French translation of Baturin novel wins prestigious award

Guillaume Gibert has won the Amédée Pichot Award for his French translation of Estonian author Nikolai Baturin’s novel “The Bear’s Heart,” ERR reports.

Baturin, who lived from 1936 to 2019, was known for an original, playful style and for pushing the boundaries of language. His writing drew on dialect, particularly the rich expressive possibilities of the Mulgi dialect, as well as archaisms, newly coined words and his own linguistic inventions.

These features make translating Baturin’s work a distinctive creative challenge. Gibert’s translation brings the novel to French-language readers and offers a new way to discover Estonian literature in France.

The Amédée Pichot Award was established in 1995 by ATLAS, an association that promotes literary translation. It recognises one contemporary work of fiction each year for the quality of its translation and carries a prize of 5,000 euros. Seven translators were finalists this year.

French publisher Paulsen released Gibert’s translation of “The Bear’s Heart.”