Laurel Zuckerman's Paris Weblog

Paris Writers News Update March 2010

 This month, news from Ann Mah, Elizabeth Bard, Kacper Bartczak, Aaron Belz, Joshua Clover, Michael Farrell, Jacek Gutorow, Paul Grimstad, Paweł Marcinkiewicz, Maria Muresan, Bob Perelman, Eugene Richie, Sarah Riggs, Rosanne Wasserman, Barrett Watten, Harvey Vincent, Roma Tearne, VANNINA MAESTRI, RUFO QUINTAVALLE, ALEXANDRA SASHE, MARK TERRILL, Nick Calderbank, Dmitri Keramitis, Robert McLiam Wilson, Ira Seidenstein, Stephen Clarke, Marc Duret, Helen Benedict, Constance Borde and Sheila Malovany-Chevallier, information on workshops and new calls for submissions!

 New books and Selected Events: 

(for more see Jen Dick's Event List and PARIS WRITERS EVENTS on this blog's right sidebar.)

10 March – 3 April at 19h15 : THEATER in English “Relatively Speaking” by Alan Ayckbourn. Directed by Nick Calderbank. IN ENGLISH., Théâtre Nesle. Reservations 01 46 34 61 04.

  10 March  19:30 Ann Mah discusses the regional cuisine of China and presents Kitchen Chinese: A Novel about Food, Family and Finding 
 Ann Mah’s articles about food, travel, fashion, style and the arts have appeared in Conde Nast Traveler, the International Herald Tribune, Washingtonian magazine, the South China Morning Post, the Insider's Guide to Beijing, as well as on her blog. From 2003-2007 she lived in Beijing, where she was a staff writer and dining editor for That's Beijing, an English-language entertainment magazine. Her experiences in China inspired her novel, Kitchen Chinese. In 2005, she was awarded a James Beard culinary scholarship to study Italian cuisine in Bologna, Italy. AT The American Library in Paris

  

 11th March at 7p.m. Elizabeth Bard will present and sign her first book, “Lunch in Paris: A Love Story with Recipes. LUNCH IN PARIS is a memoir about a young American woman caught up in two passionate love affairs--one with her new beau, Gwendal, the other with French cuisine. Peppered with mouth-watering recipes for summer ratatouille, swordfish tartare and molten chocolate cakes, Lunch in Paris is a story of falling in love, redefining success and discovering what it truly means to be at home. AT: WH Smiths

 

 

13 March 15h-16h30 – A poetry reading at Charles V to close the Ashbery conference with guest authors Kacper Bartczak, Aaron Belz, Joshua Clover, Michael Farrell, Jacek Gutorow, Paul Grimstad, Paweł Marcinkiewicz, Maria Muresan, Bob Perelman, Eugene Richie, Sarah Riggs, Rosanne Wasserman and Barrett Watten. AT: Room 50, Charles V, 10 rue Charles V, 75004 Paris, M° St Paul or Sully Morland or Bastille. Details posted here:

 14th March at 7.30 pm EN FRANÇAIS : MOVING PARTS presents a reading of a play by Harvey Vincent "Un Americain Delirant a Paris" (en francais) For more, or e-mail Stephanie Campionmovingpartsparis@gmail.com for listings! Tel : 06 14 67 18 58 AT: Carr's Pub & Restaurant, 1 rue du Mont Thabor, 75001 Paris, M° Tuileries

 15 March 7pm Author and artist Roma Tearne will read from her acclaimed novels Bone China and Brixton Beach and present her Paris sketchbooks to the audience. A Sri Lankan-born artist and novelist living and working in Britain, Roma trained as a painter, completing her MA at the Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art, Oxford. For nearly 20 years her work as a painter, installation artist, and filmmaker has dealt with the traces of history and memory within public and private spaces. Her first novel Mosquito, was shortlisted for the Costa First Book Award. AT: Shakespeare & Co., 37rue de la Bûcherie, Paris 5ème. M° St Michel.

  

 18 March 7:30pm : The Paris-based literary journal UPSTAIRS AT DUROC invites you to a reading in honor of France’s Poetry Month, Le Printemps des Poètes, with work both in English and French (with English translations) from: VANNINA MAESTRI, RUFO QUINTAVALLE, ALEXANDRA SASHE and MARK TERRILL. AT: The American Library in Paris, 10 rue du Général Camou, 75007 Paris, Métro Ecole Militaire or RER station Pont de l’Alma.

 

18 March at 19h30: Café Littéraire First meeting around the novel Eureka Street written by Robert McLiam Wilson Reservation necessary. Places Limited. In English. AT : the Centre Culturel Irlandais, 5 rue des Irlandais, 75005 Paris, Res at : 01 58 52 10 30

  

21st March at 7.30 pm MOVING PARTS presents a reading of a screenplay by Alexis Niki "Momma's Office Boy" (in English) F AT: Carr's Pub & Restaurant, 1 rue du Mont Thabor, 75001 Paris, M° Tuileries 

 22 March 7pm Constance Borde and Sheila Malovany-Chevallier will discuss their new translation of The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir which marks the 60th anniversary of publication. First published in 1949, The Second Sex is a landmark in the history of feminism. Constance Borde and Sheila Malovany-Chevallier, both American, are longtime residents of France and former teachers at the Institut d’Etudes Politiques in Paris. AT: Shakespeare & Co., 37rue de la Bûcherie, Paris 5ème. M° St Michel.http://www.shakespeareandcompany.com/

 

 

 Tom Reeves’ book, Paris Insights – An Anthology, published in the United States by DP Books in January 2010 has been called a “witty, incisive and always informative compilation of sights, sounds and good advice about enjoying the City of Light from an insider's vantage point,” by travel writer Jim Calio.

 25th March at 7p.m. Stephen Clarke, author of the bestselling Merde series, will present and sign his new title “1000 Years of Annoying the French” Stephen Clarke lives in Paris, where he divides his time between writing and not writing. His first novel, “A Year in the Merde”, originally became a word-of-mouth hit in 2004, and is now published all over the world. Since then he has published three more bestselling Merde novels, as well as “Talk to the Snail”. AT: WH Smiths

 28th March EN FRANÇAIS : MOVING PARTS presents a reading of a play by Marc Duret "Coach de Vies" (en francais) AT: Carr's Pub & Restaurant, 1 rue du Mont Thabor, 75001 Paris, M° Tuileries

31 March QLIC Café will be held Wednesday, March 31. http://www.hopeinparis.com/qlic_caf%C3%A9

Dmitri Keramitis' "Seven Ontological Proofs of My Non-Existence" will be published by Dawn, a Welsh literary review, in June.

** ** ** ** **

Part II) Workshops in Paris! 

The Other Writers' Group! David Barnes' drop in writers' workshop (just turn up!) every Saturday 5pm till 7pm. Bring 8 copies of your prose or poetry for instant feedback and discussion. Length should be up to about 3 pages (prose) or 2 poems. Suggested donation 5 euros. Upstairs in the library at Shakespeare & Company, 37 rue de la Bûcherie, 75005 

Helen Benedict, a former instructor at WICE’s PWW, is offering a week-long writing workshop with Stephen O'Connor this July in a beautiful part of France. Sponsored by VCCA (Virginia Center for the Creative Arts), it provides workshops, individual teaching, tours, food and a glorious environment. It helps fund VCCA, too. 

 Words Alive O Theatre Classes and Workshops in English for Adults and Children : Theatre Workshop in English - Fridays 19h45 to 22h45 Théâtre de Ménilmontant 15, rue du Retrait 75020 Map. Open to native and fluent English speakers Try-out fee 15€ ; Intermediate Theatre Class in English - Wednesdays 20h15 to 21h45 23 rue de la Sourdière 75001 Map These classes offer a dynamic approach towards practicing English using theatre training, improvisation and work on texts. Open to anglophiles with a good level of spoken English who wish to improve their fluency and confidence. Also open to native speakers. Try-out fee 11€ : Theatre Workshop in English for children aged 7-10 - Saturdays 17h to 19h 35, rue St. Roch 75001 Paris Map The workshop is open to children who are bilingual or have an intermediate level of spoken English. The participants will work on improvisation, movement and theatre exercises to improve their speaking skills and create a play. Try-out fee 12€. Contact: wordsaliveo@gmail.com Tel 06 37 66 27 98 / 01 77 15 71 90

 March 14th - April 11th Explorations in Voice at WRITING BY THE SEINE: A five-week Sunday writing workshop offering a creative and supportive space for hopeful, emerging and experienced writers. 11AM - 1PM at the Shakespeare and Co bookshop, 37 rue de la Bûcherie, 75005. Contribution: 50 euros for an entire 5-week cycle. Please contact the workshop leader, Susannah Elisabeth Pabot, atwritingbytheseine@gmail.com for more details and to reserve a place.

April 3,4,5: Ira Seidenstein will give a workshop via Improfessionals in Paris. See Ira’s notes  He does courses on performance, clowing, etc.

 May 9th - June 6th : Plot and Narrative Containers: at WRITING BY THE SEINE: A five-week Sunday writing workshop offering a creative and supportive space for hopeful, emerging and experienced writers. 11AM - 1PM at the Shakespeare and Co bookshop, 37 rue de la Bûcherie, 75005 Contribution: 50 euros for an entire 5-week cycle. Please contact the workshop leader, Susannah Elisabeth Pabot, atwritingbytheseine@gmail.com for more details and to reserve a place.

 

June 27-July 2, 2010: Paris Writers Workshop! France's longest running English language writers workshop will take place from June 27-July 2, 2010. For new and established writers are welcome. Small workshops in Memoir & Biography, Short Story, Poetry, Creative Non-fiction and the Novel with instructors: Memoir - John Baxter; Short Story - Sheila Kohler; Poetry - Alice Notley; Creative Non-fiction -Mimi Schwartz; & Novel - Matt Thorne. Special features include lectures, walking tours, evening events, and a closing literary dinner - all for one inclusive price. The Paris Writers Workshop is committed to providing inspiration and high-level instruction on craft to writers of all skill levels in a supportive environment. The PWW celebrates the diversity of voices within its community of writers. Email: pariswritersworkshop@yahoo.com

Submit !

SUBMIT: "COMPENDIUM, a new magazine of images and words, is accepting submissions for its inaugural issue. 

 SUBMIT and read current version ONLINE NOW : Read Paris’ gai-straight-bi-mixed everything and anything goes magazine HORS-MIC. Also seeking editors and editorial staff in French, English or open to other native languages! To see the new edition, click the link! Editor Dominic says “La nouvelle édition de notre mag parisien anglo franco et gay friendly! Lisez et pensez de nous aider avec tes ideas, photos et textes! » Seeking art, photos, fiction, nonfiction, essays/reviews and poetry.  to see the issue. And to sign up for mailing list, send work, attend editorial meetings: contact Mag Litteraire, off_micparis@yahoo.fr

SUBMIT: Here we are on the verge of the first spring of the new decade, and we are celebrating the coming equinox with our Poetry Project—Fragments from Sappho contest. All poems submitted are eligible for inclusion on our April/May issue of the Poetry Project, an online journal from Tupelo Press, and for the first time, a print journal will be produced at the end of the year: Best of the Poetry Project. For the Fragments from Sappho project, our judge, Athena Kildegaard, will select one first prize ($500), one second prize ($250) and one third prize ($150) winner. The work of these winners will headline the issue, along with the balance of the poems for the April/May issue. See complete guidelines to submit

SUBMIT work for anthology: Following on from the success of our winter collection By The Winter Fires, we are now open to submissions for our summer collection. What does the summer mean to you? What memories does it hold? Is it all about holidays, or are there darker corners? “Crab Lines Off The Pier” is an anthology of summer. It can be recalled memories, present events or dreams, nature, journeys, sounds, sights and smells, joy or melancholy. Release your imagination to the theme and share with others. Indigo Dreams invites your poem to 40 lines or prose to 350 words. Please email just one selection with your submission as an attachment and your full name and address contained in the email Please use the anthology title as a heading to ensure it is considered. Closing Date is Friday 28th May 2010. Publication late June, early July.

 CONFERENCE:The Ashbery conference will take place in Paris this month.

 SPOKEN WORD   Share your work on any theme or work on the theme of the night.

15 March from 8:30pm to LATE: on Bread… du pain

22 March from 8:30pm to LATE: SpokenWord on Lies/lying

29 March from 8:30pm to LATE: SpokenWord on Needs

AT: Cabaret Populaire/Culture Rapide, 103 rue Julien Lacroix Metro Belleville/Pyrénées 75020 Paris

 

 20 March 12:00 pm to 4:00 pm SOS ANNUAL BOOK SALE!!! Plenty of books in every category, with paperbacks for only 1 euro and hardcovers for 2 euros. To donate books please stop by on the day of the book sale and drop them off or contact  soshelpbooksale@gmail.com to donate large quantities in advance. Chris Payne, Publicity Coordinator at 06 22 41 61 85 SALE AT: Orrick Law Offices, 31, avenue Pierre 1er de Serbie, 75016, Paris

Are you in the Paris Writers News Directory of Authors ? If you're a writer working in Paris, please contact me!

Great Writers Ten Rules for writing fiction from guardian.co.uk : today Jonathan Franzen

 1 The reader is a friend, not an adversary, not a spectator.

2 Fiction that isn't an author's personal adventure into the frightening or the unknown isn't worth writing for anything but money.

3 Never use the word "then" as a conjunction – we have "and" for this purpose. Substituting "then" is the lazy or tone-deaf writer's non-solution to the problem of too many "ands" on the page.

4 Write in the third person unless a really distinctive first-person voice ­offers itself irresistibly.

5 When information becomes free and universally accessible, voluminous research for a novel is devalued along with it.

6 The most purely autobiographical fiction requires pure invention. Nobody ever wrote a more auto biographical story than "The Meta­morphosis".

7 You see more sitting still than chasing after.

8 It's doubtful that anyone with an internet connection at his workplace is writing good fiction.

9 Interesting verbs are seldom very interesting.

10 You have to love before you can be relentless.

To see complete Guardian article click here.

Paris Writers News Update February 2010

 This month, news from Marie de Prémonville, Wendell Steavenson , Frances Gendlin, Gwyneth Hughes, Dr. Monique Wells,  Michael Schuermann, Janet Skeslien Charles, IVY Writers, David Barnes, Harriet Lye, Geoffrey Gilbert, Jeffrey Greene, Geneva Writers Conference, Paris Writers Workshop and Shakespeare and Co’s Literary Festival !

 

FLASH : 7th.March : Gwyneth Hughes : "See How They Run" (in English) at Carr's PUB Sunday Night, Moving Parts play reading. Address : Carr's Pub & Restaurant, 1 rue du Mont Thabor, 75001 Paris (métro Tuileries). 19h30 !

28 writers from Paris attended the Geneva Writers Conference. A grand thank you to Susan Tibergian and the Geneva Writers Group for the excellent welcome and fine workshops. 

As time permits I am adding more Paris writers to the Directory. New additions include:  Faith Mclellan, Debra Mervant, Anca Metiu, Leslye Morgan Schneier, Rachel Nisbit, Kjersti Overland, Beth Peoc'h, Anna Pook, Melissa Prideaux, Sara Rahman, Paula Read, Dorothy Renn, Deidre Roberts,  Sara Rose-Carswell, Mary Scheurer, Pamela Shandel, , Sue Souchard, Lisa Storm Olsen, Slavko Tcholak, Trendell Thompson, Shizue Tomoda,  Emma Vandore, Vivienne. Vermes, Mayanne Wright, and Juliet Young  ( If you would like me to add a website or blog for you, please contact me.)

Mark your calendars for Shakespeare and Co’s  literary festival from the 18th to 20th June and the Paris Writers Workshop organized by WICE on June 22 to July 2 ! More on both of these excellent events later!

Paris Writers News is also on  FACEBOOK!! Become a fan! 

 FLASH: Le Monde's Education supplement on learning English out Febrqry 10th! See page 7 for my modest if radical contribution as the author of Sorbonne Confidential ("Bring in new blood!")

New books !

 Marie de Prémonville : Les Matins Courts.  This first novel has already been nominated for several prizes. Marie has brilliantly translated many books into French.  We wish her every success in her debut as novelist!

Here is a rave review in French.

 Wendell Steavenson, The Weight of a Mustard Seed This book tells the story of Iraq from the inside out, giving a portrait of the Iraqis behind the headlines ‘a masterly and elegantly told story that weaves together the Iraqi past and present.’ – The New York Times. Steavenson  is the author of the acclaimed Stories I Stole (shortlisted for the Guardian First Book Award) and has worked for Time and written for a variety of publications, including the Telegraph, Granta, The New Yorker and Prospect. See an interview in The New Yorker

 

 

Michael Schuermann  Paris Movie Walks,10 February 19h30 Evenings with an Author: Journalist Michael Schuermann presents his book, ‘Paris Movie Walks,’ and discusses the role of Paris as a film location throughout the decades. AT: The American Library in Paris, 10, rue du Général Camou, 75007 Paris RER Alma Marceau or M° Ecole Militaire. 

 

 Frances Gendlin  Paris, Moi and the Gang This witty fictionalized memoir romps through the streets of the most beautiful city in the world weaving personal adventure and Franco-American history to reveal a Paris that most tourists never see on their own. 

 

 Events ! 

 For a complete list of literary events in Paris, consult Jen Dick's event blog. 

9 February 19h30 Dr. Monique Wells discusses ‘Black Paris and the Myth of a Colorblind France’ and presents an overview of 200 years of African-American history in Paris. AT: The American Library in Paris, 10, rue du Général Camou, 75007 Paris RER Alma Marceau or M° Ecole Militaire.http://www.americanlibraryinparis.org/

 

 15 February 7pm - Janet Skeslien Charles, Moonlight in Odessa (fiction) chosen by Publishers Weekly as one of their top ten debut novels this autumn. Her book will also be read on ‘Book at Bedtime’ on Radio 4 – the first reading starts on 15th February. ‘Charles paints a tender, bittersweet portrait of Ukraine and Odessa. … A lively, entertaining debut…’ –Kirkus Review AT: Shakespeare & Co., 37rue de la Bûcherie, Paris 5ème. M° St Michel. http://www.shakespeareandcompany.com/

 

 

19 February - Harriet Lye, Geoffrey Gilbert, Jeffrey Greene for “Her Royal Majesty” (online magazine launch) Join us for readings and festivities for the release party of the seventh issue of Her Royal Majesty (ww.herroyalmajesty.ca), an independent literary magazine founded in Halifax and now based in Paris. AT: Shakespeare & Co., 37rue de la Bûcherie, Paris 5ème. M° St Michel. http://www.shakespeareandcompany.com/

 

 23 Feb at 19h30 : IVY Writers Paris bilingual reading with PASCAL POYET & Guest American author tbc this week (so check back). Poyet’s BIOS online at http://www.cipmarseille.com/auteur_fiche.php?id=1060 or soon up with full details at the Ivy blog: http://ivywritersparis.blogspot.com/(full details up soon !) At: The Next, downstairs, 17 rue Tiquetonne 75002. M° Etienne Marcel / RER Les Halles.

 

8, 15 and 22 Feb from 8:30pm to LATE: SpokenWord Share your work on any theme or work on the theme of the night! See their blog and Join SpokenWord Paris’ meetup group via their blog at : http://spokenwordparis.blogspot.com/ to receive emails with each week’s theme! An exciting, dynamic venue. You can read in French, too!!! Topic tonight: MIRROR. AT: Cabaret Populaire/Culture Rapide, 103 rue Julien Lacroix Metro Belleville/Pyrénées 75020 Paris

 The Other Writers' Group! David Barnes' drop in writers' workshop (just turn up!) every Saturday 5pm till 7pm. Bring 8 copies of your prose or poetry for instant feedback and discussion. Length should be up to about 3 pages (prose) or 2 poems. Suggested donation 5 euros. Upstairs in the library at Shakespeare & Company, 37 rue de la Bûcherie, 75005 http://www.meetup.com/The-Other-Writers-Group/

Interesting book promotion idea : 

"set up a lending library allowing anyone to receive a free review copy on the condition they forward it within a week to the next reader, at their own expense."  -- STEPHEN ELLIOTT in the NYT 

To submit your news to Paris Writers News check out our guidelines.

If you like this site, you can spread the word by linking to it on your sidebar!

The D.I.Y. Book Tour - book promotion ideas from Stephen Elliot NYTimes.com

 Writers! Here are two interesting ideas on how to promote your books from Stephen Elliot in a thoughful NYT essay entitled THE DIY BOOKTOUR.

For review copies, Elliot suggests setting up your own lending library: 

Before my book came out, I had set up a lending library allowing anyone to receive a free review copy on the condition they forward it within a week to the next reader, at their own expense.

And for that long haul booktour that your publisher won't pay for, he experimented with literary couch surfing:

I asked if people wanted to hold an event in their homes. They had to promise 20 attendees. I would sleep on their couch. My publisher would pay for some of the airfare, and I would fund the rest by selling the books myself.

Elliot sold 1100 books at 73 events. And while it can be stressfull staying in someone's home and meeting their friends, he concludes:

I thought to myself that they weren’t a standard literary audience: they were better.

Thank you Mr. Elliot, for this interesting essay.

FLASH: Heather Hartley at Shakespeare and Company tonight !

Join us to celebrate the launch of Heather Hartley’s brilliant new book of poetry, Knock Knock, published by Carnegie Mellon University Press. ‘Heather Hartley writes the kind of poetry many of us are starved for, a poetry without borders, passionate about what we savor the most on our tongues—languages, foods, lovers.’ This event will also feature music, wine and general festivities.

via www.shakespeareandcompany.com

Amazon Pulls Macmillan Books Over E-Book Price Disagreement

 Could France be right about regulating powerful American internet companies?

In a stunning show of muscle, Amazon removed all of MacMillan's books from its store.

A major US publisher, MacMillan wanted to set the price of its books at around 15 dollars, 50% more than Amazon's standard Kindle price of 9.99 dollars.

Amazon responded by pulling all of MacMillan's books from the world's largest electronic bookstore.

How will this play out? Will Apple's new IPAD  reader change the game ? 

Who has the right to set book prices? The publisher? The distributor? The market? The state? How will this affect authors?  It's a whole new world...

See NYT article here.

Calls for submissions, contests, reviews

 Writers submit your work!

Many publications seek excellent stories, poems or essays. Check them out!

UPSTAIRS AT DUROC

This well-known Paris literary review is now gathering material for Issue 12!   We seek both poetry and prose, and are open to more innovative forms such as flash fiction and prose poems.  Standalone excerpts from longer works of fiction are also considered.  For more detailed submission guidelines, refer to our web page a twww.wice-paris.org (click on the Free Events button on the WICE Home Page).Please feel free to send any queries and submissions directly to upstairsatduroc@yahoo.fr  Barbara Beck, editor Upstairs at Duroc

POETS AND WRITERS MAGAZINE TOOLS FOR WRITERS

Looking for accurate information? Our staff carefully sifts through piles of claims, statements, and announcements to compile resources with real value to writers.

Literary magazines

Where can you publish your work? What are magazines looking for? How do you reach them? Find answers in our database of literary magazines. And get practical advice from their editors.

Writing contests listed by submission deadlines

Connect your poems, stories, essays, and reviews to the right audiences by researching hundreds of literary magazines in our database. Here, you'll find editorial policies, submission guidelines, contact information—everything you need to direct your work to the publications most amenable to your vision.

Paris Writers News January 2010 !

Happy New Year ! 

This month, news from

Richard Pevear, Colin Mahar, Joe Ross, Ann Mah, Berna Huebner,  Philippe Jourde, Christopher Vanier, Constance Borde, Sheila Malovany-Chevallier, Lorraine Liscio, Margo Berdeshevsky, Jérome Mauche, Jennifer K Dick, Richard Toovey, Bonny Finberg, Larissa Volokhonsky, Diane Johnson and more.

Flash: Heather Hartley at Shakespeare and Co !Join us to celebrate the launch of Heather Hartley’s brilliant new book of poetry, Knock Knock, published by Carnegie Mellon University Press. ‘Heather Hartley writes the kind of poetry many of us are starved for, a poetry without borders, passionate about what we savor the most on our tongues—languages, foods, lovers.’ This event will also feature music, wine and general festivities.  FEB 1

New Paris Writer Interviews !

Thoughts on the creative process with Christopher Vanier (Caribbean Chemistry) and Berna Huebner (the Alzheimer’s film documentary, I REMEMBER BETTER WHEN I PAINT.

Upcoming interviews with Margo Berdeshevsky, Constance Borde, Sheila Malovany-Chevallier, and Ann Mah…

For all interviews, click here.

Many wonderful activities this month. Here is a small selection. For a complete listing, see Jen Dick's excellent list.

 

 

12 Jan at 7pm : Author Nam Le will present The Boat and will be introduced by Charles D'Ambrosio. VV

13 January 19h30 Evenings with an Author: Suzy Gershman, of the ‘Born to Shop’ travel book series, offers shopping tips and discusses her memoir, ‘C’est la Vie.’  The American Library in Paris

 

 20 January 2010 19h30 at The American Library in Paris – Paris. Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky,  award-winning translators of War and Peace and Anna Karenina discuss the translation process and their newest work on Doctor Zhivago.

   

 

24th.January at Carrs : Philippe Jourde : "Blanche, Clichy, Pigalle" (en français)  MOVING PARTS

Coming up : 14th.February : Nina Karacosta : four sketches on "Relationships" (inEnglish) 7th.March : Gwyneth Hughes : "See How They Run" (in English) 21st.March : Alexis Niki : "Momma's Office Boy" (screenplay in English)

14 Jan at 7pm: Constance Borde and Sheila Malovany-Chevallier will present their new translation of Simone de Beauvoir's classic, The Second Sex. at Village Voice

21 Jan at 7pm: Lorraine Liscio will present her book Paris and Her Remarkable Women. VV

25 Jan at 7 pm – Poet, novelist and actress Margo Berdeshevsky at Shakespeare and Co !!

26 January 19h30 : IVY Writers Celebrates 5 years of bilingual readings

with Joe Ross, Colin Mahar & Guest French author

 

28 Jan 7 PM. UPSTAIRS AT DUROC, the Paris-based literary journal launches Issue 11.. Come hear exciting new work by four of our contributors: Jérome Mauche, Jennifer K. Dick, Richard Touvey and Bonny Finberg. Berkley Books

 

28 Jan at 7pm: Diane Johnson will discuss the work of author Leonard

Michaels.

 

WORKSHOPS

If you are organizing or looking for a writing group, you can leave your comment here.

Paris Writers News interviews Berna Huebner on the groundbreaking Alzheimer's film: I REMEMBER BETTER WHEN I PAINT narrated by Olivia DE HAVILLAND

Paris Writers News authors on authors

    

Laurel Zuckerman talks with Berna Huebner 

about her remarkable film IREMEMBER BETTER WHEN I PAINT, which documents how art helped her mother in the struggle to live with Alzheimer's.

 

 

 

LZ : Berna Huebner, millions of families struggle every day to care for loved ones stricken with Alzheimer's. Seeing your beautiful documentary, “I remember better when I paint” I am struck not only by the remarkable effort you made to help your mother by reintroducing art into her life, but by the incredible achievement of turning this personal struggle into a film which Alzheimer’s associations all over the world have embraced.  At what point did you know that you would write and produce a film?  How did this come about?

 

BH : It has been a journey to think about Alzheimer’s in a new way.  In the moments when she painted, my mother truly seemed to come alive. That is why we wanted to share these experiences—in the hope that they will help show how our society can address the challenge of Alzheimer's and other memory problems, not only through the search for new medical treatments which might prevent or at least slow the progression of the disease—as important as they are—but also through the healing, communicative power of the creative arts.

With the help of her doctor, the art students who worked with her and a friend (Mary Louise Stott), I met our film director Eric Ellena and he encouraged us to share our story—and said he would like to produce a documentary together.

 

LZ : Early in the documentary, we learn that your mother had completely stopped speaking and grown so agitated it became difficult to care for her. You arranged for students at the Chicago Art Institute to work with her. It took months to get a first result. Where did you get this idea? How did you know it would work? What made you continue?

 

BH : As my mother, who had been an artist, struggled with Alzheimer’s in her later years, I asked her if perhaps she might want to paint again. And she had said one day, “Oh yes! I remember better when I paint.” With that phrase ringing in my mind, I became determined to somehow bring my mother back from her detached state. And so I enlisted the help of her doctor. And with his help and the efforts of a dedicated  group of art students, and with strong encouragement from our family,  my mother, who had used the name Hilgos to sign her work, picked up a brush at age 90 and began to paint again. Through painting and sculpting, she emerged from her listless state and reconnected to the world around her. Her Alzheimer’s symptoms eased, at least in part. She spoke, she danced, she played catch and sculpted—and she painted and painted and painted.

 

LZ: One of the most exciting discoveries for me was the idea that by soliciting the parts of the brain that still function—sensibility to art, emotion--one can touch and connect with what remains profoundly human. There is a kind of awakening—not just for the Alzheimer’s patients, but for the people dealing with them, family, caretakers, doctors. Did you know about this when you started out?

 

BH : I knew very little about Alzheimer’s. My mother’s doctor encouraged us to continue to work with my mother. I did not really have any understanding of the disease nor did I know that there were still parts of the brain that could still function. But when I saw the awakening  in my mother I decided I wanted to help those  who are as afraid of Alzheimer’s as I was, after my mother’s diagnosis—but now are looking for ways to help cope with the disease.  Alzheimer neurologists and other doctors have helped us to understand why such therapies can be so helpful, pointing to the fact that they awaken areas of the brain that have not been affected by the disease.

 

LZ : What were your goals ? Had you made a film before? Did you have any idea how difficult it would be?

 

BH : Our goal and hope is that this intergenerational story and the stories of others in this film will help educate and raise awareness of those who are touched by Alzheimer’s.

I had never made a film before but was director of research for a governor and then Vice President and I think that helped prepare me to do the necessary research for the film. The information gathering has never seemed very difficult. It was always interesting and exciting.

 

LZ : How did you write this film? Did you have an overall idea of what it should be, or did it evolve organically as events progressed and you met more experts. Did you discuss it with your mother?

 

BH : Writing the film evolved organically. I was never able to discuss it with mother. But I did find a letter from mother written before her Alzheimer’s saying that she had such a wonderful and healthy life that if she could ever help the medical world she would like to do that. So we decided we could share her amazing story.

We found other stories similar to the one of mother. I had attended art and health as well as Alzheimer’s conferences. I had worked with mother’s doctor who had encouraged us to put the story into written form.  The art students who worked with mother were so dedicated and we continued together to do research and write up what we had discovered. We visited nursing homes and day care centers. We contacted museums where people with Alzheimer’s were able to look at and discuss the masters they were seeing. For a five year period we collected research information on all facets of Alzheimer’s: medical discussions, books, press clips and anything we could find and kept track of that information. In fact the director asked us to put together a resource book.. which we had already started. A group of very dedicated students helped me put that information together with the help and guidance of Dorothy Seman, a director of a day care center in Chicago, whom I had met at an Alzheimer’s conference.

 

LZ : “I remember better when I paint” is available in both French and English. Olivia de Havilland performs the English narration. What was it like working with her? How did you convince her to participate?

 

BH : Olivia de Havilland heard mother had Alzheimer's and that since so many of her friends had died from Alzheimer's, she volunteered to help by doing the narration. She is wonderful and great fun to work with. 

 

LZ: How long did it take you to go from the idea to the finished film?

 

BH : The idea for the film was that of a friend.  It originated in the spring of 2006. We have just completed the documentary in December 2009. The original project with my mother began in the fall of 1995 with her doctor and the art students.

 

LZ : Many of us have projects we would like to do, and few of us manage to see them through. What are the key skills and qualities needed to realize such a project?

 

BH : First one needs an idea and then I think friends and mentors and a sense of inspiration, all helping one see the connection and path to realize the project.  

 

LZ : So often Alzheimer’s overwhelms the family. In any extremely difficult situation, you helped your mother and created something remarkable in the process.  Where did this positive energy come from?

 

BH : I think it came from mother’s original words “I Remember Better When I Paint”. Her words guided me to speak to her doctor. Then her doctor helped connect me to the art students… and then the path just continued.

 

 

LZ :The documentary is being praised as a reference source in the use of non-drug therapies for Alzheimer’s. Experts from all over the world are interviewed in the film and many attended the film premier. How did you achieve this? How was this organized?

 

BH : It evolved and the wonderful Hilgos team was able to find mentors to help us. Filming was done in many parts of Europe and the US showing Alzheimer’s patients focusing and reconnecting as they paint, visit the Louvre in Paris, the Art Institute in Chicago and the Phillips Collection in Washington DC, and even enjoy the Big Apple Circus in New York.

Among those featured are Yasmin Aga Khan, president of Alzheimer's Disease International and daughter of Rita Hayworth who had Alzheimer’s.  The documentary also interviews renowned neurologists who explain how creative activities engage areas of the brain that are not damaged by disease and thus help reawaken a sense of personality, identity and dignity. Doctors interviewed include:  Dr. Robert Butler, founding director of the National Institute of Aging; Dr. Sam Gandy of Mount Sinai; Dr. Robert Green of BU; Doctor Bob Stern of BU; Dr. Gene Cohen of GWU; Dr. Barry Reisberg of NYU and Dr. Avertano Noronha of Univ. of Chicago; Dr. Lawrence Lazarus formerly of Rush Presbyterian Chicago.

 

LZ: What next?

 

BH : We would like to continue our student play, “I Remember Better When I Paint,” in classrooms as an educational exercise, and we would like to expand our museum and school-based project, where art students work with people having memory problems in more and more communities.

Paris Writers News interviews Christopher Vanier about Caribbean Chemistry

authors on authors

 

  This month Laurel Zuckerman talks with Christopher Vanier about his memoir Caribbean Chemistry: Tales from St Kitts

 

LZ: When you began work on your memoir, did you intend to write about social issues?

 

CV: Absolutely not. What fascinated me about Life Writing, or memoir,  was the narrative aspects, how events could be turned into stories by studying their significance. At first I considered social and political issues as distracting, slowing down the story, and I remember being quite annoyed when a fellow writer critiqued one of my schoolboy stories and wanted to know what the colour of the cook's skin was. As time went by I was obliged to modify this stance because some stories weren't fully understandable without reference to larger issues in my Caribbean society.

 

LZ : As a teenager in the Caribbean, you won an essay contest on Abraham Lincoln for which the prize was an invitation to Washington DC. A science nerd with no particular interest in racial politics, you found yourself in travelling the USA at the height of the Civil Rights Movement. As a memoirist what were the challenges you faced writing about this episode decades later.

 

CV : The challenge was that the protagonist (my teenaged self) was not very aware, or critical, of his Caribbean social and racial environment. He had little to compare it with, and even when he visited the USA he remained quite naive. He knew nothing of Martin Luther King and probably assimilated the Ku Klux Klan with Tolkein's orcs. To deal with this lack of sophistication and yet inform the reader, the writer has to use other viewpoints, closer to his own, but without confusing the reader, who must know when the protagonist is thinking something and when a comment comes straight from the current writer. I use multiple personas to deal with this problem, and on the positive side the tension between the writer's views and the young protagonist's views can be stimulating. It takes a lot of care in the writing for the change of personas to be seamless. Today, it is clear that the USIA was "wise" and somewhat manipulative with me in 1959, only showing me the positive aspects of US internal race relations. Projecting a positive image of the USA via Lincoln was part of a massive diplomatic effort in the Cold War to keep places like the Caribbean friendly. At the time, my protagonist was completely unaware of this.

 

LZ:  One of the particular pleasures of Caribbean Chemistry is your precise, analytical approach to the intense emotions and sensations of childhood. Has a passion for science made you a better writer?

 

CV : On the whole, yes. A quest for truth, an attention to detail, and a willingness to analyse causes of events are all part of a scientific outlook. But there is a negative side. Many scientists don't like over-colourful images, they repeat themselves too often, and they systematically hedge their bets. A scientist might say, "The man was approximately five feet tall", because he's not sure whether the "true" height is one or two inches either way. In fiction, or in a memoir intended as narrative, it is better to remove the uncertainty (cut the word approximately) unless this is vital to the story. So there is a shift in language - precision for it's own sake has much less value than in a research paper. Doubt is still very important, but it moves to another level.

 

LZ: You claim not to understand poetry (or poets), yet your writing has a quiet lyrical quality to it. Are you secretly one of them?

 

CV: Well, English Literature was my best subject at university entrance (A-levels) so clearly I relished Keats, Blake, Coleridge, and Wordsworth at that age. A classical taste. I even wrote poetry myself (a confession). But it's true that modern or post-modern attempts at poetry annoy me. I certainly don't understand most of it. My feeling is that there is quite sufficient poetry in prose. Looking at symmetry and dissymmetry on a page of good prose, noticing the resonance of certain words, is quite good enough for me.

 

LZ : Caribbean Chemistry is a book about growing up in St Kitts and Antigua which you wrote while living in France. Do you see yourself as an expatriate writer? A British writer? A French writer? Or simply a memoirist? Do these distinction have any meaning at all? What made you write this book?

 

CV: A memoirist, if anything. I don't think the place you write from is very significant. Many writers feel more at home when at a distance from their subject. I hold a British passport and a St. Kitts passport but have worked and lived in France longer than anyplace else. I got my doctoral degree from the USA and, particularly in the area of "creative non-fiction", I have enormous affinity with America. That seems to make me a citizen of the world, or at least of Europe. The motivation for writing this book has nothing to do with countries and nationality, though. It's mainly the fulfilment of a boyhood dream to write for others something as enjoyable as all the books that have pleased me. Secondarily, the emphasis on memoir has allowed me to place my past in perspective. We go through life with a set of temporary loans - mind, body, and loved ones - assets that disappear all too quickly. A good memoir is a way of preserving some of our thoughts for future generations.

 

LZ: You worked for years with a writers’ group in Paris. How did this affect your writing—and you?  

 

CV: Writer's groups and workshops are very useful to a developing writer. By himself, a writer is closeted in his limited egoisms; he needs feedback on style and content to develop. But workshops can be confusing when others want you to write their story and not yours. You have to keep control of your project. There is other positive fallout: workshops help to keep you to a schedule, and through workshops over an eight-year period, I have made some of my best friends.

 

LZ: Caribbean Chemistry was discovered by its publisher thanks to a literary contest. What are the advantages and disadvantages of contests? How can writers benefit from them?

 

CV: Contests are a valuable refinement if a writer is really serious about being published. When workshops get too supportive (ie more and more wine and less hard knocks) there's no way to measure the objective value of one's work. Entering a big competition and finding out that you are not even placed in a "long list" of the first hundred candidate stories is quite sobering. Competitions make you re-edit your work seriously, which is always a good thing. Many of them give you valuable critiques for a small extra entrance fee. It's an opportunity to sample the market, see what the competition is like, and learn more about the impact your work makes. I discovered, for instance, that certain of my memoir chapters could compete effectively with stories written as pure fiction - the judges couldn't tell the difference , or didn't care. And finally, a competition can lead to publication of a story or of a whole book.

 

LZ : All the characters in Caribbean Chemistry are real. Do you anticipate any lawsuits?

 

CV: Lawsuits are unlikely, but not impossible. This is another steep learning curve that the memoir writer has to climb. One shouldn't let the early writing be inhibited by threats until it is done, but when a book is in its final stages the possibility of lawsuits must be studied. British law on libel and invasion of privacy is currently so much in favour of the plaintiff that publishers oblige their authors to obtain written consent to publish from all the characters who appear in the book. I had mentioned 108 names. Fortunately, many of the name owners were deceased! A few of the living obliged me to change their names or even to erase their actions from my book. The right to free speech is weaker in the UK than in the USA, and in my view this seriously limits a writer's possibilities of telling the truth about politicians and important public figures. I hope this will change. From where I sit, a memoir writer has an obligation to be fair to all parties, but he doesn't have to like them, nor to make them look better than they were, nor to cover up their misdeeds. The stakes are the same as for journalists and historians.

 

LZ: In addition to memoir, you also write science fiction. Is there a link between the two genres?

 

CV: Superficially, none. But one of my mentors once told me that if I liked SF so much then that should influence my memoir stories. Perhaps there is an unbridled effect in the dreams and fantasies of my protagonist. Going in the other direction, I think that a memoir writer should be able to create quite credible SF. I do have some unfinished projects with stories about the future. But my addiction to memoir means that the "future of the future" is uncertain.