JJohn O’Brien, the Irish-American publisher and founder of Dalkey Archive Press, has been named a Knight in the French Ordre des Arts et Lettres by France’smbassador to Ireland, Jean-Pierre Thébault, in a ceremony at the embassy in Dublin.
The award recognises O’Brien’s efforts to promote cultural links between France and Ireland through his work in publishing.
O’Brien has devoted himself for the past 30 years to promoting literature in translation, as well as championing the rights of translators in academia. He has published well over 700 books from more than 40 different countries, the majority of which are literary translations. O’Brien has the largest North American catalogue of French authors in English with 53 French authors and 103 titles translated and published: from Celine to Jean-Philippe Toussaint, from Nathalie Sarraute to Lydie Salvaire, from Claude Simon to Jacques Roubaud.
Dalkey Archive Press publishes fiction, poetry and literary criticism in Illinois in the United States, Dublin and London. Its mission is both artistic and educational, and has become a “major force on the global literary scene” (Time Magazine).
The Ordre des Arts et Lettres (Order of Arts and Letters) was established in 1957 and is awarded by the French ministry of culture to recognise eminent artists, writers, and scholars for promoting the awareness and enrichment of France’s cultural heritage throughout the world. O’Brien is being inducted as a knight in the Order.
