French Week 2025 | Afternoon Tea with Vineet Lal

Grab a cuppa and get to know French Translator and previous Co-Chair of the SoA’s Translators Association, Vineet Lal. Vineet will be in conversation with American-British Novelist, Tracy Chevalier to discuss his work and career and to offer a glimpse into his creative routine.

French Week 2025

From 27 Jan – 14 Feb 2025, we are running a week of events to mark the 60^th anniversary of the Scott Moncrieff Prize for translations of books from French into English. This series of events kicks off our 2025 events programme.

Scott Moncrieff, is an annual £2,000 literary prize for French to English translation, awarded to one or more translators every year for a full-length work. Following the success of our Japan Week to celebrate our Translation Prizes, this year we shine a spotlight on French.

The week includes:

• 28 Jan | Industry Insider – 60 Years of the Scott Moncrieff: Celebrating Francophone African Writing
• 29 Jan | SoA in Person: Tour of The Institut français du Royaume-Uni (French Institute of the United Kingdom)
• 30 Jan | Afternoon Tea with Vineet Lal
• 14 Feb | Feel Good Friday – Draw along with Sandrine Kao

Programme

• Welcome and housekeeping from Tracy Chevalier (3 mins)
• Introduction to Vineet Lal and a glimpse into his creative routine (15-25 mins)
• Vineet will do a short presentation on the various ways to translate (2-3 mins) 
• Q&A with audience (10-15 mins)
• Summary and closing comments (3 mins)
• This event will be moderated by Ambre Morvan – Senior Policy and Public Affairs Manager & Contracts Advisor, SoA

The Line-up

Vineet Lal

Vineet Lal studied French at the University of Edinburgh and Princeton University, and has a degree in translation and conference interpreting from Heriot-Watt University. He has translated a number of leading French authors including Guillaume Musso, Michel Bussi and Grégoire Delacourt. His translation of The Red Notebook was shortlisted for the CWA Crime Fiction in Translation Dagger 2023, and his translation of The Brothers Zzli won the Prix Albertine Jeunesse (6-8 years category) 2024. He was co-chair of the Translators Association from 2022-24.

Facebook: @vineetlaltranslator | X: @vineet_uk

Tracy Chevalier

Tracy Chevalier has French Huguenot origins, though is an American resident in the UK for 40 years. She has written 11 novels, including Girl with a Pearl Earring and, most recently, The Glassmaker. Two of her novels – The Virgin Blue and The Lady and the Unicorn – are both set in France.

Website: www.tracychevalier.com | Threads: @tracychevalierwriter | Bluesky: tracychevalier.bsky.social | Facebook: Tracy Chevalier Author | Instagram: @tracychevalierwriter

Send us your questions

If you would like to send questions in advance, email AMorvan@societyofauthors.org with ’Vineet Lal – Question’ in the subject header. We will prioritise questions sent in advance and answer as many as we can from the audience on the day.

Translation Prizes 2024 – Online Fundraising Bookshop

Browse our virtual Bookshop.org store, featuring titles shortlisted for this year’s Translation Prizes. When you make a purchase using our affiliate links, a percentage will go to the Drusilla Harvey Access Fund, giving authors support for travel, subsistence, childcare or access needs for events, residencies, and retreats.

Need to know 

Accessibility

• Attendees will have the option to turn on the live transcript option
• If you require BSL interpretation for this event, please email events@societyofauthors.org

Before the event

• Once registered, you will be sent a confirmation email with the Zoom link
• If the confirmation email doesn’t arrive in your inbox, please check your junk/spam email folder
• Please add events@societyofauthors.org to your Safe Senders list so you receive our confirmation and reminder emails

During the event

• This online event will take place on Zoom Webinar; you will not be visible on screen but will be able ask questions via the Q&A function or interact via the chat box
• This event will be recorded but you won’t be on screen
• This event is 45 minutes

After the event

• Hashtags for this event: #SoAatHome & #TranslationPrizes
• You’ll be able to catch the recording on our Vimeo channel
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Booking

Book your place by using the registration below.

This #SoAatHome events is free but if you can afford to, please consider donating to Drusilla Harvey Access Fund. The fund is to help provide authors support for travel, subsistence, childcare or access needs for events, residencies, and retreats. DONATE HERE