In the Footsteps of Meena Alexander
Sophie d’Aubreby and Sarah Martine Voke recently completed their Villa Swagatam residency at the Vagamon Writers’ Retreat in Kerala. Their shared mission: to introduce the work of renowned poet Meena Alexander to a wider French readership.
“The first part of our residency in Vagamon allowed us to bring sounds, smells, colours, and textures to the images that imbue Meena Alexander’s writing when she evokes so vividly her homeland in Kerala. The calm and quietude of the tea-covered hills were an ideal setting from which to read and work, and made it possible to lay the foundations for our respective projects.”
- Sophie d’Aubreby and Sarah Martine Voke
Sarah is preparing the French translation of Fault Lines, a lyrical memoir in which Meena Alexander recounts her life between India, Sudan, Europe, and the United States, reflecting on exile, memory, and the fractured identities shaped by migration, while Sophie is developing a creative project inspired by Meena’s life and writing. During their residency, they retraced the geographies that shaped her transnational voice, travelling from Kerala to Delhi and Bangalore.
“Translation is not merely a linguistic exercise, it is an act of cultural transmission. To do justice to Meena Alexander’s writing, I felt compelled to step into the cultural context that informed her writing. The time in Kerala, as well as the invaluable opportunities to meet with people who knew her, has greatly helped shape my understanding of her work, and will certainly infuse my translation with greater authenticity.”
- Sarah Martine Voke
On 22 January, Sarah and Sophie left the mist-covered hills of Vagamon for the vibrant coastal city of Kozhikode, designated a UNESCO City of Literature. There, they took part in the Kerala Literature Festival, a landmark cultural event that draws more than 500,000 visitors over the course of four days and transforms the shoreline into a dynamic space of ideas, debate, and artistic exchange.
During the festival, they engaged in a lively public conversation alongside the German author Anna Sophie Stein and the bestselling writer David Wagner. Their panel, “Room for Imagination: Writers in Residence,” explored the creative possibilities opened up by displacement and dialogue, themes that resonated deeply with their own residency experience in Vagamon.
For Vagamon’s residents, the KLF is an essential milestone: an extraordinary platform for encounter and reflection. It offers the opportunity to discover the contemporary voices shaping Malayalam literature while also engaging with some of the most prominent writers and thinkers from India and beyond. Sarah and Sophie were particularly inspired by listening to the poet Jeet Thayil and the acclaimed novelist Kiran Desai.
Watch the interview with Sarah Martine Voke and Sophie d’Aubreby and step into the unique atmosphere of their residency in Vagamon. They reflect on the individual projects they had the opportunity to develop alongside one another, united by a shared inspiration: the work of Meena Alexander.
They also share their impressions and experiences from the Kerala Literature Festival, offering insight into how this vibrant literary gathering resonated with their creative journey.