Laurel Zuckerman's Paris Weblog

Calls for submissions ! Her Royal Majesty, Tale of Three Cities, Paris Literary Prize Novella Contest

Writers!

Here are three calls for submissions that may interest you.

Good luck!

  Her Royal Majesty  -  Deadline: March 31, 2012

Tale of Three Cities  -  Deadline April 18, 2012

Paris Literary Prize - Deadline September 1, 2012

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 MORE INFORMATION

Her Royal Majesty  -  Deadline: March 31, 2012

The theme of the next issue is “The Exotic”, and it will be published in May with a launch party at 59 Rivoli. The deadline for submissions is March 31st. We will read submissions in early April. Please expect to hear back from us mid-April about whether or not your work will be published.

Submissions from all are welcome. We publish all realms of creative work including short fiction, poetry, paintings, photographs, drawings, collages, recipes and the like. Please look through the back-issues on the home page for more of a sense of the work that we are interested in, and drop us a line if you are interested in writing a non-fiction piece. We publish creative non-fiction and essays if the theme is relevant and the writing elegant.

Click here to submit to Her Royal Majesty

When sending us your work, a brief artist biography or supplementary information is welcome but not necessary. Some of our contributors choose to publish anonymously. There is no limit to submissions. Unfortunately, we are not currently in a position to pay anyone for their work. All material published remains the intellectual property of the artist; in publishing this artwork and literature, Her Royal Majesty is exhibiting the work to the public as if on loan.

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Tale of Three Cities  -  Deadline April 18, 2012

SUBMISSIONS FOR A TALE OF THREE CITIES #2 ARE NOW OPEN

Following on from the peppermint-green charms of our first issue, stocked by Colette, B Store and The Wapping Project among others, we are looking for stories, photography, poetry, essays, short plays and more for issue #2

We want solid new work that stops us in our tracks. We want to print unknown writers and artists alongside globally-acclaimed ones. We want to make an issue we would sell our shoes to publish, and all we ask is that submissions have a flavour of London, Paris or Berlin*

WHAT WE WANT IS FRESH EYES, AND REAL, UNEXPECTED GLIMPSES OF THESE CITIES. MAKE MUMMA PROUD

Read our manifesto

Read our magazine

SUBMISSIONS CLOSE AT MIDNIGHT CET ON APRIL 18 2012

Submitting words? Send them to [email protected]

Submitting images? Send them to [email protected]

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Paris Literary Prize - Deadline September 1, 2012

 

Submitting Your Novella

Please read the Eligibility Terms and Conditions for this prize to make sure you meet all the requirements. Click Here.

Prepare the following texts and have them ready to ensure your submission process goes well when you upload your work on the Prize Submission software.

You will submit two texts: your Pitch and your Novella; these must be submitted in one document. Do not include your name (or any personal information) in this document.

 Your Pitch (maximum 150 words):  Imagine you are pitching your novella to an agent or publisher. What would you tell them? Your pitch will be the first page of your submitted novella and must only include :

 * The title of your novella 

 * Your pitch 

* The word count of the novella

Your Novella (17,000 - 35,000 words): Please make sure you have readand understood all the Entrant and Novella Submission Requirements (A & B)

* Number pages sequentially on bottom right of page

* Put the title of your novella at the top of each page

The document must follow the format requirements below:

* Font name: Times New Roman

* Font size: 12 pt

* Double space

* PDF format - Please convert your document to PDF (if you can) before submitting it. Word documents will be accepted, but there is no guarantee that formatting will not be compromised.

During the process, the Prize Submission software will ask you for a Bio Sketch (maximum 250 words). Please write a brief history of your writing life and anything else you would like us to know. This Bio Sketch will be for the Paris Literary Prize administrators only and will not be accessed by the Prize readers.

Make sure your final document is ready to submit before going to the submission page. Once you have submitted your manuscript you cannot make changes.

Submission Fee

* The submission fee is 50€ for submissions received by noon Paris time September 1, 2012.

* The submission fee for the extended (until noon Paris time, September 15, 2012) deadline is 60€.

Submission Timeline

* All submissions must be received online and paid for by noon Paris time on September 1, 2012 or by the extended deadline of noon September 15, 2012. 

Enter Now

Please CLICK HERE to begin the submission process.

Please note: This page will be updated as necessary, so please check back.

 

 

 

 

 

Call for submissions: a writing contest you can sink your teeth into, deadline April 8

Why is it ethical to eat meat?

Paris Vegans, here's a writing challenge if ever there was one:

A New York Times writing contest judged by the harshest anti-meat writers in the Western world (Peter Singer, Michael Pollan, Mark Bittman, Jonathan Safran Foer and Andrew Light) on WHY IT IS ETHICAL TO EAT MEAT.

If you make it past them, says Ariel Kaminer, announcing the contest in the New York Times, we’ll put your name in lights (or at least in print).

So get thinking. And get writing. You have two weeks and 600 words in which to make sense of our species’ entire dietary history. Bon appétit!

***

Rules: This is a very specific contest. Don’t tell us why you like meat, why organic trumps local or why your food is yours to choose. Just tell us why it’s ethical to eat meat.

Guidelines: Send written entries of no more than 600 words to [email protected]. Entries are due by April 8; no late submissions will be considered.

The Prize: The best essay or essays will be published in an upcoming issue of The New York Times.

The Caveat: Feel free to bat ideas around in the comments section below, but to be considered by the judges entries must be submitted to [email protected].

E-mail queries to [email protected], or send them to the Ethicist, The New York Times Magazine, 620 Eighth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10018, and include a daytime phone number.

 for more info see: Calling all Carnivores

A talk with Paris Writer Denyse Beaulieu, author of The Perfume Lover on writing, scent and seduction

Denyse Beaulieu, author of The Perfume Lover: A Personal History of Scent

This week, Paris Writers News talks with Denyse Beaulieu, author of The Perfume Lover: A Personal History of Scent,

I had the pleasure of meeting Denyse at the American Library in Paris' fascinating Passion Panel on perfume, wine and cheese with Robert Camuto (wine) and Sister Noella Marcellina (cheese). It was a remarkably delightful and informative discussion, due to a successful blend of knowledge, wit and an unusual level of articulateness. I was particularly struck by Denyse's passion for scent (her refrigerator is full of perfumes!) and her surgeon-like precision in speaking about something which for me had always been invisible and elusive. Language, she explained, is essential. "The more you learn to put words to your perceptions, the finer your appreciation will become."

Denyse Beaulieu writes Grain de Musc, a bilingual blog on perfume, and teaches "Understanding Fragrance" at the London College of Fashion. She has published numerous books and articles in English and in French, including Sex Game Book, a cultural history of sexuality (Éditions Assouline) and Les Musées, Le Patrimoine (Documentation Française) and L’Enfant vers l’art (Autrement). Most recently she inspired Bertrand Duchaufour, a reknown perfumer, to create a new scent based on a recollection of a romantic encounter. 

 

Writers on Writing

a talk with Denyse Beaulieu, author of The Perfume Lover

 Laurel Zuckerman: Denyse, you write so beautifully about perfumes, such a remarkable blend of precision and sensuality. How did you learn to write? 

Denyse Beaulieu: I’ve never had any creative writing training. I’ve just always written. And I started getting paid for it very early on, at 16, when I published my first pieces in a couple of Montreal music magazines during the punk era. I wasn’t even old enough to go into the clubs where the gigs were happening! A far cry from perfume, I know, but the point was being able to write about something I was passionate about. Perfume gave me a new field to explore with that same adolescent energy – and all I’ve learned in the meantime, after 25 years in Paris.

LZ: In your book you talk about the importance of finding a common language with the perfume expert. Can you tell us more about it? What is the role of words, of language, in creating a scent?

DB: One of the reasons I started writing about perfume was that it’s just so difficult, really. That was the whole challenge! The part of our brain that identifies smells evolved such a long time before our cortex that the two have a pretty hard time connecting. Perfumers are trained in matching words with smells because they have to memorize thousands of them and categorize them, but that doesn’t mean they’ll all perceive the same materials in the same way. They have developed conventions so they can discuss projects. But there are various classifications of raw materials and they’re not identical. So you can imagine how tricky it can be to communicate with someone who’s got no formal training.

Say you want something that smells green. Which type of green? Fresh-mown lawn? Milky fruity fig leaf? Granny Smith apple? Tart, metallic rhubarb? Cat-pee-like box tree? You try to zero in on the most accurate real-world referent; to put adjectives to the noun, as it were. But you’re limited by what the person in front of you knows. I remember struggling with 20-something American fashion students when I was showing them vanilla absolute, because they’d never smelled cigars, so they couldn’t recognize that facet…

What’s magical though is that as soon as the accurate word is said, you smell the thing. I was smelling daffodils with a friend today, and she picked up freshly-sliced button mushrooms. I leaned in to sniff, and boom! Mushrooms jumped out.

Associating words or images with each other can also lead to olfactory connections. If I say orange blossom, I might think of orange trees in full bloom buzzing with nectar-drunk bees, which will lead me to honey, but also to wax. Bees wax is often associated with incense because of the candles in churches. And there you’ve got some of the major notes of Séville à l’aube, the perfume whose development is one of the narrative threads of The Perfume Lover.

 LZ: For a wearer of perfume, does mastering the language heighten appreciation of the scent? If so, how?

DB: I think it does, because the more you learn to put words to your perceptions, the finer your appreciation will become: it’s as though you were expanding your object, connecting it in richer, more complex ways with your life, with the world… The beauty of the fragrance will speak to you more deeply; you’ll be able to weave more stories around it. By putting words to smells, you’re also cultivating a neglected sense and opening yourself up to a new dimension in the world.

LZ: You explore the connection between perfume and sensuality. What elements do you think are at work? The working of the scent? Other secret ingredients? Or perhaps the message vehiculed by the act of wearing perfume, i.e. the assumption that a person wears perfume in order to seduce and is therefore open to seduction?...

DB: Perfumes, in a way, are our subconscious. Because they’re invisible, they give us the impression that whatever message they’re putting out won’t be perceived. One of those messages, of course, is seduction: for time immemorial, scent has been used in erotic rituals. But it’s not just a matter of getting dolled up for a date. There are some notes in perfumes that subtly conjure the beast under the velvet, because they connect with human smells. Jasmine, for instance. In The Perfume Lover, I explore why our skins love it so much. It turns out we produce very similar and sometimes identical chemicals than those produced by flowers. Let’s not forget flowers are sexual organs! The intoxicating fragrances they produce to attract insects may not work on humans in quite the same way, but there must be a reason why their beauty makes us swoon…

LZ: Perfume and poison, you point out, are historically linked. Could you tell us more? Is that still the case today?

DB: For centuries, people thought epidemics were caused by bad smells, and could therefore be repelled by good ones. Perfume was an invisible armor against the Reaper. I believe that there is still a trace memory of this in our culture. That some part of us may seek certain smells for healing or protection. But in Ancient Greece, the word pharmakon meant both poison and medicine, so that the healing virtues of perfume can reverse themselves: that, too, is in our memories. But today it translates into paranoia about “chemicals” in perfumes. Of course it’s much easier to attack perfume, which is perceived as dispensable and futile, even deceptive since it is an instrument of seduction, than to take on the corporate behemoths that are merrily disrupting our environment. That said, I do believe certain perfume notes are toxic… from an aesthetic point of view!

LZ: When will the perfume your story inspired become available? Are you still involved in the project?

 DB: Séville à l’aube will be launched by L’Artisan Parfumeur in July 2012. The perfumer Bertrand Duchaufour and I will be doing joint events in London to promote the book and the fragrance, and again in October when the book comes out in France. Apart from that, my involvement with the project ended when the creative process did, since it was Bertrand himself who invited me into it.

LZ: Now that you’ve been a muse, do you want to inspire something else? Do you have a muse of your own?

DB: Bertrand was my muse for the book! And I’m currently working on other scents, this time more formally, as a creative director.

LZ: We learn all kinds of interesting things (public baths were shut down for three centuries!) How did you research this book?

DB: I’m not a historian, so I based myself on many books, mainly The Foul and the Fragrant by Alain Corbin, The Gardens of Adonis by Marcel Détienne and Le Parfum des origines à nos jours by Annick Le Guérer. Élisabeth de Feydeau’s Le Parfum: Histoire, Anthologie, Dictionnaire hadn’t been published yet when I was writing but I interviewed her. I also drew on the erudition of Octavian Coifan, the author of the blog 1000 Fragrances, who has done a lot of research on primary sources, is a fount of knowledge and generous about sharing it.

LZ:  How do you work? Do you have a special regimen or schedule you follow?

DB: Every waking hour I can spare until the damn thing is done, basically. Though for The Perfume Lover, the pace of the writing was conditioned by my sessions with Bertrand Duchaufour while we were developing the fragrance. When we didn’t see each other, I wrote about other things. The chapters have been pretty much kept in that order, since it was the evolution of the perfume that conjured themes and recollections.

LZ: What’s your favorite spot in Paris for drinks?

DB : Le Nemours, right at the entrance of the Palais Royal, a proper old-style French café, is where I give most of my appointments. Otherwise, I tend to end up in the English bar of the Westin on the rue de Castiglione, mostly because it’s central, quiet, and untouched by trendiness. A place to talk, not to be seen.

LZ: What’s your next project?

DB: I’m still working on the French translation of The Perfume Lover, which I’m doing myself. I’d love to explore raw materials next. I’m boning up on chemistry right now. The strange thing is, the more I know about the world of scent, the more magical and mysterious it becomes…

 ***

Bilingual, Denyse Beaulieu is a Paris-based fragrance writer and industry consultant who established herself as one of the foremost bloggers in the field with Grain de Musc. She has learned the principles of perfume composition with the help of some of the profession’s most prestigious noses.
Her expertise has been acknowledged by at the London College of Fashion where she teaches an intensive “Understanding Fragrance” course and the Société Française des Parfumeurs where she is lecturer. She was born in Canada, where she first started as a writer by covering the punk rock scene for local magazines, and moved to Paris 25 years ago to do her Ph.D. at the Université Paris VII on the Marquis de Sade.

 

 

Paris Writers News March 2012 Update

This month, news from  Gwyneth Hughes, Amy Thomas, Barry Kirwan, Cara Black, Best Paris Stories, Denyse Beaulieu, Anne Korkeakivi, Paris Writers Workshop, Margo Berdeshevsky, Marco Panzani, Lisa Immordino Vreedlnd, Lisa Pasold, Upstairs at Duroc, Guillaume Klossa, AUP Young writers and translators, Kelly Jakes, Heather Hartley, Rilla Askew, Sasha Dugdale, Jane Draycott, Mimi Khalvati, Olivia McCannon, Stephen Romer, Moving Parts, Bookclub at LeCarmen, Le Printemps des Poètes, Caroline Brothers, Constance Borde, Suyan Zhou, the Young Authors Fiction Festival, The Paris Literary Prize and the SALON DU LIVRE.

 

NEWS

Submissions have opened for The Young Authors Fiction Festival : deadline : April 1, 2012 at midnight!

Open to all students ages 5 to 18.

The American Library in Paris is organizing the Young Authors Fiction Festival, in collaboration with the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI). The Fiction Festival is open to all students ages 5 to 18 in the greater Paris area who write in English and is absolutely free of charge to enter. The deadline for submissions is midnight 1 April 2012. To get the details and the submission guidelines, visit the American Library website - see Children or Young Adult program listings on the Events and Programs page. Questions? Contact the YAFF 2012 team at [email protected]

 

Submissions have opened for the 2012 Paris Literary Prize sponsored by Shakespeare and Co and the De Groot Foundation. This is the most exciting prize that exists for novellas. See submission guidelines here.

There are three Paris Literary awards: the award for the best Novella and two runner-up awards.

The 2012 Paris Literary Prize award: 10,000 Euros and a weekend stay in Paris, France. The winner will also read from his or her work at a special event at Shakespeare and Company Bookshop in Paris.

Two Paris Literary Prize Runner-up awards: These awardees will receive 2,000 Euros each, a weekend stay in Paris and an opportunity to read from their work at a special event at Shakespeare and Company Bookshop in Paris.

The Paris Literary Prize KEY DATES : February 29, 2012 - Submissions Open.  September 1, 2012 - Submissions Deadline.  September 15, 2012 - Extended Deadline.  June 15, 2013 - Prize Ceremony

Writers, this is a wonderful opportunity to showcase your best work. For more, see here.

***

The 2012 Paris Writers Workshop is now open for registration. It will take place from June 24–29, 2012.

 This year’s writers-in-residence faculty are: Samantha Chang (Novel), Kate McMullan (Writing for Children/Young Adults), Mimi Schwartz (Creative Nonfiction), Kathleen Spivack (Poetry), Christopher Tilghman (Short Story).  ( Click here for more information on faculty and presenters.)

PWW  features: Morning small-group workshops with the writer-in-residence of your choice, depending on your genre. You'll work with this writer/group every morning, with discussions, writing exercises, and review/critique of your work in progress.;  Private consultations with writing coaches and literary agents (sign up early, as these book up fast);  Networking opportunities all week ... with receptions and readings;  Afternoon panels and workshops for the entire workshop community, focused on the tools of writing and paths to publishing (tools of the trade—a panel with our writers-in-residence, a step-by-step workshop to getting published, plot structure, eBooks, self-publishing, blogging/social media, creative nonfiction, and the role of the agent). Afternoon presenters include: Lorella Belli, Jami Bernard, Samantha Chang, Stephen Clarke, Sion Dayson, Mary Duncan, Gretel Furner, Terrance Gelenter, Adrian Leeds, Alexander Lobrano, Kate McMullan, Paul Schmidtberger, Mimi Schwartz, Kathleen Spivack, Christopher Tilghman, and Thirza Vallois. These presentations are free for workshop attendees and are also open to the public for a fee. For more information, click here.

The workshop will be held this year at the American University of Paris. Find out more at www.pariswritersworkshop.org or email [email protected]. The special discounted early bird rate is available until March 31. Workshops traditionally fill up quickly. 

 

New Books*:

Railway Confessions – A Collection of Short Stories by Carolyn Moncel As passengers traveling aboard a TGV train from Paris to Geneva one summer evening, three couples casually disclose very intimate, truthful details that could potentially transform their lives either for the better or for the worst. 

 

 

The Perfume Lover: A Personal History of Scent by Denyse Beaulieu (After Denyse's wonderful talk at the American Library in Paris, watch for upcoming PWN interview here)

 

 

Murder at the Lantern Rouge (an Aimée LeDuc Investigation by Cara Black (see Cara's events here and our PWN interview with Cara on the occasion of her fascinating talk for PAN here.)

 

 

 

Paris, My Sweet: A Year in the City of Light (and Dark Chocolate) by Amy Thomas (see review  "a fun and decadent read" and interview here)

 

 

 

* Please ask our local Paris bookstores--Shakespeare's, Red Wheelbarrow, WH Smith, Abbey Bookshop, Village Voice-- if they have these books. (I regret always using Amazon links to descriptions and reviews but it remains the easiest way to communicate this information to you. I would love to use a bookstore's links... )

 

SELECTED LITERARY EVENTS, READINGS, and WORKSHOPS

(for a more complete listing, in particular for poetry and French or bilingual events, please see Fragment78's excellent Paris Reading and Events Monthly List) 

3 March 11h Barry Kirwan presents The Eden Paradox,  the first book in the sci-fi space thriller The Eden Saga (The Eden Paradox, Eden's Trial and Eden's Revenge). AT Waterstones Bookstore in Camberly (UK). 

 4 March 13h SPECIAL EVENT: Celebration of the life of John Kliphan who died last month. John Kliphan was the creator of Live Poets. The wake will feature readings from his posthumously published collection LOW LEVEL FLYING, to be launched at the event. Profits from the book will launch a memorial fund to support the publication of new young anglophone poets from Paris. AT: The Highlander, 8 rue Nevers, M Pont-Neuf / Odéon

 4 March 19.30 MOVING PARTS second reading of a play by Gwyneth Hughes. Bones of Contention: Will a psychiatrist be able to free Julia from the demands of a ghost who relentlessly torments her? Starring: Jenny Bennitt, Chloe Dunn, Beth Jervis, Chloe Lauverjon AT: Carr's Pub & Restaurant 1 rue du Mont Thabor, 75001 Paris Metro : Tuileries

 5 March 19h With Carcanet Press, five acclaimed poets and translators: Sasha Dugdale, Jane Draycott, Mimi Khalvati, Olivia McCannon and Stephen Romer. AT: Shakespeare & Co., 37rue de la Bûcherie, Paris 5ème. M° St Michel

 5 March 20h onwards SPOKEN WORD Paris  Read YOUR work in ENGLISH, FRENCH, ITALIAN or any other language you would so like to share poetry in! You are also invited to play a short musical piece or read a poem by an author you admire if you so wish! 20h sign up/hang out 20h30 first round starts 15 min break 21h45 second round starts 15 min break 23h00 third round starts stop at midnight ie. the Cinderella rule (so we can all chat & socialize; the bar stays open till after one). 10 poets/singers/comedians/dancing pets per round The exact start times for rounds depend on people signing up, but stopping at midnight is fixed. AT: the basement of Le Chat Noir, 76 rue Jean-Pierre Timbaud, 75011 Métro Parmentier/Couronnes/Oberkampf

6 March WICE World Watch @ The Library: The promise and the reality of International Women's Day. Constance Borde and Suyan Zhou discuss the current state of women’s issues and status in the US and China. AT The American Library in Paris

 7 March  Printemps des poètes, l'Alliance française invite 3 auteurs publiés à Cheyne. Blandine Merle - prix de la vocation 2011 pour Par Obole. Mikaël Hauchamp : Formant série sans trace. Antoine Wauters : Césarine de nuit. Venez-y nombreux ! AT: 101 boulevard Raspail, Paris. Métro Notre-Dame-des-Champs ou Saint-Placide

 

7 March 19h30 Lisa Immordino Vreeland presents the biography Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has to Travel. AT: American Library in Paris,10 rue du Général Camou, 75007 Paris, Metro Alma-Marceau or Ecole Militaire

 

8 March 10h30 Writing Workshops with Lisa Pasold at the American Library in Paris: Writing with Your Brain aimed at flexing your writing muscle!  Free to members of the Library, registration is required. AT The American Library in Paris

8 March 18h Sure Thing a short play by David Ives. A man approaches a woman in a café - but the outcome is unpredictable. Will they manage to have a real encounter or will they miss the opportunity of genuine communication?. AT: Shakespeare & Co., 37rue de la Bûcherie, Paris 5ème. M° St Michel

 

8 March 19h Eva-Maria Berg : Flux.  Printemps des Poètes. en allemand, et en français par Max Alhau. Performance : Isabelle Maurel (danseuse) et Denis Parmain (comédien), avec les « Habits à lire » de Luana Dragoiescu et Eva-Maria Berg.  AT: Goethe-Institut - 17 avenue d'Iéna, 75116 Paris Métro: Iéna

10 March  Saturdays 5pm-7pm The Other Writers' Group: a drop-in feedback writing & readers’ workshop. Writers! Bring 6 copies of your story, poems, etc to get feedback (up to about 10 mins reading time for prose, max 2 or 3 pages of poetry) Readers! Come & listen, give your reaction & join in the discussion. Meets: upstairs at Shakespeare & Company, 37 rue de le Bucherie, Metro St Michel or Maubert Mutualite. Fee; 5 euros a meeting. For more info: http://spokenwordparis.blogspot.com/p/other-writers-group.html

12 March 19h Shakespeare and Co. Caroline Brothers reads from Hinterland, her exquisite, unsettling novel about refugees and what it is to be underage, homeless and invisible in a foreign land . .. AT: Shakespeare & Co., 37rue de la Bûcherie, Paris 5ème. M° St Michel

 

12 March 20h onwards SPOKEN WORD Paris AT: the basement of Le Chat Noir, 76 rue Jean-Pierre Timbaud, 75011 Métro Parmentier/Couronnes/Oberkampf

 

14 March 19h Printemps des Poètes:  Maureen Boyle, Deirdre Cartmill and Moyra Donaldson. AT: Centre Culturel Irlandais, 5 rue des Irlandais, 75005 Paris. RER: Luxembourg

 15 March 19:30 PM UPSTAIRS AT DUROC, ANNE TALVAZ, FIONA SZE-LORRAIN and HELEN BURKE.. AT: THE AMERICAN LIBRARY IN PARIS, 10 rue du Général Camou, 75007 Paris, Metro Ecole Militaire or RER Pont de l’Alma

 

16 March 17h Irish folk singer/songerwriter Fionn Regan to sing amongst the books AT: Shakespeare & Co., 37rue de la Bûcherie, Paris 5ème. M° St Michel

 

16-19 March SALON DU LIVRE A PARIS for info see site.

 18 March 18h30  Alan Riding. La Fête Continue La vie culturelle à Paris sous l'Occupation, traduit par Gérard Meudal, Ed Plon. Littérature. AT: Maison de l'Amérique Latine 217 Boulevard Saint-Germain 75007 Métro: Solférino

 18 March 19h30 Moving Parts presents Marco Panzani's "Un Amour de Concierge" (stage play in French). AT: Carr's Pub & Restaurant, 1 rue du Mont Thabor, 75001 Paris Metro: Tuileries

  18 March Janet Skeslien Charles will be signing copies of Les Fiancées d’Odessa on Sunday, March 18th, from 12h00 to 13h00 at stand S56. This is the TWELFTH language for her debut novel Moonlight in Odessa!!! (See interview with Janet here.)

19 March 19h Come Dan Bullen the author of The Love Lives of the Artists and Lesley McDowell, the author of Between The Sheets talk about famous literary and artistic liaisons that have captured our imagination. AT: Shakespeare & Co., 37rue de la Bûcherie, Paris 5ème. M° St Michel

 19 March 20h onwards SPOKEN WORD Paris (now in a new location. AT: the basement of Le Chat Noir, 76 rue Jean-Pierre Timbaud, 75011 Métro Parmentier/Couronnes/Oberkampf

 

20 - 21 March 20h00 Word for Word performs Sorry Fugu a short story written by satirist T. C. Boyle and directed by John Fisher. AT: American Library in Paris,10 rue du Général Camou, 75007 Paris, Metro Alma-Marceau or Ecole Militaire

  21 March 18h Justin Torres  AT: Shakespeare & Co., 37rue de la Bûcherie, Paris 5ème. M° St Michel

 

22 March 18h Please THE YOUNG WRITERS AND TRANSLATORS AT THE AMERICAN UNIVERSITY OF PARIS READING. CHLOE RASH will be introducing the following readers: OLIVIA BAES, JENNIFER CARR, MAXIMILIANE DONICHT, WILL INRIG, and JESSE T. LICHTENSTEIN. AT: American University of Paris 6, rue du Colonel Combes, Room C12 RER: Pont d'Alma

 22 March 19h the monthly Rendez-vous réguliers, les jeudis de l'Oulipo, chers aux amateurs de jeux de l'esprit et de littérature potentielle, continuent d'explorer des thèmes d'actualité, proposant lectures et créations originales. Tonight’s theme “Couplains et reflets" Entrée libre. AT: BNF François-Mitterrand, Grand auditorium, quai François Mauriac, 75013 Paris. Métro: Quai de la gare ou Bibliothèque.

 

 22 March 19h30 Rilla Askew AT: Village Voice Bookshop 6, rue Princesse 75006 Métro: Mabillon

 25 March 12 pm to 16 S.O.S. Book Sale: Paperbacks are only 1€ and hard covers are 2€.  To donate books in good condition, you may drop them off at the venue Saturday, March 24, 12-4pm or Sunday, March 25, 12-4pm. All proceeds to SOS Help  01 46 21 46 46  from 3 to 11pm daily http://www.soshelpline.org AT: Orrick Law Offices 31, avenue Pierre 1er de Serbie 75016 Paris Métro: Alma-Marceau

 26 March 20h onwards SPOKEN WORD Paris AT: the basement of Le Chat Noir, 76 rue Jean-Pierre Timbaud, 75011 Métro Parmentier/Couronnes/Oberkampf

 28 March 19h30 Frederick Turner explores how Henry Miller’s Tropic of Cancer was written, banned, and then un-banned only to become an American classic in RENEGADE: Henry Miller and the Making of “Tropic of Cancer” AT: American Library in Paris,10 rue du Général Camou, 75007 Paris, Metro Alma-Marceau or Ecole Militaire

 29 March 18h Donald Ray Pollock for his first literary event in France will read and discuss his new novel The Devil All The Time AT: Shakespeare & Co., 37rue de la Bûcherie, Paris 5ème. M° St Michel

 29 March 19h30 Rencontre with Sorj Chalandon winner of the prestigious Grand prix du roman de l'Académie française for Retour à Killybegs . AT: Centre Culturel Irlandais, 5 rue des Irlandais, 75005 Paris. RER: Luxembourg

 29 March at 20h30 "Big and Small" at the Théâtre de la Ville. In English with French subtitles. Text by Botho Strauss, translated by Martin Crimp. Performed by the Sydney Theatre Company. Performance time: 2h40. Tickets 22€ and 21€ (<30 ans). If you would like to join us this evening, kindly confirm your name and number of tickets to [email protected] (Payment in advance) Participants, kindly pay for tickets during classes. The play runs from 29th March to 8th April. AT: Théâtre de la Ville 16 Quai Gesvres Paris Métro: Chatelet

31 March at 14h00 editor and writer Heather Hartley leads Left Bank Literature, where you'll take inspiration from the writings ofLeft Bank authors to develop ideas in your own prose. Free to members of the Library, registration is required. 

 

France: How bad - or good - was Mitterrand ?

Mitterrand: good or bad French president?

A discussion of Presidential Candidate François Hollande's tortuous backtracking on euthanasia in Libération inspired a right-left mudslinging match by readers that went all the way back to Socialist President François Mitterrand. 

In this exchange, between comptapublic and voterhollande, we see in a nutshell two diametrically opposing views of the legacy of France's Socialist president....

I reproduce it here:

Comptapublic recalls Mitterrand's failures*:

* participation in the Extreme Right,

* role in torture as Minister of Interior and of Justice during the Algerian war,

* support for anti-Gaullists,

* staging of what is thought to be a fake attack,

* sinking of Greenpeace's Rainbow Warrior (in which a person was killed) in order to continue nuclear bomb tests,

* son (nicknamed "Daddy told me") in prison for shady dealings in Africa,

* second family hidden at taxpayer expense,

*  special table at LIPP ,

* free vacations in Egypt and Morocco,

*his extensive wiretapping,

* major affairs of Elf, Bernard Tapie, Credit Lyonnais, UAP, arms sales to Karachi, war in Tchad,

* the suicide of his prime minister (Beregovoy) and two advisers,

*friendship with Nazi war criminal Bousquet (which continued long after the war),

* his foreign minister Roland Dumas' taste for luxury shoes and for the Whore of the Republic (Dumas' mistress),  etc... 

 

voterhollande responds with Mitterrand's achievements**:

* abolition of the death penalty (France was actually chopping off heads until very recently)

* five weeks paid vacation

* retirement at 60  

*39 hour work week 

* creation of the euro 

* the opening of radios 

* "presse plurielle",

* "la justice libre" (not sure what this refers to),

* "les conquêtes sociales" 

* the fight against racism

 While far from complete (see below), the competing lists give an idea of how differently French people view this immense figure.

The legislating of more benefits for workers--in particular public sector workers--tends to be hailed by the left and condemned by the right.

Was it, for example, really a good idea to make universtiy positions permanent at an extremely young age, before scholars had published important work? (Or was it the beginning of the end of the French university, by cementing into permanent positions an academic cast with jobs for life whether or not they ever performed serious research at all?) 

Did the "fight against racism" actually reduce racism--or simply make it taboo to talk about very real problems in integrating immigrants (which exploded in massive urban riots in 2005).

The exchange of views between left and right rarely if ever delves into details. Usually it remains on a fairly superficial level, invoking creeds.

But perhaps enough time has passed now for that to change?

Intelligent, charming, cultivated, tough, seductive and profoundly manipulative, Mitterrand was, for many, difficult to see clearly during his reign.

Now that he is gone and the comparatively milk-toasty François Hollande competing for his crown, is the distorting power of the two term President's seduction waning and a clearer image of the man, at long last, begining to form?

Where to find a balanced evaluation of the man, his work, his life....?

 

(See Huffpost.fr photos politicians would love to see deleted from the Web)

***

(exchange in the original French)

* comptapublic répond au commentaire de voterhollande

Re: un enfant de coeur à côté de Mitterrand

Fais la même liste pour M......d depuis sa jeunesse à l'extrême droite, la torture en Algérie quand il était ministre de l'intérieur et ministre de la justice, son soutient à l'Algérie française, son soutient aux anti-gaullistes, le faux attentat de l'observatoire, le rainbowwarrior coulé avec mort d'homme !!! pour reprendre les essais nucléaires, son fils en prison pour trafic en Afrique (surnommé "papa m'a dit"), sa seconde famille cachée aux frais du contribuable, les affaire Elf, Tapie,la faillite du Crédit Lyonnais et de l'UAP, la vente d'armes à Karachi qui a entrainé l'attentat, la guerre au Tchad, son premier ministre suicidé !!! ses deux conseillers suicidés dont un à l'Elysée même !!! sa francisque, son amitié avec Bousquet, les chaussures de son ami Roland Dumas, la Putain de la République, sa table réservée chez LIPP , ses vacances gratuites tous les ans en Egypte et au Maroc, la création de la CSG CRDS, son central d'écoutes téléphonique sous l'Elysée, l'invention du délire des 3% de déficit public et de la relance par la consommation à crédit; la fausse affaire des diamants montée contre Giscard, les journalistes traités de "chiens", les coucheries aux rencontres des jeunesses socialistes etc. etc. 

Personne ne peut arriver à la cheville de M....d en matière d'affaires et de coups tordus ! 

 

**voterhollande répond au commentaire de comptapublic

Re: un enfant de coeur à côté de Mitterrand

Aha je vois que la droite réactionnaire raciste et fachiste veut résister jusqu'au bout!!! 
Elle ne veut pas lâcher le pouvoir car elle a peur du jugement du peuple de France. 

Vous ramenez Mitterrand meme si il n'a rien a voir dans cette élection, nous on est fier du président qui: 
Abroge la peine de mort 
Instaure les 5 semaines de congés payes 
La retraite a 60 ans 
La semaine de travail a 39 heures 
La création de l'euro 
Les radios libres 
La presse plurielle 
La justice libre 
Les conquêtes sociales 
La lutte contre le racisme 
.... 

 

 

French bank Société Générale has quietly lost more value than Greece

 EVOLUTION HISTORIQUE DU COURS BOURSIER DE SOCIÉTÉ GÉNÉRALE : (USD)



 Worse than Greece?

Holders of Greek debt are preparing to take a 50%-75% loss on their investment.

Meanwhile shareholders in the French bank Société Générale have seen the value of their stake decline by nearly half in the past year, and over 80% in the past five years (from 139 on May 7, 2007 to 23 today). Unlike Greek debt, that loss is not realized unless shareholders sell, of course. But like Greek debt, it may not have hit bottom yet....