Dalla Publisher Will Evans, founder of Deep Vellum Press, will be honored with the Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters by the French Ministry of Culture on May 20.
The Order of Arts and Letters, established in 1957 by the French government, recognizes individuals who have made significant contributions to arts and literature in France and internationally.
Evans will be awarded by the Cultural Counselor of France in the United States, Mohamed Bouabdallah, Director of Villa Albertine. Since its inception in 2013, Dallas Deep Vellum has contributed to literary diversity, publishing translations of contemporary and classic works worldwide. Making both Evans and Deep Vellum the largest publisher of French translations of the English language, publishing more than 160 books translated from French.
“I am honored by the French government’s recognition of Deep Vellum’s mission to bring the world into conversation through literature. All of these voices, writing in the timeless beauty of the French language, have been brought to the English-speaking world through the invaluable work of literary translators like Emma Ramadan, Jeffrey Zuckerman, Roland Glasser, Olivia Baes, Eve Hill-Agnus, and Mark Polizzotti,” he said in a statement.
In 2013, Evans founded Deep Vellum Publishinga nonprofit independent book publisher in Deep Ellum dedicated to translating novels into English for American audiences. Deep Vellum Books followed in early 2016 to serve as a cultural community center with literature at the heart of its programming.
With 1,200 books written in over 75 languages from 100 countries in its list, Deep Vellum has published Francophone authors from 11 countries, including Mauritius, Haiti, the Democratic Republic of Congo, India, Burundi, Tunisia, Morocco, Switzerland, Belgium, and Luxembourg.