From Réunion to Ireland: Gaëlle Bélem in Translation

Gaëlle Bélem’s There’s a Monster Behind the Door (published October 2024) is a picaresque, brutal, and mordantly funny tale of one little girl’s attempt to escape her sadistic parents’ reign of terror in Réunion in the 1980s. It is the first of two novels by the Réunionese author to be published by the Sligo-based Bullaun Press, the first Irish publisher to take literature in translation as its focus. 

In this event, Bélem will appear in conversation with her translators Karen Fleetwood and Laëtitia Saint-Loubert as well as publisher Bridget Farrell (Bullaun Press) to discuss the novel itself (originally published by Gallimard as Un monstre est là, derrière la porte, in 2020), the story of its translation, and how it came to be published in Ireland. 

The conversation will be chaired by Prof. Mary Gallagher (School of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics) and Dr. Tim Groenland (School of English, Drama and Film). 

Lunch and tea/coffee will be provided after the event.

Host or Publisher UCD Humanities Institute