The french institute in India on Keeping Pace With New Trends

The India–France Year of Innovation invites us to imagine new possibilities across creative fields. How do you see publishing becoming a space for innovation between France and India?

The India–France Year of Innovation encourages us to explore new ways of connecting our creative ecosystems and publishing is certainly one of the most fertile spaces for exchange.

Co-creation and adaptation across multiple formats are dynamic spaces for innovation. This January, Pratham Books will publish a new version of The Little Prince in 5 Indian languages, illustrated by Priya Kuriyan and adapted by Anushka Ravishankar with our support. By transforming this French classic into a fully illustrated children’s album with an Indian twist, our hope is to make it more relatable for young Indian readers and carry St Exupéry’s universal message even further.

Accessibility and affordability are also keys to our philosophy. Ultimately, books carry ideas, values and worldviews. Currently, many great contemporary French books that have been translated into English are not available in India or if they are, they are in imported editions with prohibitive prices. We wish to work with Indian publishers and/or distributors to have local editions of these books, at affordable prices available in the Indian subcontinent only. This is an objective we pursue, especially for books that talk about important topics that are not as much talked about in India. This is what we did with Annie Ernaux’s and Neige Sinno’s books that now exist in a local Indian edition.

Last but not least, our objective is to create spaces for conversation between Indian and French publishing professionals. Not only do we invite French publishers to India but we also grant fellowships for Indian publishers to go to France. In-person meetings are essential to create lasting bonds and trustworthy professional relationships. “The Future of Books” is one such initiative that aims to bring French and Indian professionals together to look at the latest developments in publishing such as the growth of audiovisual adaptation, the rise of global IPs and the interest for new formats such as webtoon and audiobooks. We hope this initiative will lead to more collaboration between our two industries.

The French Book Office has been instrumental in building literary bridges. How is it evolving to keep pace with new trends?

The French Institute in India is constantly evolving to keep pace with new trends. To stay relevant, we have to adapt our tools and our programmes to the world we live in.

A great example of this philosophy is the Villa Swagatam, which was born out of the realization that cultural exchanges cannot happen overnight and that we should be more mindful of our ecological footprint. The program enables writing and artistic residencies lasting from 1 to 3 months, across 30 residency spaces in France and India. Indian residents get first-hand, in-depth experiences of France thanks to our residency partners. They are programmed in major literary spaces in France and so do French residents coming to India who participate in the Indian literary festivals. This program has become pivotal in our cooperation model and renowned writers such as Meena Kandasamy, Jacintha Kerketta or Paramita Singh will go to France under the Villa Swagatam program this year.

The Publication Assistance Programme (PAP) has been a key link between French and Indian publishers. How is it adapting to changing publishing trends?

The Publication Assistance Programme covers every format and every Indian language. Our primary concern is the quality of translations. No matter the format in which they are published, our role is to ensure the fidelity to the original text and its quality, thanks to a very strict quality check done by our team of experts.

One measure we have taken is to significantly reduce the number of projects we support. There is a hyperproduction of books and French books are a niche market so we want to work with publishers who are ready to promote the book actively.

To help promote the books we support, we have also started a programme called Pardon My French! designed to give more visibility to French books in translation through curation, social media campaigns, and special events. We run hand-in-hand with passionate booksellers willing to bring a different flavour to their offer.

Translation plays a vital role in bringing cultures closer. What innovations do you foresee strengthening translation exchange between our two countries?

There is a real scarcity of seasoned translators from French to Indian languages. Yet, translators are the most essential bridges to bring our cultures closer. To address this issue, we run online training programs called “Translator’s Factories” that cover many Indian languages. From this year onwards, we also started a new Villa Swagatam residency dedicated to translators.

In the framework of the France-India Year of Innovation, we are running an experiment with the Centre for Translation at Ashoka University to foster “four-hands” translation. Each duo will be constituted of an expert in French language and a professional translator. The objective is to have them work in tandem, using the English text as a bridge but constantly referring to the French text to make sure the original ideas are not lost in translation.

I believe translation grants and translation residencies are essential to support the incredible work that translators do. The French National Book Centre offers residencies for foreign translators to spend 1 to 3 months in France with a fellowship but no Indian translator has applied in years despite our efforts to promote this programme. We hope that more will do in the future.

What new forms of collaboration or co-creation excite you most?

It is hard to say as we have so many projects in preparation for 2026. I would say Desibel is perhaps one of my favourites because of its scope and the multiple partners involved. It aims to amplify Indian creative voices in the field of AVGC-XR (Animation, Video Games, Comics and Extended Reality). It was born out of the realization that India has an incredible wealth of stories and artists but does not have the existing funding ecosystem for them to thrive. The first initiative is the launch of an imprint by Westland Books in February 2026 with 24 original creations adapted from Indian modern classics. Another initiatives is the organization of the first major retrospective exhibition on the history of Indian storytelling brought together as a collaboration between the Museum of Art and Photography in Bangalore and the International Centre for Comics and Image in Angoulême. Curated by Amruta Patil, the show will open in Bangalore in July 2026 and will be accompanied by a ground-breaking publication on the history of Indian comics.

I truly believe that, by working closely together, India and France can do wonders. My role is simply to ensure that the right people meet and that our projects benefit our two countries.

Julia Trouilloud is Cultural Attaché for books and ideas at the French Institute in India, New Delhi. Her role is to foster connections between the French and Indian publishing industries across the entire book chain and to create spaces for dialogue between France and India. Before joining this position, she worked with the French Institute in Paris and Seoul and lived in India between 2013-2017.