Jean-Pierre Minaudier (1961) is a writer, translator and literary researcher. He has a special relationship with Estonian culture through his translation and teaching work at the French National Institute of Oriental Languages and Civilizations (INALCO).
Among his literary and cultural contributions are “A History of Estonia and Estonians” (“Histoire de l’Estonie et de la nation estonienne“) published in 2007 and French translations of famous Estonian novels : “Truth and Justice, part III” (“Jours d’émeutes” / “Tõde ja õigus, 3. osa”) by Jaan Tammsaare, published in 2009 ; and the widely acclaimed novel “The Man Who Spoke Snakish” (“L’homme qui savait la langue des serpents” / “Mees kes teadis ussisõnu”) by Andrus Kivirähk, published in 2013. He has received several literary prizes for the latter, among them the prize for best translation of an Estonian novel from The Cultural Endowment of Estonia (Kultuurkapital).
On this occasion, Jean-Pierre Minaudier will be talking about his recent humorous encyclopedic book “Poésie du gérondif“, published in 2014.
All events at HeadRead Literary Festival are free of charge, with the exception of the “Poetic mass” in Niguliste church, which has an entering fee. More info about the program of HeadRead festival
“The Man Who Spoke Snakish” / “Mees, kes teadis ussisõnu” / “L’Homme qui savait la langue des serpents”, by author: A. Kivirähk, French traduction: Jean-Pierre Minaudier. Illustrations by Denis Dubois