Laurel Zuckerman's Paris Weblog

Happy New Year from Bry sur Marne, France !

Snow covers the flowers we left outside. ..

 

 

 

 

 

The Beauty of Autumn in Bry sur Marne France

A quiet walk along the Marne ...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

...golden leaves 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

water birds...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and a red tree...

 

Paris Writers News Special New Year Edition ! Dec 2010-January 2011

This month, news from Mademoiselle London, Thirza Vallois, Barry Kirwan, William Pfaff, Fatima Bhutto, Anne Korkeakivi, Susan Tibergian, David Sedaris, Alice Notley, The Paris Short Story Contest, The Paris Literary Prize, Upstairs at Duroc, Offshoots, The Geneva Writers Group, National Short Story Day, Amanda Walsh, John Lichfield, WICE's Bilingual Bookgroup, Gwyneth Hughes, Thad Carhart, Michael Scott Moore, Alec Lobrano, Alan Riding, Christine Buckley, Richard Nahem, Meredith Mullins, and more!   

 

Industry news for the New Year:

E-books :  Joining Amazon, Apple, Sony, and Barnes and Noble, GOOGLE has just launched its own e-book store, while Amazon announced a new app for reading Kindle books on a computer. So far the impact on writers has been positive due to improved revenue splits. 

Brick and Mortar: The dying off continues. Borders reported a $74 million loss in the third quarter and will probably be bought out.

Meanwhile, publishers who limit themselves to blockbuster authors with their own platforms are coming into competition with their own creations, as major authors go direct to readers through e-books and POD.

Expect turmoil to continue as massive disintermediation accelerates, cutting out middlemen (in this case, publishers, distributors and bookstores)

These forces are immense and one writer/reader is very small indeed, but if you don't want to see your favorite bookstore become a souvenir shop, now's the time to support it!

 

SUBMISSIONS NEWS FOR PARIS WRITERS! 

Only three more days to submit to Shakespeare and Co's Novella Contest!!

Upstairs at Duroc, the literary journal published in Paris, seeks submissions for its Issue # 13. Send email submissions to [email protected] with “Upstairs at Duroc Submission” in the subject line. (More details later)

Offshoots 11: Writing from Geneva (the biennial showcase for the Geneva Writers Group) has launch a call for submissions. Guidelines are now posted on the website of the Geneva Writers Group; please submit by March 1. 

This January, the Editorial Committee begins reading submissions to the Paris Short Story Contest to select a short list from the 135 submissions!  Thank you to all the writers around the world who have shared their stories with us !!!! 

 

WRITER NEWS!

Thirza Vallois returns to Paris after mega tour down-under!

David Sedaris claims he makes $4000 in tips in book tour.

Marie Houzelle’s short story Egalité was published in Narrative.

Mademoiselle London's first book of poetry and artwork is now available! Bad love affairs, bad grammar and bad hangovers – a typical week for Mademoiselle London whose drunken escapades in Paris are served up in this new graphic book.  Bursting with comedy and colour, the book offers a sneaky peek at the well-hidden underbelly of Parisian life. http://www.mademoisellelondon.fr/

Anne Korkeakivi, whose fiction has appeared in The Atlantic, The Yale Review, and The Bellevue LIterary Review, received a Hawthornden Grant for a residency in Scotland in April. Anne is a finalist judge for the Paris Short Story Contest!

Susan Tibergian, founder of the excellent Geneva Writers Group, in Paris for a Conversation at the American Library January 19 and a workshop at Shakespeare and Co January 22th!

Dimitri Keramitas’ story "The Grave Within" was declared Overall Winner of Strange Circle's short story competition, and will appear in the "Winter Solstice Issue" of the magazine.

Amanda Walsh has completed the video on Festival America for Paris Writers News (watch for it here)! and is heading home to Australia to work on other projects. We hope to see her back in Paris soon! 

Photographer and writer Meredith Mullins is off to Monterey, California where 60 of her works will be displayed:   The exhibit opens this Friday January 7 and goes until February 17. At the Pacific Grove Art Center in Pacific Grove, CA. For more info see: 

http://www.montereyherald.com/living/ci_16981132?nclick_check=1

 

EVENTS 15 December 2010 to January 31, 2011 

Thursday 16th December 7:00pm:   Krystle Warren performs at Shakespeare and Company. Standing room only for this must-hear event! 

Saturday December 18 at 5 pm : Alec Lobrano author of Hungry for Paris Holiday Book-Signing and Champagne-Tasting at SPRING boutique

 

19 December 7:30 P.M. Moving Parts reading with Gwyneth Hughes : "Bones of Contention" (in English) For more, see:http://www.movingparts.org.uk/ or e-mail Stephanie Campion [email protected] for listings! AT: Carr's Pub & Restaurant, 1 rue du Mont Thabor, 75001 Metro : Tuileries

 

January 6th, 2011 : Ladan Niayesh, The Red Wheelbarrow Bookstore, and Manchester University Press announce a prebook launch party of A Knight’s Legacy At The RED WHEELBARROW

Tuesday, January 11th at 7 pm : DAN CHAON author of Await Your Reply at the Village Voice . Dan Chaon’s first novel, You Remind Me of Me was published in 2004. His earlier collections of short stories,Fitting Ends and Among the Missing were both well received, the latter being shortlisted for the National Book Award and named as a notable book of the year by The New York Times. Await Your Reply was acclaimed as one of the top ten books of 2009 by Publishers Weekly.

Wed 12 January 2011 19h30 : Evenings with an Author: Annie Cohen-Solal discusses Leo & His Circle: The Life of Leo Castelli at The American Library  Leo Castelli was one of the most influential art dealer in American history. He launched the careers of several major American artists (including Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg) and made art dealers and commercial galleries better integrated into the modern art world than ever before. Annie Cohen-Solal's new biography, we now have a more comprehensive picture of this seminal figure, a complex and interesting individual who helped define contemporary American art.

Thursday, January 13th at 7 pm : THOMAS GLADYSZ editor of The Diary of a Lost Girl at the Village Voice  "Thomas Gladysz is the leading authority on all matters pertaining to the legendary Louise Brooks. We owe him a debt of gratitude for bringing the groundbreaking novel, The Diary of a Lost Girl, back from obscurity." - Lon Davis, author of Silent Lives. Gladysz will be on hand to discuss his new editon of The Diary of a Lost Girl at Village Voice, following by a screening of the film at the nearby Action Christine cinema.

Wed 19 January 2011 19h30 : Susan Tiberghien presents her book One Year to a Writing Life. Start the New Year right - write! at The American Library An American-born writer living in Switzerland, Tiberghien founded the Geneva Writers' Group in 1993 which she continues to direct and where she teaches workshops. Tiberghien started writing at the age of fifty. Her essays have appeared in the International Herald Tribune, the Christian Science Monitor, and Now Write! Nonfiction

DECEMBER 21 IS NATIONAL SHORT STORY DAY!For news and events, see:  http://www.nationalshortstoryday.co.uk/

January 22 : workshop at Shakespeare and Co with Susan Tiberghien

Tue 25 January 2011 19h30 : A Coast to Coast ride through small town America, at The American Library Philippe Melot, 62, married and father of three children, is a semi retired corporate lawyer living in Paris. Since his childhood vacations in Normandy in the 50s, playing in the abandoned jeeps and tanks of the American army behind Omaha Beach, he has been in love with America. As a student at Science Po, he discovered Tocqueville and since then his passion for the American society and its history has not dwindled. He travels to America as often as possible and is writing a book about the history of Franco-American relationships.

Wed 26 January 2011 19h30 :  An evening with William Pfaff at The American Library in Paris. William Pfaff is the author of The Irony of Manifest Destiny, published in June 2010 by Walker and Company (New York) -- his tenth and culminating work on international politics and the American destiny. He describes the neglected sources and unforeseen consequences of the tragedy towards which the nation's current effort to remake the world to fit America's measure is leading. His previous books and his articles in The New York Review of Books, The New Yorker, and his syndicated newspaper column, featured for a quarter century in the globally read International Herald Tribune, have made him one of America's most respected and internationally influential interpreters of world affairs.

Thursday, January 27th at 7pm :Songs of Blood and Sword: A Daughter’s Memoir at The Village Voice  “Fatima Bhutto writes a compelling account that is both political and personal. Her life is proof that in Pakistan, torn apart by American diktat and local avarice, the political is the personal. Her passion and integrity ring out on every page. If you don’t understand what is happening to Pakistan and Afghanistan, you soon will.” – Charles Glass, author of Americans in Paris

For a complete listing of events, including bilingual, French, poetry and plays, please see: http://parisreadingsmonthlylisting.blogspot.com/

For December news published earlier this month see: December Update

 COMING UP : Special edition on book discussion groups in Paris. If you are involved in a book group that you would like to announce, please contact me at pariswritersnews AT gmail.com

If you are an author working in France, you might want to contribute to our series Authors Interview Authors. 

See past Paris Writers News Interviews with  DON MORRISON, NICOLA KEEGAN, PETER GUMBEL, JANET SKESLIEN CHARLES, TERRANCE GELENTER, LAUREN GRODSTEIN, PARSELELO KANTAI, MARY DUNCAN, PAUL SCHMIDTBERGER, DIANNE JOHNSON, ANN MAH, CHRISTOPHER VANIER, FRANCIS GENDLIN, BERNA HUEBNER  and MARGO BERDESHEVKY !!

 

I wish you all happy and healthy holidays and a wonderful start to the New Year!!

 

 

Can a French soccer star hurt the economy more than bankers, economists and financiers?

The competition's tough.

Trillion dollar bailouts, families on the street, record unemployment, sovereign default--the achievements of the financial establisment are pretty hard to beat.

But French soccer legend Eric Cantona has decided to give them a run for their money.

Literally!

He's called on citizens to withdraw their savings from banks today.

Why?

Because he's hoping to bring down the system.

Good luck, Mr. Cantona!

As Marx or Lenin could have told you, unless you have mucho guns, only the system (with its internal contradictions) can bring down the system! 

This said, there's every reason to believe world capitalism is set to implode already. And frankly, if the Great Depression is any guide, this may not be as fun as it first looks.  

So why such enthusiasm for Cantona's crackpot threat? Did anybody even read the guy's demands?

Or is it just that this is more fun than dealing with Lehman, AIG, Goldman, Bank of America, Greece, Ireland, and rest of the real life financial tsunami already underway...

 

 

Worst Christmas gifts for children : micro pigs (or, in French, micro cochons) !

They grow.

Spread disease.

Take up all the garden.

And won't look nearly as good on you as they do on Paris Hilton.

Why you should NOT give in to the fashionable urge to purchase a MICRO COCHON (or"choubidou") for X-mas.

Devastating personal testimony from The Independent, Matt Chorley reporting:

"We saw a micro-pig advertised: they were small, manageable and seemed ideal for the house and garden. We were told it grew no bigger than 14 inches, but at 18 months old he's now up to my waist. It's difficult to cope: we have an acre-long garden, but we've had to pen a third of it off for Pigwig. He yearned for company, so we had to buy another pig – a kunekune pig, which will stay small. We can't leave Pigwig alone or he'll wreck the place, so we have to babysit him constantly. We can't trust any animal that size with children."

(Mrs Smith bought what she thought was a micro-pig for her daughter Emma, 26. She has now started a Facebook page: "The Truth About Micro-pigs".)

Parents, beware. They're cute, they're smart, they're full of love. But they should not have a pig.

Here's Homer Simpson singing that great hit song: Spider Cochon:

 

 

Paris Writers News December 2010 Update! FLASH

This month, news from Thirza Vallois, Anne Korkeakivi, Susan Tibergian, David Sedaris, Alice Notley, The Paris Short Story Contest, The Paris Literary Prize, Upstairs at Duroc, Offshoots, The Geneva Writers Group, National Short Story Day, Amanda Walsh, John Lichfield, WICE's Bilingual Bookgroup, Gwyneth Hughes, Thad Carhart, Michael Scott Moore, Alec Lobrano, Alan Riding, Christine Buckley, Richard Nahem, Meredith Mullins, and more!  

 

Events and news will be added and updated throughout the month! Here is a quick update...

SUBMISSIONS NEWS ! 

The deadline for submissions for the great Paris Literary Prize ,  (€10,000, to be awarded to best novella) has been extended to December 18 !!  It's not too late to submit!!!  :  www.parisliteraryprize.com

Upstairs at Duroc, the literary journal published in Paris, seeks submissions for its Issue # 13. Send email submissions to [email protected] with “Upstairs at Duroc Submission” in the subject line. (More details later)

Offshoots 11: Writing from Geneva (the biennial showcase for the Geneva Writers Group) has launch a call for submissions. Guidelines are now posted on the website of the Geneva Writers Group; please submit by March 1. 

 Submissions to the Paris Short Story Contest are now closed.  The Editorial Committee will read the 135 submissions in January to select the shortlist that will go to the finalist judges!  Thank you to all the writers around the world who have shared their stories with us !!!! 

 

WRITER NEWS!

Anne Korkeakivi, whose fiction has appeared in The Atlantic, The Yale Review, and The Bellevue LIterary Review, received a Hawthornden Grant for a residency in Scotland in April. Anne is a finalist judge for the Paris Short Story Contest!

Marie Houzelle’s short story Egalité was published in Narrative.

Dimitri Keramitas’ story "The Grave Within" was declared Overall Winner of Strange Circle's short story competition, and will appear in the "Winter Solstice Issue" of the magazine.

Amanda Walsh has completed the video on Festival America for Paris Writers News (watch for it here)! and is heading home to Australia to work on other projects. We hope to see her back in Paris soon! 

EVENTS:

DECEMBER 3

3 December 2:00-4:00 P.M. WICE Bilingual Book Group. n WICE's monthly book group which selects books both in French and English. Participants are encouraged to contribute to the group discussion to whichever language is more comfortable to them. You must be a WICE member to attends. This month's book: Henry James's Washington Square. If you have questions, please email Ariane Levystone [email protected]. AT: Maison Paroissiale, 13 place Etienne Pernet, 75015 Paris; Métro: Félix Faure; Bus: 70 or 88. 

WRITING BOOKS ABOUT PARIS…THIRZA VALLOIS, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2010 - 6:30 TO 8:30 PM

Back in Paris after a intensive lecturing tour in Australia and New Zealand, Thirza Vallois will be giving PAN members an enlightening talk about the books she has written on Paris and the process of how she makes them happen. You will certainly enhance your appreciation and understanding of Paris … and beyond. Free event for PAN members, 5€ for non-members.  To sign up please contact Mark Tronco at [email protected]

4 December 10:00 A.M. to 7:00 P.M. Monthly Used Booksale at The American Library. Books in English for 1 and 2 euros. AT: The American Library in Paris, 10, rue Général Camou 75007 Métro: Alma-Marceau


 5 December 7:30 P.M. Moving Parts reading with Alberto Lombardo : "A Scent of a Hot-Air Balloon" (in English) For more, see:http://www.movingparts.org.uk/ or e-mail Stephanie Campion [email protected] for listings! AT: Carr's Pub & Restaurant, 1 rue du Mont Thabor, 75001 Metro : Tuileries 

6 December 7:00 P.M. Shakespeare & Co welcomes Michael Scott Moore and Christine Buckley. Michael is the author of Sweetness and Blood, a remarkable exploration of surfing ; Christine is the co-author of Slave Hunter: One Man's Global Quest to Free Victims of Human Trafficking and a contributor to Best Women Travel Writing 2010 – she will be reading an extract from this anthology and her memoir-in-progress about her Vietnamese family. AT: Shakespeare & Co., 37rue de la Bûcherie, Paris 5ème. M° St Michel. http://www.shakespeareandcompany.com/

7 December 7:00 P.M. David Sedaris at Village Voice: David Sedaris' new book, squirrel seeks chipmunk, is a collection of animal-themed tales. As we expect a large crowd, priority access to the shop & the event will be given to customers who purchase a David Sedaris book on the day of the event. No seating: this event is standing room only. For those unable to come to the event, David Sedaris will be sign books from 8pm onwards. AT: Village Voice Bookshop 6, rue Princesse 75006 Métro: Mabillon

8 December 7:30 P.M. Evenings with an Author: Peter Gibian. Professor Peter Gibian of McGill University will present John Singer Sargent's Traveling Culture: Portraits of Expatriate Experience. AT: The American Library in Paris, 10, rue Général Camou 75007 Métro: Alma-Marceau

8 December 8:30 P.M. Stand Up Comedy/Laughing Matters in the Sound Gallery With Earl Okin & special guest Ivo Graham. Tickets 18€ ( CCM card holders 15€ / students 12€). Please book by email: [email protected] For more information:http://www.anythingmatters.com/ AT: Beer Necessities 104 quai de Jemmapes 75010 Métro: Gare de l'Est

9 December: à l’issue de la représentation. Débat : « Comment écrire après la catastrophe ? » Avec Chantal Boiron, journaliste, rédactrice en chef de la revue bilingue "Ubu, Scènes d’Europe" Paul Virilio, philosophe (sous réserve), Anne Bisang, metteure en scène, Alexandra Badéa, auteure et Ivana Sajko, auteure. AT: Nouveau théâtre de Montreuil- Salle Jean-Pierre Vernant 10, place Jean Jaurès – 93100 Montreuil Métro: Mairie de Montreuil Pour assister aux stages, inscription auprès de Julie Grimoud au 01 48 70 46 76 / [email protected]

9 December 6:00 P.M. Book launch of John Lichfield's 'Our Man in Paris. Visiting places as different as the Musée d’Orsay and Disneyland, he explores culture high and low as well as the everyday pleasures and problems of living in Paris. AT: AT: Red Wheelbarrow, 22 rue Saint Paul 75004. Métro: Saint Paul

9 December 7:30 P.M. La Médiathèque rencontre… Gina Moxley. In the role of Jocasta, she has recently toured internationally in Oedipus Loves You with Pan Pan Theatre. She has appeared in feature films and on numerous television drama series. A writer and playwright, Gina won the Stewart Parker Award for new theatre writing in 1995. AT: Centre Culturel Irlandais, 5 rue des Irlandais, 75005 Paris. RER: Luxembourg

December 9, 7:30PM Alan Riding, former Paris bureau chief and senior Cultural Affairs correspondent for the New York Times will discuss his new book AND THE SHOW WENT ON. an examination of cultural life in Paris under the Nazi Occupation.  35 euros (includes one glass of wine and charcuterie) for reservations see: http://www.paris-expat.com/events.html

12 December 7pm Rendez-vous with Alec Lobrano, author of Hungry for Paris, with Cocktail Dinatoire, 60 euros; for more on the evening, menu and reservations, see: http://www.paris-expat.com/events.html

13 December 7:00 P.M. Shakespeare & Co presents Thad Carhart, acclaimed bestselling author of The Piano Shop on the Left Bank. Thad will be reading from his new historical novel Across the Endless River, the story of Jean-Baptiste Charbonneau, the son of Sacagawea, and his intriguing sojourn as a young man in 1820s Europe. AT: Shakespeare & Co., 37rue de la Bûcherie, Paris 5ème. M° St Michel. http://www.shakespeareandcompany.com/

14 December 7:00 P.M. Double Change vous invite à une lecture bilingue d' Alice Notley et Bernard Collin. AT: Point Ephémère 200 Quai de Valmy – 75010. Métro: Jaurès or Louis Blanc

19 December 7:30 P.M. Moving Parts reading with Gwyneth Hughes : "Bones of Contention" (in English) For more, see:http://www.movingparts.org.uk/ or e-mail Stephanie Campion [email protected] for listings! AT: Carr's Pub & Restaurant, 1 rue du Mont Thabor, 75001 Metro : Tuileries

 DECEMBER 21 IS NATIONAL SHORT STORY DAY!For news and events, see:  http://www.nationalshortstoryday.co.uk/

For a complete listing of events, including bilingual, French, poetry and plays, please see: http://parisreadingsmonthlylisting.blogspot.com/

 COMING UP : Workshops ! Special Christmas Events! Bookclubs for the New Year and Gift Ideas !!

 

 

 

Submissions are now closed for the Paris Short Story Contest

Thank you writers !

The Paris Short Story Contest is delighted to have received more than 130 stories about Paris, from writers all over the world!

The Editorial Committee will read the stories and select the short list during the month of January.

Short listed stories will be announced in February. Judges will then select the stories to be published in "The Best and Most Delightful Stories About Paris". 

Look on Paris Writers News or http://parisstoriescontest.blogspot.com/ for more information.

Paricipating writers will also be contacted directly by email.  Thank you for sharing your work!!!