi literature and translator)
Shailendra Mudgal (translator and teacher of Hindi)
Christine Villeneuve, publisher, Editions des femmes
Antoinette Fouque, translator
Location: Bookshop Le Phénix
Saturday 23 April
Engaging in Indian comics and youth literatureÂ
George ‘Appupen’ Mathen, author, designer, musician
Bijal Vachharajani, author
Karthika Nair, author and poet
Discussion illustrated by Joelle Jolivet
Moderator: Jul, comics author
Location: Grand Palais Éphémère
Adapt and Translate: the Mahâbhârata
Ariane Mnouchkine
Jean-Marie Michaud, illustrator of a French Mahâbhârata comics
Nicolas Filicic and ‘his’ illustrated Mahâbhârata
Amina Okada and Indian miniatures
Thierry Pecou, music
Film de Corinne Jaber, comedian
Reading of extracts in Indian languages:
Niranjani Iyer (French-Hindi-Tamil)
Geetanjali Shri (Hindi)
Perumal Murugan and Nirupama Nityanandan (Tamil)
Deepak Unnikrishnan et Jeet Thayil (English)Â
Lectures illustrated by Joelle Jolivet
Concept: Karthira Nair et Priti Paul
Translation support by the Apeejay Group and Priti Paul
Location: Museum of Asian Art
Meeting with Perumal Murugan
Perumal Murugan is a professor of Tamil and the author of numerous novels and poems. Some of his works have been translated into English, such as his latest novel Poonachi and a collection of his poems, Songs of a Coward: Poems of Exile. Only one of his books has been translated into French, Le Bucher (The Funeral Pyre), at Editions Marsan.
Location: Bookshop Le Phénix
Sunday 24 April
The Indian detective story
Ajay Chowdhury, author and film director
Ishrat Syed, author and surgeon
Kalpana Swaminathan, author and surgeon
Moderator: Helene Fischbach, director of the International Festival of Detective Stories Location: Grand Palais Éphémère
