Teresa Cremisi, publisher at Italy’s Adelphi Edizioni, with Anne-Solange Noble, wearing her Médaille de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. Image: Publishing Perspectives, Eric Dupuy
By Eric Dupuy | @duperico
‘A Form of Collective Recognition’
Having taken a retirement lap at Frankfurter Buchmesse in 2022, Anne-Solange Noble now has topped her many awards and other honors with her elevation to the rank of Officer of the French Medal of Arts and Letters.
La Médaille de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres was presented to her late last month by Teresa Cremisi, publisher at Italy’s Adelphi Edizioni and the former CEO of Flammarion. Noble, herself, was for 30 years the rights director with Paris’ Gallimard and became known for having included three Nobel Prize in Literature winners among her authors.
All told, the Franco-Quebecoise Noble spent 37 years in the industry, becoming easily one of the brightest, smiling faces at Frankfurt each year. And in making her address on getting the Medal of Arts and Letters, she delivered pointed remarks about the publishing sector’s evolution to an audience of 80 industry professionals at the Centre National du Livre, in Paris.
Noble emphasized the strategic importance of non-francophone territories over traditional French-speaking markets.
“My profession,” she said, “operated in this non-Francophonie, which covers far more countries than the Francophonie.”
Noble argued that these markets represent French publishing’s greatest growth opportunity. Countries outside the francophone sphere “have absolutely no way to access our authors unless they are translated,” she said.
She cited classics like Hugo’s Notre-Dame de Paris and Saint-Exupéry’s The Little Prince as examples of French cultural influence achieved through translation rather than direct linguistic connection.
Defending France’s Publisher-Held Author Rights
Noble defended the “integrated rights” model, in which publishers handle translation rights in-house, rather than through external agents. She linked this structure to French remaining the world’s second-most translated language.
Noble’s remarks highlighted ongoing tensions in global publishing. She referenced “American dictates, Russian fake news, and Chinese censorship” as threats to intellectual exchange, positioning translation as cultural resistance.
Nicolas Roche
The ceremony drew representatives from major French publishers including Grasset, Albin Michel, Stock, and Flammarion, alongside institutional figures including France Livre’s head (formerly BIEF), Nicolas Roche, and the Syndicat National de l’Edition (SNE) head Renaud Lefebvre.
Nobel-winning author JMG Le Clézio and Muriel Barbery attended, underscoring the symbiotic relationship between creators and rights professionals.
Now dividing her time between Paris and Montreal, Noble said, “This medal is a form of collective recognition” of rights professionals.
She distributed copies of a 1985 French newspaper Liberation article profiling 12 rights directors and noting continuity in professional relationships despite technological transformation.
Noble’s emphasis on personal relationships and market knowledge reflects traditional publishing values facing pressure from digital platforms and changing reader behaviors. The ceremony highlighted ongoing debates about cultural policy funding, with Noble arguing for supporting translated authors’ promotional tours rather than untranslated works.
French publishing houses continue recruiting specialized rights staff despite industry consolidation, suggesting the model’s resilience amid global market shifts.
More news related to Anne-Solange Noble’s career is here, more the French book publishing industry is here, on rights and the international trade is here, and more on Frankfurter Buchmesse is here.
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