Laurel Zuckerman's Paris Weblog

Shocked to learn that Nutella is not health food

 

On a recent visit to the USA, I frantically stuffed my suitcase with French delicacies in the hope of consoling Paris-raised offspring struggling to adapt to the horrors of American cuisine. 

Confit de canard, foie gras, green lentils of Puy, French wine, fresh macaroons, fancy boxed chocolate, real Dijon mustard and, as a wink at the fleeting joys childhood, that ultimate delight : Nutella.

But, oh, while the rest of my offerings were greeted with the kind of enthusiasm Moses must have reserved for bread and water after a harsh forty days--my Nutella was scoffed at! 

Turns out it's not considered exotic at all in the USA! You can buy it at your local supermarket!

Not only that but it's so American that it just got sued!

Why would anyone sue the makers of Nutella?

Because, as a stunned American mother discovered, it's not really a health food.

Athena Hohenberg, the mother of a preschooler in San Diego, California, launched the class action lawsuit early last year, saying that the sweet spread kids adore had been pitched as something "healthier than it actually is."

She was "shocked to learn that Nutella was in fact, not 'healthy, nutritious' food, but instead was the next best thing to a candy bar, and that Nutella contains dangerous level of saturated fat," her lawsuit said.

As a result, the makers of Nutella are setting aside $3 million to settle claims from injured families, not to exceed $20 per claimant.

In a country where industrial food lobbies managed to get pizza declared a vegetable and pink slime included in school lunches, this defeat comes as a terrible shock. What's next? Soda? Energy drinks? Fried butter? (see How Washington Went Soft on Childhood Obesity)  In your dreams!

No, Nutella is, after all, foreign, and clearly under-staffed in the lobby muscle department.

Still, I thought, if French women have a reputation for not getting fat, what about their kids? French kids eat Nutella with a delight bordering on frenzy. How are they doing?

And then I learned the awful truth.

Nutella is not French!

It's Italian! Ferrero created it!

Italian, as in pasta, pizza (a vegetable) and XXL opera singers!

And this, for me, was the biggest shock of all...

Anne Korkeakivi, author of An Unexpected Guest, talks with Paris Writers News

I first met Anne Korkeakivi in C. Michael Curtis' short story seminar at the Paris Writers Workshop and was immediately struck by her sly humor, kindness and obvious literary talent. Since then, Anne has published many wonderful short stories in literary magazines such as The Yale Review and The Atlantic.  Recently, to our delight, she served as a distinguished judge for Best Paris Stories.

 Her outstanding novel, An Unexpected Guest, has just been released to critical acclaim and reader enthusiasm.  Foreign rights have  been sold in Australia, Italy, Russia and Serbia, and numerous literary publications have singled the novel out, including starred reviews and a Publisher's Weekly Pick.

Here, then, is Anne Korkeakivi, former Paris expat and author of An Unexpected Guest.    

***

Laurel Zuckerman : You’re an American married to a Finn living in Geneva. Where are you from?

 Anne Korkeakivi : I was born in New York City, and was raised there and in western Massachusetts.

LZ : Do you remember that feeling of falling in love with a book as a kid? Who were your favorite authors…

AK : I can't recall a pre-reading time. As a child, I read a lot of classic authors, both American and British, and also magical authors. I re-read the entire Narnia series by C.S. Lewis annually, and was crazy about D'Aulaire's beautiful illustrated Book of Greek Myths.

LZ : What started you writing? How did you learn?

AK : I'm not sure I recall a pre-writing time either. I used to lie awake at night as a very little girl writing stories in my head, a new scene every night. I was a mini-insomniac.

 LZ : Your short stories have been published by The Atlantic, The Yale Review, The Bellevue Literary Review, The Brooklyn Review, and others, and you were recently a Judge on the Best Paris Stories contest. What do you look for in a short story? How to distinguish the banal from something really special? In short, what makes a story great?

AK : It takes more than craft to make a short story great for me. It also takes heart.

LZ : An Unexpected Guest is your first novel. What inspired you to tell this story? 

AK : Basically, the idea sprung from a perfect storm of a visit to Paris at the height of the Iraq War that had me walking down the Rue de Varenne (the eventual epicenter of the novel's action), thinking about the ramifications of a series of news items then making headlines, and an uneasiness I felt as an American expat.

LZ : How did you get into Clare’s thoughts? Is she based on someone you know?

AK : Clare is entirely her own person. I think about my characters for a long time before I start writing. By the time I do, they pretty much have lives of their own.

LZ : Could you tell us about your research process? (ED note: The author once sent me to the Central Police Station of Paris to check details for a certain scene!)

AK : Well, I rely on clever generous friends for starters...  Before I cornered you, I cornered an acquaintance who had worked at the British Embassy in Paris. I research endlessly when I write: books, articles, interviews, travel, the internet, etc. Sometimes I just listen to people from certain places talking - to hear cadences.

LZ :  You recently wrote about the challenge of dealing with multiple languages in a Wall Street Journal article. How did you solve this in An Unexpected Guest, where so many different nationalities come together?

AK : Clare, my main character, is a translator by profession, which came in handy on several occasions. But, quite seriously, I gave this question a lot of thought. It wanted the book to be realistic, which demanded the use of some foreign language. But I didn't want it to be opaque or appear pretentious. There is a sprinkling of French in the book, and also a couple phrases in Italian. But nothing, I hope, that doesn't feel natural and clear. 

LZ : You tend to be a perfectionist. At what point were you able to say to yourself, it’s done! and let your agent read it?

AK : Are those two things supposed to be the same? For me, it was more like "it's ready for me to bear to have it looked at."

 

LZ : Reviewers have compared An Unexpected Guest to Virginia Wolff’s Mrs. Dalloway. What thoughts does this inspire?

AK: Gratitude.

 LZ : Are there writing retreats or workshops you could recommend?

AK : I've participated in two week-long workshops at the Paris Writers Workshop and was granted a month-long stay at Hawthornden International Retreat for Writers in Scotland. These were very rewarding experiences for me. But I can't claim to have much expertise on the subject, as I don't have anything to compare them with.

 LZ : What are your goals as a writer? Have these evolved?

AK : To write the best books I possibly can.

 LZ : Do you force yourself to read a book to the end once you’ve started?

AK : I used to, but lately I'm learning to just say no.

 LZ : Is it true that you loath ebooks?

AK: Not at all. I use a kindle often when I travel. But nothing substitutes for the experience of visiting a brick-and-mortar bookstore and browsing the tables and shelves and, in an indie bookstore, chatting with the bookseller. Or of holding a real book in my hands, admiring the cover, feeling between my fingers exactly where I am in a book. What a huge gaping void if we were ever to lose those things. Go visit your local bookseller, everyone. Please! Support them!

---

 Anne Korkeakivi was born and raised in New York City but currently lives in Geneva, Switzerland, with her husband, who works at the United Nations, and two daughters. Her short stories have been published by The Yale Review,The Atlantic, and The Bellevue Literary Review, among other magazines, and she is a Hawthornden Fellow. She has also lived in France and Finland, as well as in a few additional corners in the U.S.

Praise for An Unexpected Guest: "With this seemingly slight day-in-the-life tale, Korkeakivi produces a knowing comedy of manners, a politically charged thriller and a genuinely moving study of the human heart.' -Kirkus, Starred Review

Thank you American Library in Paris for a wonderful BEST PARIS STORIES book launch!

BEST PARIS STORIES brings together the winning short stories of the 2011 Paris Short Story Contest with works by Jeannine Alter, Bob Levy, Lisa Burkitt, Nafkote Tamirat, Marie Houzelle, Jo Nguyen, Julia Mary Lichtblau, Mary Byrne, Jane M. Handel, and Jim Archibald.

By turns humorous, bittersweet, historical or surreal, each of these carefully selected stories invites us to explore a different facet of Paris.

 SLIDESHOW OF PHOTOS FROM THE BEST PARIS STORIES LAUNCH AT The American Library in Paris on May 29th.

 

Will Bruno Michel Iksil, the London Whale, join Fabrice Pierre Tourre and Jerome Kerviel as French fall guys in financial scandals?

Breaking news: May 11, 2012  J.P. Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon admitted that the bank had lost $2 billion in bad trades and could face an additional $1 billion trading losses in the second-quarter. * More breaking news: July 13, 2012 "JPMorgan’s chief investment office has lost $5.8 billion on the trades so far, and that figure may grow by $1.7 billion in a worst-case scenario," - Bloomberg. More breaking news: it's finally happening:  (as predicted three months ago in article below) JP Morgan is starting to yell that traders hid positions, and will try to put blame on them...see Reuters "Traders May have hidden losses"

 

From teapot tempest in April to $2 BN loss in May to $5 BN + in July :  Dimon still boss

April 8, 2012: A  French-born J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. employee named Bruno Michel Iksil has unsettled credit default swap markets with his gigantic bets on the solvability of certain companies.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Iksil, dubbed "The London Whale*" for his enormous bets, has made $100 million for Morgan in the past few years with daring bets on credit default swaps (CDS).

This now risks becoming a problem as it dawns on market participants that he might have bet wrong. What happens if any of these companies do in fact default?

Before going further, it should be pointed out that any idiot can make money for a while selling CDS. That's one of the reasons they're such trouble makers.  

"Profits" on "premiums" to "protect against default" are recorded yearly before anyone knows how the long term bet will turn out. Sellers pocket the payments and announce profits (on which they earn bonuses!).  As long as there's no default, all is good. But, when default happens--bam!--the seller must pay out. And then, surprise, catastrophe. On a scale that can bring down a global financial institution, like, for example AIG in 2008. -- Or Deutsche Bank and Goldman had US taxpayers not bailed them out by honoring 100% of AIG's insane commitments. In fact, trouble can start even earlier--once market participants begin to suspect these bets may go bad. That's what's happening now...

How big are the French trader's bets? WSJ says big enough to move the index. It is frankly impossible to imagine that Iksil took these crazily risky positions without permission (even encouragement) from his managers. So why the focus on him?

Is this once again blame-the-Frenchman time?

Finance fans will remember the multi-billion dollar accusations of fraud against Goldman Sachs who sold its clients toxic mortage backed securities that it had specifically designed to fail for the sole and unique purpose of betting against them.

Who got blamed for massive and long term fraud by this financial giant? One man: Fabrice Pierre Tourre. French fall guy.

The Frenchman Tourre was the only person named when financial regulators charged the US investment bank Goldman Sachs with fraud. 

 And now here comes J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.

Chief Executive James Dimon earns top pay on Wall Street for his role in guiding JP Morgan to profits--$22.4 million for Dimon in 2011 alone.    But what if profits derive from ill-considered bets that can wreck the company? (Hedge funds are happily buying the CDS Iksil is selling, betting he's wrong.)

If the past is any guide, the CEO gets to keep the money--and blame the Frenchman!

That's precisely what Société Générale did when Jérôme Kerviel dropped $5 billion in bets that did not pay off.  

Though, admittedly there were two significant differences with the Tourre and Iksil cases.

First, Kerviel did everything he could to hide the trades (though one can be excused for wondering how a bank like Socgen could fail to see billions of high risk bets by a so-called  "rogue trader" ). 

The other difference, of course: in Société Générale, everyone was French.

 (For more on J.P. Morgan and the London Whale, see Wall Street Journal article by Gregory Zuckerman and Katy Burne )

 ***

Whale--or Voldemort? Why can't he be named....?

These just in:

According to the Forex Pros site, the so-called "London Whale" (baleine de londres) is likely hedging JP Morgan's own bonds". "...it is premature to conclude that JPMorgan has taken a large loss..Most likely they have something on the other side of the trade that the market doesn't see."

* "Whale"  Business Insider tells us,  is the unflattering nickname given to idiot rich people that drop millions at a casino. "And," reporter Joe Weisenthal adds,

"apparently 'The London Whale' isn't his only nickname. The trader became such a big client of credit-derivatives dealers that some started calling him Voldemort, the Harry Potter book-series villain so powerful he simply was referred to as 'He Who Must Not Be Named,' said one fund manager, who asked not to be identified because his firm does business with JPMorgan. The whole thing, with hedge fund traders using nasty nicknames to describe the guy via the press, seemed odd from the beginning. This only makes it weirder."  - Business Insider

According to bygonelondon.com : "Iksil works in London in the bank’s chief investment office, which has assembled traders from across Wall Street to its staff of 400 who help oversee $350 billion in investments. While the firm describes the unit’s main task as hedging risks and investing excess cash, four hedge-fund managers and dealers say the trades are big enough to move indexes and resemble proprietary bets, or wagers made with the bank’s own money." 

For more analysis of The London Whale's positions and the debate over the Volker Rule, see bygonelondon.com and, especially, Business Standard, which says some traders estimate that Iksil may have built a position on one index of as much as $100 billion.

"This year, Iksil has been betting on an index of 121 companies that all had investment-grade ratings when the benchmark was created in September 2007, the market participants said. Trading in that index surged 61 percent the past three months, according to data from Depository Trust & Clearing Corp.

The net amount of wagers on the index, which is tied to the creditworthiness of companies such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and now-junk-rated bond insurer MBIA Insurance Corp., soared to almost $145 billion at the end of March from $90 billion three months earlier, according to DTCC, which runs a central registry for credit-default swaps and reports weekly aggregate volumes.

"Iksil's trades have been so large that they're widening gaps between the relative value of the indexes and the average price of contracts tied to companies in those indexes, according to the market participants. That has frustrated some hedge funds that had bet the gaps would close, the people said." - Business Standard

 -----------------------

* Update May 15, 2012 For readers interested in understanding how JP Morgan lost $2 BN (perhaps more,) see this excellent article in Wall Street Daily by Mathew Weinschenk. (It would appear that JP Morgan bet that the spread between the cost of shorter term and longer term CDS would narrow, but, for various reasons, it didn't work out. Oops.)

* Update May 17, 2012 WSJ article by Gregory Zuckerman (no relation) suggests that  JP Morgan CEO Mr. Dimon lies when he claims "the CIO group's intent was to hedge the company's exposures in a difficult credit environment." In fact, earlier winnings from bold bets, whetted appetitefor more,  causing management to tolerate high risk in search of gains.

* Update July 13, 2012Bloomberg article by Dawn Kopecki and Michael J. Moore "JPMorgan’s chief investment office has lost $5.8 billion on the trades so far, and that figure may grow by $1.7 billion in a worst-case scenario," WSJ article by Saabira Chaudhuri and Dan Fitzpatrick  : "J.P. Morgan said on its conference call Friday that it would recoup, or claw back, two years of compensation from those responsible for the London CIO losses. The Journal reported this week that clawbacks at the bank would target the CIO traders and their former boss, Ina Drew, a longtime top lieutenant of Mr. Dimon who left the bank following the trading-loss disclosure".

 

Stephen Clarke's God Save Ze President Featured on Amazon.fr Kindle ebooks first page

Kindle ebooks have really and truly arrived in France!

Check out Amazon.fr's Kindle ebook page and you will see a first class presentation of the kind most authors only dream about for expat humorist Stephen Clarke's new book, God Save Ze President.

This is the kind of marketing authors should pay attention to. Beautiful presention, and an innovative proposal:

"From the 11th of April, discover a new episode each week...special launch price of 0.99 centimes."

Kudos to Mr Clarke's team for this classy and innovative partnership with Amazon kindle.

 (Here's what you see if you click on ebooks in Amazon.fr today Saturday, April 7 --it will of course change)

Ebooks Kindle

Meilleures ventes | Nouveautés | Ebooks par thèmes | Ebooks gratuits | Ebooks en anglais et autres langues | Journaux et Magazines

Exclusivité numérique : le nouveau roman de Stephen Clarke en 6 épisodes

"Stephen Clarke, l'auteur de l'inoubliable "A Year in Ze Merde", est de retour - et cette fois il s'attaque... au nouveau président de la République française ! À partir du 11 avril, découvrez chaque semaine un nouvel épisode de ce roman-feuilleton aussi palpitant qu'hilarant. Les trois premiers épisodes sont déjà disponibles en précommande :

God save ze Président - Episode 1...

Stephen Clarke

Prix Kindle: EUR 0,99

 

Paris Writers News April 2012 Update : tonight three terrific events!!

This month, news from Anne Korkeakivi, Cara Black, Best Paris Stories, Her Royal Majesty, Lisa Burkitt, Mark Strand, Gilles Weinzaepflen, Sean Cole, Stephane Hessel, Elaine Sciolino, Tom Byrne, Spoken Word, Tama Carol, Margo Hammond, Nachid Rachlin, Marilyn Waite, Zoë Skoulding, Lily Tuck, Darren Frey, Edward Giradet, Kate Tempest, Jeanette Winterson, Chris Pavone, Kate Staples, SOS Help, David Lebovitz, Cat Jahnke, Heather Stimmler-Hall, and the Paris Writers Workshop!

* follow us on twitter @ParisWriters *

 

NEWS and NEWS BOOKS

 

We are delighted to announce the publication of An Unexpected Guest, by friend and Best Paris Stories Judge Anne Korkeakivi. An Unexpected Guest was included in Library Journal's list of "especially promising" debut literary novels for Spring 2012, and was an April book pick by Good Housekeeping.  You can read about Anne's "first time" reading in front of a large audience and (in the WSJ!) about the challenges of dealing with foreign languages in fiction. Watch for our upcoming interview!

The distinguished mystery writer Cara Black (also a Best Paris Stories Judge!) will receive the Medaille de la Ville de Paris!  In addition, her new book (the 12th!), Murder at the Lantern Rouge was a Publisher's Weekly starred review. 

 BEST PARIS STORIES will be issuing Kindle singles for several of the short stories in the anthology, a practice pioneered by The Atlantic Monthly, with a story  "Folding Paper" by Anne Korkeakivi, mentioned above)! 

Check out our new interview with Denyse Beaulieu, author of The Perfume Lover, as well as past PWN author  interviews. If you would like to interview authors, please let us know at [email protected]

*   April is Poetry Month!! As well as Scriptfrenzy!  *

 

SELECTED LITERARY EVENTS

(for events in French and more poetry and music, see the Paris Reading and Event List)

Tue 3 April, 2012 7:00 pm –- Pulitzer Prize-winner and former U.S. poet laureate Mark Strand will read AT Village Voice Bookshop

 Tuesday 3 April   19h30 AAWE and MESSAGE @ The Library Panel discussion about the transition from maternelle or pre-school children moving up to CP.

 3 April 19h30 Ivy Writers Paris invites you to a bilingual reading in French and English with Gilles Weinzaepflen (French), Sean Cole (American) and Susana Gardner (Swiss-American). AT: « Le Next »17 rue Tiquetonne, 75002 Paris M° Etienne Marcel / RER Les Halles

 Wednesday 4 April   19h30  Stephane Hessel will discuss ‘Indignez-Vous’ and the movement he spawned. Evenings with an Author: American Library in Paris

 4 April, 18h Almost Invisible: Paris Former Poet Laureate of the United States and Pulitzer-winning poet Mark Strand  AT The Grand Salon The American University of Paris 31 avenue Bosquet 75007, Introduced by faculty members Neil Gordon and Jeffrey Greene, with bilingual reading and discussion. For reservations: [email protected] or [email protected] 

 Wed 4 April, 2012 6:30 pm – PARIS -- Elaine Sciolino, author of La Séduction: How the French Play the Game of Life  , Am Cham Paris

 Wed 4 April, 2012 – PARIS - AUP - Why Artist's Books? 7:00 pm, American University of Paris

 Thursday 5 April   19h30 Talk About Art: Tom Byrne explores the history of & how to become a gallerist in Paris. American Library in Paris

Saturday 7 April   10h00-19h00 Used Book Sale at the Library only on Saturday this month. American Library in Paris

 9 April 20h onward: SpokenWord Paris: Open mic in English, open to all languages. AT: Chat Noir, 76 rue Jean-Pierre Timbaud, 75011. Métro Parmentier/Couronnes. 

 Tuesday 10 April   19h30 Close-ups: Film through the Ages - Tama Carroll presents Musicals Part 2, The Next Generation. American Library in Paris

 Wednesday 11 April   19h30 Earth Day talk, featuring Marilyn Waite, who will discuss world-wide water resources. Evenings with an Author AT The American Library

 11 April 19h Poets Live celebrates the international quarterly Poetry Wales, with editor Zoë Skoulding and contributors to the magazine from Wales and Paris AT: Carr's Pub & Restaurant 1 rue du Mont Thabor, 75001 Paris Metro : Tuileries

 11 April 9:00pm until  3:00am The Book Club at Le Carmen: On The Road At Cafe Carmen 22 Rue de Douai, 75009 Paris  -"What books did you bring?"  The question could seem incongruous here, amidst the sex-shops of the Paris 9th. And yet: across the high threshold of an unmarked wooden door, you enter a candle-lit, almost fairytale like décor, with painted ceilings and plaster angels observing the scene from on high. Near the entrance, a human-size birdcage greets guests. Read more about Rosa Rankin Gee's and Jethro Turner's incredible event for booskters in Paris Nightlife Goes Literary. 

 Thursday 12 April   19h30 National Book Award winning author Lily Tuck presents ‘I Married You For Happiness.’ Evenings with an Author AT The American Library

 12 April 18h Philosophers in the Library: Lectures and discussion (no experience necessary) Our new series in the library starts off with Darren Frey On God and Evil: The History of Theodicies. Darren Frey graduated in Philosophy at the University of Edinburgh and in Religious Studies at Harvard University. He has taught Philosophy and Religious studies at Emerson College and Deep Springs College, and now lives in Paris. AT: Shakespeare & Co., 37rue de la Bûcherie, Paris 5ème. M° St Michel

 12 April 19h Edward Girardet who will discuss his latest book, Killing the Cranes: A Reporter’s Journey Through Three Decades of Reporting in Afghanistan, published by Chelsea Green. AT Village Voice Bookshop

 16 April 19h Kate Tempest, one of the UK’s most thrilling young performance poets, AT Shakespeare & Co., 37rue de la Bûcherie, Paris 5ème. M° St Michel

 16 April 20h onward: SpokenWord Paris: Open mic in English, open to all languages. AT: Chat Noir, 76 rue Jean-Pierre Timbaud, 75011. Métro Parmentier/Couronnes. http://spokenwordparis.blogspot.com/

 19 April 19h Jeanette Winterson, one of the world’s great storytellers, will talk about her memoir Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? AT: Shakespeare & Co., 37rue de la Bûcherie, Paris 5ème. M° St Michel

 19 April 19h Chris Pavone will present and sign his novel The Expats AT WH Smith

20 April 16h  Chris Pavone, author of new spy thriller The Expats, "captures in wonderful detail the texture of expatriate living while delivering a riveting story of great-game deceptions wrapped inside the smaller deceptions of marriage" * Note signing-only AT: Shakespeare & Co., 37rue de la Bûcherie, Paris 5ème. M° St Michel

23 April 20h onward: SpokenWord Paris: Open mic in English, open to all languages. AT: Chat Noir, 76 rue Jean-Pierre Timbaud, 75011. Métro Parmentier/Couronnes.

25 April 15h Bring your children (2-6 year-olds) to the library at Shakespeare and Company for an hour of music, songs and stories in English (for all nationalities even those who don't speak English!). Led by the magic Kate Stables, mum and singer/songwriter from This is the Kit. There will be instruments to play and noise to make! Then for children over 7 years, there will be a game club afterwards with cards, scrabble, uno and many more games you might be tempted to play... * 3-4pm Music, rhythm and stories with Kate from This is the Kit (kids’ hour in the Library): For 2-6 year-olds (siblings welcome too) with parents. 4 euro donation appreciated. *4.30pm-5.30pm Games Club for 7yrs and up. 2 euro donation appreciated. AT: Shakespeare & Co., 37rue de la Bûcherie, Paris 5ème. M° St Michel

 29 April 18h Come to SOS Help's special benefit evening - the owners of the restaurant Verjus have kindly donated their premises, and other sponsors have donated appetizers and desserts. There will also be entertainment : a talk by David Lebovitz, music from Cat Jahnke and Heather Stimmler-Hall as MC. At 60€ per person your evening includes: "Apéro dinatoire" with wine and appetizers, a talk by David Lebovitz, music by Cat Jahnke, MC'd by Heather Stimmler-Hall. All proceeds benefit SOS Help,the emotional support line in English. Tickets on sale via online: www.soshelpline.org AT: Verjus Restaurant 47 rue Montpensier, 75001, Paris Métro: Pyramides

29th.April 19h30 : Andrew Auerbach: "The Novelist" (stage play in English) AT CARRS

30 April 20h onward: SpokenWord Paris: Open mic in English, open to all languages.. AT: Chat Noir, 76 rue Jean-Pierre Timbaud, 75011. Métro Parmentier/Couronnes.

 

WORKSHOPS AND RETREATS

 May 3-6 Write your own version of "A Moveable Feast" while staying at a Loire Valley chateau. Join U.S. book critic and travel writer Margo Hammond for a travel memoir workshop May 3-6 that includes writing sessions and publishing tips. Cost of 950 euros covers three nights at the chateau, two group lunches, a group dinner and morning classes held in the chateau's orangerie. Details:historicrentals.com/seminars.

 June 24-27, 2012  Paris Writers Workshop (PWW)   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.)  The workshop will be held  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. 

 

 August 1-14-12-  Nahid Rachlin's Fiction Workshop (open to memoir), in Assisi, Italy,  at Art Workshop Interational. Write, Revise, Polish, in Assisi, Italy, August 1-14, open for credit and non-credit. For more details about Nahid's course click here. For general info about Art Workshop Internationalclick here.  COST:  2 weeks: EARLY BIRD—$4,560 ($351 per day); after April 18, 2012—$4,785 ($368 per day) the price includes lodging, shared double room with bath in an air-conditioned four-star hotel, breakfast, four-course dinner, tuition, instruction and studio, lectures, and all gratuities, pick up from airport.

September 20-23,  2012 Festival America : every two years in Vincennes

CALLS FOR SUBMISSIONS

 Tale of Three Cities  -  Deadline April 18, 2012

Paris Literary Prize - Deadline September 1, 2012

France: The Obin Report on Religious Signs and Manifestations in French Schools

The Obin Report (Rapport Obin)  submitted to the Minister of Education in 2004 by Jean-Pierre Obin, General Inspector of Education, studied the impact of religious signs and manifestations in French public schools. Its conclusions regarding the spread and impact of Islam on the young and the dangers to national cohesion were so alarming that the report was temporarily shelved. Due to fear. 

Fortunately, after a year of silence, the French education ministry finally found the courage to publish the report on the internet. As a result, we can now read the original PDF file on the official site of the French education ministry, in French and, using Google translate, in any other language, including English.

Anyone wanting to understand the mechanisms of what has been called the "Islamisation" of the young in French public schools should read this report.

It is especially relevant in the wake of the Toulouse massacres of Jewish children and French soldiers perpetrated in the name of Islam by the 24-year-old Frenchman of Algerian origin Merah.

Jean Pierre Obin, the author of the report, wrote a book in 2011 entitled Etre enseignant aujourd'hui, available in paperback and Kindle

 

***

There is another, even more chilling report, entitled The Development of Fundamentalist Islam in France, Security and Social Aspects, which explores the ghettoisation of Muslims, the spread of fundamentalism, the origins and psychological profils of French jihadhists, the financing of fundamentalism in France, and the risks of terrorist attacks.

This 2005 report, was issued not by Education Nationale but by a private Think Tank called Cf2R, Le Centre Français de Recherche sur Le Renseignement. It's author is Eric Denécé, a former intelligence agent and author of numerous books, including in 2011 Commandos & Forces Spéciales.

Written six years before the Toulouse attacks, it offers precise insights into their preparation.