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by Jacqueline Leahy
Heather Stimmler-Hall is the creator of the ‘Secrets of Paris’ blog and author of the book Naughty Paris: A Lady's Guide to the Sexy City. In this interview, she answers questions about everything from French culture to feminism to blogging.
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Paris glows richly under a brilliant summer sun. Gorgeous museums, unforgetable walks and incredible meals beckon. A moveable feast, it truly is. Enjoy - Paris deserves its reputation as the world's most beautiful city...
Yet is it also a place of tried and tested scams on tourists - and not all by visiting gangs of thieves either!
Continue reading "Paris tourists watch out for these three scams" »
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Looking for some fun literary events in Paris this summer? Check out these selected events July 17 to 31, 2013 for Paris books lovers
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Investigative journalism and satire are not France's best known exports but they do exist. Here is a selection of four of my favorite French books that lift the veil of secrecy surrounding networks of influence, the working habits of French functionaries, environmental challenges, and the governance of elite educational institutions. Take them to the beach this summer!
(Most interesting not for the DSK story, which is now well known, but for the backstory concerning his astonishingly powerful, widespread, tentacular and still operative networks of influence, many of whom - Proglio of EDF, for example - are still in the news today)
(The humor may be a bit grinding at times but the practices Ms Shepard skewers are horrifically real - when she was criticized by her chiefs it was not for lack of accuracy but for its excess. LOVE the Chinese adventures.)
(Excellent documentary work which tragically remains relevant today; special mention for the insights into how regulatory agencies are coopted, neutralized and ultimately controlled by the industrial polluters they are supposed to watch over. NONE of the issues identified have been resolved - or even attacked)
(Astonishing inside look at Sciences Po during the stressful days surrounding Mediapart's outing of Richard Descoing's half million euro salary and his subsequent tragic - and never explained - death in a NY hotel. A study of the powerful influence and banana republic governance of France's most elite educational institutions. )
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What is the French socialist government’s real position on shale oil fracking?
Officially President François Hollande is against the environmentally devastating process which involved injecting hundreds of dangerous chemicals into the earth while using massive quantities of water – which then become contaminated. And for good reason! The natural gas recovery technology, developed by Halliburton, whose former CEO Dick Cheney served as George Bush’s vice president, has been implicated in serious water pollution in the United States. (see Gasland which just aired on Arte in French and German and can be viewed in English on youtube).
This makes sense. Why would France, world famous for its “terroir” and the quality of its agricultural products, want to risk devastating, long term pollution of its water and earth? Why not wait a decade or two until we see what the results are in America, where fracking is being exploited on a massive scale – and with total impunity?*
Unfortunately, it is not clear that French President François Hollande is really against fracking. His statements look more like a tactical PR position designed to trick people into believing that he – and the socialist party - think the environment is important.
But now, thanks to Arnaud Montebourg, the real story emerges.
Montebourg, Minister of Industrial Renewal, has been a tireless and vocal promoter of shale oil fracking. In open conflict with Ecology Minister Delphine Batho on this question, he remained in the government while she was kicked out (on the pretext that she complained about a 7% decrease in the ecology budget). This week Montebourg went further.
He floated the idea of a nationalized company to exploit shale oil resources, claiming that the French version, unlike the American version, would be ecological. This is, as many commentators have pointed out, nonsense. The technology is what it is, no matter who owns the means of production, or how you pronounce the names of the chemicals used.
The French prime minister, Jean-Marc Ayrault, quickly put Montebourg in his place, specifying that shale oil fracking was not French policy. France is against the exploitation of gaz de schiste – end of discussion.
No, replied quite publicly the irrepressible Montebourg. You are wrong. French policy is not against shale oil fracking at all.
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Arnaud Montebourg, it must be said, seemed pretty sure of himself.
Once again he openly defies the Prime Minister and keeps his position. François Hollande, meanwhile, says nothing. Which, as numerous commentators are pointing out, is a pretty good indication of his position: pretend to oppose the extraction of natural gas through shale oil fracking while secretly preparing the ground for its exploitation.
The French ecologists, meanwhile, are impotent, silent and irrelevant. They have sadly reached the point where their participation in this government is entirely counterproductive: The Verts serve as window dressing on a profoundly anti-environmental socialist government. For the Verts to retain any credibility at this point they have only one option: resign in protest and publicly restate their principles. But they do not. French ecology as a political force is dead, voiceless, lost, dishonest.
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What is needed to launch shale oil fracking as an industry in France?
This is a question for experts, of which I am not one. However, if the American experience is any guide, at a minimum France will need an industrial champion (the famous nationalized French company Montebourg suggested) and extremely complacent environmental rules. Watch industry reports for joint ventures or new French companies specialized in this technology. Elf, Total, EDF and the like as well as their subsidiaries… Look for quiet approvals of "studies" and talk of "ecological" technniques for extracting the natural gas.
Also, and even more crucial, look for signs of tampering with environmental regulation – changes in rules, decrees d’applications, or even new laws to protect polluters. That’s how it was done in the USA. That’s likely how it will be done in France…
The French legal system does not recognize class action and has a truly terrible record of dealing with large scale environmental risk, so it might not even be necessary to change the laws to allow the shale oil industry to prosper.
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Does François Hollande oppose shale oil fracking? France is desperate for money. It’s finances, already bad under Sarkozy, are infinitely worse under Hollande. Gaz de schiste (shale oil gas) no doubt appears like an easy source of cash.
It's looking like Arnaud Montebourg was right on this one. On July 14th, after everal days of silence, President Hollande gave a statement saying, once again, that there will be no fracking while he is president. However Arnaud Montebourg, who is France's biggest support of fracking, is still in the government.
How many sides can one be on at once?
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*(In Gasland we learn that, with Dick Cheney’s guidance, the US congress under Bush voted to exempt shale oil fracking from all environmental protection laws, including the Richard Nixon’s landmark Clean Air and Clean Water acts as well as Superfund site laws.)
For more information, please see :
Nouvel Observateur (Yves Paccalet)
Curiously, the full Gasland documentary which I watched on youtube earlier this week is now unavailable...Is it being removed from youtube?
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A Paris Writers News Interview by Dimitri Keramitas
I first discovered Rachael Acks when researching female science fiction writers, I came across her astonishing blog post. In it Acks, a member of the Science Fiction Writers of America, denounced the way certain male science fiction editors treated women both visually and verbally. I asked PWW contributor Dimitri Keramitas, film critic at BonjourParis and fiction writer, to speak to Ms. Acks to find out what is going on in sci-fi .Is there a war between the men and the women? Where is sci-fi going? And what was it about those male editors' words or actions that made Rachael Acks so very, very angry? - Laurel Zuckerman
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Rachael Acks writes science fiction and fantasy. Her most recent book is The Curious Case of Miss Clementine Nimowitz and Her Exceedingly Tiny Dog. A member of the Northern Colorado Writer’s Workshop and an associate member of the SFWA, Acks has a masters from the University of Colorado at Boulder, focusing on climate change as recorded in the fossilized soils of the Bighorn Basin in Wyoming, USA.
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Dimitri Keramitas: Why did those editors upset you so much?
Rachael Acks: Initially, I wasn't upset as such. This started with the SFWA Bulletin issue with the infamous barbarian woman cover. My reaction to that was a protracted, annoyed sigh. This is not the first time I've witnessed women being reduced to their looks, and it is nowhere near to being the last. I joined in with the complaints on the SFWA forum, and posted about it on my blog, as did a lot of other people. (None of which was done anonymously.) I became angry with the issue #202 Malzberg/Resnick (NB the two editors in question) dialogue, where they used their space to whine about "anonymous" attackers and belittle every point many of us went out of our way to patiently make. Well that, and the "liberal fascists" remark.
Making yourself out to be the victimized party because people had the gall to object so something you’ve said from a position of relative power is also definitely out. Complaining, from a platform that we are literally funding, that the mean people are trying to censor you should be beyond the pale.
I've admittedly never had a lot of patience for people who refuse to engage in honest discussion, and lately I've had even less when I see the experience and feelings of a large subset of the population being airily dismissed by those who are used to theirs being the only voices that matter.
Does sci-fi have intrinsic attitudes about gender which you must constantly fight against or otherwise deal with?
I don't think there is necessarily an intrinsic attitude to the genre. Sci-fi is always an exercise in what if. But there's also the truism that sci-fi isn't really written about the future--it's written about today. So ultimately what we're dealing with are the attitudes of the present day in which the story was written. And stories can come from within those attitudes, reinforce them, explore them, or challenge them.
So the answer is really not that we're fighting attitudes intrinsic to sci-fi--we're fighting attitudes intrinsic to the modern culture as a whole.
What is the situation of women in sci-fi—as writers and readers?
Here's an example: the number of woman selling scripts is cratering. Yes, it's the film industry and not traditional publishing, but I think it indicates that there's a serious issue for women who write. One of the most popular sci-fi shows out there, Doctor Who, currently has no women on the writing staff. That's a symptom of a more pernicious problem. In the publishing industry, women are underrepresented as both writers and critics. And in scifi and fantasy particularly, there's a regular (though improving) imbalance in award short lists and top author/book pick lists.
Our contributions to spec fic in general are mocked by a certain wanky, misogynistic sector, with arguments that boil down to "girls can't write sci-fi" because girl brains can't handle science. Frankly, I think that kind of overt nastiness is less worrying than the more subtle problems. There's still a question as to whether women authors are given a fair shake by potential readers. And it's not because we can't write. All you need to do to lay that to rest is look at the historic record of women who have done just fine for themselves by hiding behind masculine or gender-neutral names.
As a reader, I feel less grim about the subject because I have the power to go looking for a more diverse array of voices. There are a lot of creative people out there doing amazing writing, and you can find them. The fact that there are markets (e.g.: Crossed Genres, Waylines) trying for diversity is an enormous improvement over how things were when I first became a reader. It's becoming easier to find books written by and with protagonists who are women, who are LGBTQ, who are people of color. It's not anywhere near perfect, but it's definitely improving.
If we're talking more broadly about sci-fi as the sweep of books, comics, movies, etc. I think the gap is wider. Try finding any kind of spec fic sourced movie with a woman in the lead. It's not easy, and most are small independent films. Anywhere there's a visual representation of a female character, be it in comics, on the screen or on the cover of a book, there's the never-ending presence of the male gaze beauty standard--the very thing that made me sigh with annoyance over the issue No. 200 cover.
Sometimes it feels like two steps forward, one step back. But as a consumer of speculative fiction in all media, I'm heartened that we're starting to discuss these things.
Do you have a particular perspective as a female sci-fi writer?
Every writer has his or her own perspective and life experience, and that tends to be the lens through which we write. I would caution against treating me as an everywoman; my experience does not speak for anyone but myself. (Which is why, incidentally, "I have a female friend and she is not bothered by X," is nothing but a cheap, ass-covering excuse.) It's more accurate to say I have a particular perspective as a white, masculine-presenting, bisexual woman. Which would be why hyper-feminized book covers have bothered me from day one, while the issue of racial diversity in protagonists didn't even register until the disparity was pointed out. It's incredibly easy to not notice a monotony of viewpoint when everyone looks like you.
Where do you think sci-fi in general is moving?
I'm desperately hoping we're finally moving out of everything being a dystopia, because man that gets depressing after a while. I don't have my finger on the pulse of the genre, but I'm starting to hear more about genre mash-up work, which I can get behind because it's generally fun. I think more attention is being brought to underrepresented voices and stories, and I feel like writers are consciously making their worlds more diverse places.
What is the particular attraction of steampunk?
I like steampunk because it's a hopeful genre. It feels like this has been the decade of the dystopia and the post-apocalyptic story. I've enjoyed having an opportunity to write something that celebrates the idea of human ingenuity as opposed to making our overdeveloped brains the thing that condemns our planet to fiery perdition. It's also a flexible setting, since you can go full gonzo and have adventures, or you can write heartfelt or thinky pieces and they all work within that context.
What got you interested in sci-fi and steampunk?
I've always been interested in scifi and fantasy. I'm a second generation nerd; one of the books my mother read to my brother and me was The Hobbit. So it's always been something I've loved. I've been writing stories as long as I've known how to write, and they've all been speculative fiction.
Steampunk is a more interesting question. I'd long had the impression that it was a place for amazing cosplay, and since I have the crafting abilities of the average brick it didn't really hold my attention. Then I started running into manifestations of the aesthetic – the new Sherlock Holmes movies, Girl Genius, Boneshaker, and so on. That was what caught my attention, because the underlying attitude was so different from everything else I was reading and watching at the time. And since then, I've tried to get deeper into the punk portion of Steampunk. It's a subgenre with much more depth than it's often credited.
How open are you to other genres?
I'm willing to try anything once. I don't have deeply ingrained prejudices, and I've enjoyed books in a lot of different genres. That said, I've never been into romance or erotica, though I'm always willing to have my mind changed if there are good books people would like to recommend. I do not do horror, because I'm a giant, pathetic wimp. (My best friend writes horror, so I spend a lot of time sobbing, "Why would you do this to me I thought we were friends" whenever I critique her stories.)
Is American fiction become too fragmented/tribalized in terms of genre or are the genres intermingling?
I don't know if it's necessarily more fragmented, or if more subgenres are being recognized and advertised. Our classification schemes have changed, and I'm sure the internet is to blame for the bulk of that. I think the more detailed genre classification has had the effect of helping writers make a more conscious effort to bridge genres and thus tap into multiple potential audiences. (For example, the Steampunk I write also gets put in the mystery and LGBT bins.)
Do you make a big distinction between popular fiction and more experimental, lit-mag fiction? (I’m thinking of your short, Comes a Huntsman, which I liked very much.)
Not really. I try to write fiction that I feel challenges me as a writer. A lot of it never sees the light of day because it fails. Comes the Huntsman was a special story to me. I wrote the rough draft of it in two hours, and was literally sobbing over my keyboard the entire time. I don't think I can write stories like that too often, because it's draining and intensely difficult. At the end of the day I sit down and empty out whatever creative bucket I have that's full, and it takes longer for that intense stuff to recharge. I think both styles are valuable and offer different experiences to readers and writers.
You’re not only a sci-fi writer but a science professional/academic. What is the situation now for women (at least in the US) in the sciences and technology? Is there a difference between hard science and tech in that regard?
I didn't let the door of academia hit me on the way out of University. I'm in the private sector now. And it's kind of a complicated question. In some sciences (biology) women are doing really well in the workforce. My area, geoscience, is still lacking.
My personal experience is in line with that. There are way, way more men as working scientists in my industry than there are women. On the other hand, the number of women is going up. More are graduating, and more are getting hired in the private sector. My impression from the companies I've worked for (three different ones) is that what they're looking for are people with the chops to do the job, and they're not concerned what gender comes with that. I acknowledge that I may have gotten very lucky in regards to the companies I've worked for and the co-workers I've had. I worked in tech before I went back to school and got my degree, and I noticed a dearth of women, particularly in the older crowd. Whenever new hires are brought in, it seems inevitable that there will be more women. That things are so different now from twenty years ago when our senior co-workers were hired is very encouraging.
What are your current projects?
I've got two Steampunk novellas that I'm contracted for with Musa, and those are my top priority. I've got three novels in various stages of completion, and short stories. I'm always writing something new so I don't go crazy. I'm also involved with a documentary focused on British Film (The Reel Britain http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-reel-britain) and I'm incredibly excited about that. In the shorter term, I'm training to ride a full century (100 miles) on July 21st, and using that as an opportunity fundraise for UNICEF UK (http://www.justgiving.com/Team-Loki).
Are you happy with your current balance of writing and other work?
I feel like I could use more writing time no matter what. I only recently emerged from the salt mines of graduate school and started working in the private sector. I'm not sure where I got the misguided impression that I'd have more spare time once I'd graduated, but I've now realized that was a happy lie I told myself.
To what degree is being a writer a solitary thing for you, and to what degree is it social?
It's solitary to the extent that when the rubber meets the road, only you can write your story. No one else can write it for you. I've never done well at group writing sessions--I find the presence of other people distracting. Outside of the actual putting words on the page, I've found writing to be intensely social. Despite having moved to Texas, I'm still part of the Northern Colorado Writers Workshop and regularly go back to visit and critique. When I'm trying to hash out a plot line, I have a tendency to sit down and talk it out with someone (normally my husband, but not necessarily) so I can get it straightened out in my head. And at conventions, I end up hanging out with other writers and just talking. They're a fascinating, clever bunch.
Who are your favourite writers, sci-fi and otherwise?
That could end up being a really long list. My first real genre love was William Gibson, and I still drop everything and pick up his new books whenever they come out. I love the way he uses words. Lately I've been tracking down and reading everything I can find of Lois McMaster Bujold's. I wish I'd heard about her earlier. Other people that I follow so I can pounce on their books the moment they're out: Nnedi Okorafor, John Scalzi, NK Jemisin, Ian Tregillis, Naomi Novik, Haruki Murakami, Anne Bishop, and Tamora Pierce.
You seem to have explored the current diversity of media for writers—social media, on-line publication, etc. How do you see this in terms of your writing career?
I was doing the social media stuff before I started writing seriously. I think the only thing the writing career has done is forced me to make a Facebook author page. The social media is first and foremost what it has always been: a fun way to communicate with other people. I have strong objections to viewing it solely or primarily as a marketing tool. (And in fact, when I run across people who do view it that way, I don't follow them because they're incredibly annoying.) This is something I put a lot of fun time into, and turning it into another business practice would kill a big part of my social life. I'm not interested in doing that, and I've yet to see compelling evidence that it would be worth the personal cost.
What is the relationship between sci-fi in fiction and sci-fi movies? Are you influenced by the movies?
I think the way in which they tell stories is significantly different, because the media have different strengths. There are stories that are better suited to movies than to books, and vice versa. That said, I don't think they're two completely different beasts. They both want to do the same thing at their most fundamental level: Communicate. Tell a story.
There's cross-pollination between them, more often it seems like the movies taking ideas from fiction. (And lagging behind literature’s current edge.) I don't think it's a one way street, however. Even if writers aren't borrowing plot ideas from movies, the movies may drive some of the aesthetic choices we make. Movies take what we describe and (normally) make it a bazillion times cooler than we had imagined it. Images are powerful, and they stick with you.
Or maybe that's just me, since many of my stories start with an image that I write the story around.
I unashamedly have cinematic influence running through what I write, even if it's subtle. Heck, I write a lot of my stories with movie soundtracks as background music! I think it's a healthy thing to look to other art forms for inspiration and to incorporate what you find into your own understanding of your work. Though we are all influenced by the media, this makes the dearth of female leads in science fiction movies worrying on a whole new level.
What are the challenges for writers at the current moment? Is it a good time to be a writer?
The biggest challenge for any writer is that it really sucks to try to make a living in the arts right now. Arts funding has taken huge hits in recent years, and even if you go full commercial it feels like you're fighting for an increasingly small slice of the pie. So you end up working full time doing something else, and it's difficult to feel productive as a writer. On the other hand, there are a lot of exciting opportunities between the new small presses and ebooks, though I'm still not buying the gospel that self-publishing is going to save us all. (Let the bloodletting begin!)
What advice would you give to the budding writer?
Four words: Shut up and write.
Are you at all impacted by ideas or ways of thinking from outside the US?
I would like to think that I am, but from my perspective firmly inside the US it's hard to tell. When I was doing my undergraduate degree I ended up with a dual major-- Geology and Japanese Language/Culture. (Guess which of those I regularly use.) I'd like to think that the second major did help me step outside of the American box and look at things from a different perspective. Also, I grew up watching far more British television (on PBS) than American shows, and that's done something decidedly un-American to my sense of humor.
Have you ever lived outside the US, if not would you consider it?
I've never lived outside the US, but I would really love to. The longest I've stayed out of country has been a month (once in England, and close to a month in Japan). Being in another country, even just long enough to shake off the "vacation" feeling and find a daily routine, is a powerful reminder of human diversity, but also of the myriad of small, everyday things that tie us together. I generally get my news from either the BBC or the English edition of the Japan Times because I think it's important to have a daily reminder that there is plenty of life outside of America, and we're not the center of the world.
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Rachel Acks is the author of The Curious Case of Miss Clementine Nimowitz and Her Exceedingly Tiny Dog, Murder on the Titania, and The Ugly Tin Orrery from Musa Publishing and other stories. She writes scifi and fantasy and is a member of the Northern Colorado Writer’s Workshop and an associate member of the SFWA. She wrote her Masters thesis at the University of Colorado at Boulder, focusing on climate change as recorded in the fossilized soils of the Bighorn Basin in Wyoming, USA. See also: Books available from Musa, The Reel Britain: Fundraising site for my Century for UNICEF UK:
Dimitri Keramitas. operator of a training company and translation agency, film reviewer, and lecturer in law, Dimitri Keramitas also writes film criticism which has been published in literary reviews in the US, UK, and France. His film reviews appear regularly in BonjourParis and he is a contributing editor for Movies in American History. He is currently working on his a novel about a Native-American gambling casino.
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Laurel Zuckerman: What brought you to Paris?
Cathy Altman Nocquet: An international advertising agency transferred me here when I was 25. I'd majored in French literature in college and spoke fluently. The move reconciled my life inside and out; fusing my career with where and how I wanted to "be". Six years later, I met my French husband….in Chicago, but our daughter was born and raised in Paris.
How did you start writing?
I'd always thought about sound and meaning, looking for different ways to use words when I spoke, so began taking notes. Once my "voice" on the page resonated with readers the way my words did in person, I wrote more.
Being handy with words made working in advertising enjoyable and kept me employed. Gradually, I shifted from commercial writing to writing more personally and from training young copywriters to working with creative writers. What I do now is more satisfying.
What inspired you to write a book about writing?
My students wanted a handbook with my exercises and approach to writing they could refer to at home. Getting to know Nardo, the creature within me that undermines my productivity, was pivotal to the project since he became a character in the book. Giving form to that inner, discouraging voice we all have helps us examine our particular "process" and better cope with our writing.
In WOTL, the story of antagonism (and love!) between Nardo and his writer, Cathy, snakes through insights and entertaining exercises that push irony to the limits. Readers consider simple to complex ideation, working alone or in groups and editing. They're also encouraged to encounter their own inner creature. (One of my teens is plagued by a meatball named Maurice. An adult student and working artist found her nemesis in a Chinese ink brush)
Since WOTL inspires thinking, it's interesting to read even without doing a single exercise: What if you changed your relationship with words? What if that led you do your best creative work?
Who is Write Outside the Lines for? How should it be used? What are your hopes for this book?
It's an offbeat manual manifesto for kids 9+, their parents and other intellectually curious and/or creatively frustrated adults! The exercises, designed to develop creative thinking and the confidence that makes that thinking sing, can be tackled and retackled in any order and at any age. WOTL offers anyone a constructive creative break and helps professional writers who are "stuck". One art professor and author relates picking an exercise at random to do in her head while she stands on line.
I see WOTL as an offbeat "textbook" that offers students more profound creative opportunities than the usual fare, whether at home or in school. Teachers at EABJM, the Lycée International in Saint Germain-en-Laye, the Canadian International School in Bangalore and Beacon High School in NYC are using the exercises now. Homeschoolers endorse the book, expecially those with a secular orientation who welcome "subversive" rather than traditional approaches. That educators find WOTL a worthy change of pace from standard curricula has led to workshops for larger groups of students and teacher training at a number of schools. This October, I'll spend 5 days in India with 280 kids and adults.
Do you see differences in the way that writing is taught in France and in the USA (or other English-speaking countries)?
There's certainly more of a culture of freedom, experimentation and risk taking with the Anglosaxons. Often, when French schools assign students a story to continue, there's a "right answer", which short circuits the creative experience. This has sent a steady stream of young writers in Paris my way who are now writing much more. I find plenty of inspired teens in the USA, as well, so had to smile when an editor at Scholastic described WOTL as "singularly creative but too sophisticated for the target audience." The public school kids from Florida, New Jersey, New York, California, North Carolina and Maryland in my workshops were in their element completely. These kids do not constitute an elite, they just use their brains.
You've taught teens at the American Library. What's that like?
The teens I see at ALP tend to be bright, motivated and mature. Most of my weekly students, enrolled in bilingual programs in public or private schools, are equally impressive. It's a very international group and we're always inventing new words in franglais or attempting to write poetry in languages we don't know. Try a haiku in Finnish or Swahili now. How does it sound? What does it mean?
How do you get kids interested in writing? What kinds of skills do you teach them?
Many kids enjoy reading and arrive liking the idea of writing….they're just not sure they'll be good at it. First, I let them prove to themselves they're creative by having them write about a dream they've had. The dream provides them with an original setting, character and action; all creative work they produced without even trying. Once they share their writing about the dreams, they're ready to trust their conscious minds and create something else. The exercises that follow allow them to find a variety of unexpected ideas they can share and refine. Acceptance and confidence are the inevitable consequence. My students write more on their own and their grades generally improve. Some parents tell me their kids even sleep better. WOTL, like my workshops, takes students through every step of the writing process and leaves them more comfortable about it. They can refer to the book for years.
I use the same exercises with my adult students, yielding responses that are usually more complex and sophisticated. Often instructors with MBAs use a traditional "Here's some good writing, now you do some" approach, where particpants discuss a text by a famous author before attempting to replicate what's right about it. Beyond being too reminiscent of High School Honors English, this makes students come at writing from the outside. I'd rather get there organically.
Is teaching teenagers different from teaching adults? How?
People can be self-conscious about their writing at any age: Adults have had longer to lock in negative feelings about their writing and teens lack the experience to be sure reading their work aloud won't be fatal. Working in a group almost always puts everyone at ease. Listening to others read helps makes writers ready to share. For me, one crucial step to overcoming fear is finding your Nardo. Where does your inner creature live? Your knees? Your armpit? The nape of your neck? Your sock drawer? Your keypad? What does he or she say or do to undermine you? How does he or she move?
Are there other places in Paris where English speaking teenagers can meet up and talk books or share writing?
ALP, some book stores and schools offer teen reading and writing groups. My weekly classes during the academic year are generally joyous and draw students from many different Paris schools (contact [email protected]). We start in September but kids can join at any time. For teens in Paris this summer, I'm offering a private classes and a writing camp July 8-12. I'll also lead a workshop at ALP on July 25th.
How can a writer know who to trust when asking for feedback?
Writers often get destructive comments from a "mentor" with an unsteady ego. Look for someone articulate and neutral, no matter what their credentials appear to be. If the comments seem valid, implement them and decide as objectively as you can if your work has improved. If you're not sure, ask your Nardo. Inner creatures always know.
Do you have a favorite place to write in Paris?
No, but I have favorite places to think: out walking or in the bathtub. I keep a notebook in my shoulder bag so I can stop on the street and jot down ideas. (The tub is not far from my desk, so I just grab a towel and drip on the parquet) Whan I wake at 3am I go write standing in the kitchen for a few minutes. The cats have taken my place when I go back to bed, but it's worth it not to lose the idea. During the day, to make sense of all the notes, I use a MacBook, facing a wall.
What are you working on now?
In between preparing workshops, noting ideas about the writing process and inventing new exercises, I coach other writers and work on short stories. WOTL reflects the joy of my teaching as well as that of my writing. For more info about what I do, visit http://can.writing.free.fr
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See also:
Shake for the snake's sake http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ya0IR4wobUo
Post haiku and "like" Nardo's page https://www.facebook.com/pages/Nardo-from-Write-Outside-the-Lines/277474782296350
BIO: Cathy Altman Nocquet made a career of creative thinking while working in international advertising as a writer and strategist. Her workshops feature offbeat exercises designed to develop creative thinking at all ages. She has taught creative writing students from dozens of French and American schools, led workshops at libraries, for the English Language Schools Association and other non-profit educational groups. Ms Altman Nocquet is a SCBWI writing contest judge, and a graduate of Columbia University. Her work has been shortlisted and nominated for Editorial Prizes in national and international writing competitions.
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François Hollande's first macho act as president was not, as some speculate, the firing of hapless Minister of Ecology Delphine Batho. It was sending in the army to protect France's nuclear, oil and gas interests in Africa.
Will he be another François Mitterrand who ordered French secret services to blow up Greenpeace's boat The Rainbow Warrior, killing a photographer, in order to continue French nuclear tests? Or will he defend the environment, as he has promised (Strangely, voters in France appear to believe that socialists care about ecology no matter what the government actually does.)
One year into his presidency, what is François Hollande's record on the environment?
French nuclear safety, alternative energy policy, agriculural policy, clean air and water policy, OGM, fracking, developpement durable, waste management, greenhouse gases - what actions has the government of François Hollande taken in the past year? We start with nuclear energy, shale oil fracking and genetically modified crops (GMO)...
1) NUCLEAR : sales rep for Areva and EDF? - Hollande sent special forces to protect Areva's uranium mine in Niger. He supports the restarting of nuclear reactors in Japan, and the expansion of the French nuclear industry in post-Fukushima Japan with the signature of big contracts. He supports the development of EDF's EPR reactors despite design, safety and budget problems. He has shut down no nuclear reactors in France. On the contrary, his administration appears to support nuclear energy whenever given the opportunity despite announcements to the contrary.
2) Shale Oil Fracking (gaz de schiste - fracturation hydraulique) Say one thing do another? According to the French Minister of Ecology (until last week) Delphine Batho, she was fired because "certain economic powers did not accept my ambitions for the transition to other forms of energy" in particular on the question of shale oil fracking and the reduction of nuclear energy in France. (see Huffpost)
Of course, what credibility could Batho have? After all, she was only the Minister responsible for these issues. In her version she was hung out to dry by Hollande who only paid lip service to environmental goals, but actually sided with the lobbies. Montebourg, by way of contrast, is an outspoken supporter of shale oil fracking. And despite openly defying the prime minister, he is still in the government... If Batho is correct, France will gradually and quietly change its official position to enable fracking to begin without ever actually saying so.
Enter Arnaud Montebourg's perfectly wacky proposal to create a nationalized company to exploit shale oil reserves. This would, he claims, not pollute water like in America because it would be ecological. Prime Minister Ayrault had to step in, as usual, to remind everyone that France's official policy was no fracking, to which Montebourg responded by claiming he broke no government policy line What does he mean? A suivre...
3) OGM: Monsanto's little helper? - When Professor Gille Eric Seralini published his study that showed increased development of tumors in mice fed with Monsanto corn, French scientific academies condemned him with record speed, unanimity and lack of transparency (just try to identify the name of the "expert" who reviewed the study). Despite the popular France vs US potential, Monsanto's reputation for orchestrating destruction of researchers who dig too deeply - and France's own official anti-OGM position - no French institution dedicated ressources to investigating Seralini's findings, choosing instead to echo Monsanto's press releases - and pointedly ignoring the revelations of the French documenary maker Robin in Le Monde Selon Monsanto.
Monsanto continues to make headway in France. Today (July 6) Le Monde revealed that France is preparing to lift restrictions on Monsanto MOM810 genetically modified corn (see" Vers une levée du moratoire sur un mais Monsanto").
What now with the nomination of Philippe Martin? He is presented as an opponent of GMO crops. How will he fare under Hollande's tutelage? Martin is Hollande's third Minister of Ecology in fourteen months.
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Interview by Dominique Godrèche
Simon Brook’s documentary, “The Tightrope” (“Sur un fil”) reveals, for the first time ever, the experimental - and confidential - rehearsal methods of the legendary theatre director Peter Brook, Simon's father.
Shot with five hidden cameras, this film offers a unique in-depth look at Peter Brook's theatrical and philosophical approach. At the age of 87, Peter Brook finally agreed to discuss the fundamentals of his work during a ten day workshop set up especially for the making of “The Tightrope”.
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Simon Brook talks with Dominique Godrèche
a Paris Writers News interview
Dominique Godrèche: Is the idea of this movie related to your previous documentary, “Brook by Brook”, an intimate portrait of your father?
Simon Brook: Yes…After having realized “Brook by Brook”, I thought it would be interesting to do more about his work, and spoke to Peter about it. But he refused the rehearsals to be filmed; after a few years, and a lot of refusals, he said, “let’s shoot one day, with a few actors, practicing the tightrope!" So one year later, we had forty people, five cameras, and a set. But he was actually thinking of a 15 mn film!
The film focuses on the exercise of “the tightrope", a theatrical practice consisting in keeping one’s direction, basically a lesson on how to keep one’s balance: an issue that can also be applied to life?
Absolutely. People often see theater as a reflection of life: the tightrope demands the actors to be totally alive, with a clear destination, living in the present, but heading to the future without falling.
So much like life: as human beings, we have to walk as we can.
Why did you, among all the exercises Peter Brook teaches, choose that one?
Well, this extremely difficult exercise involves the actor not to fall, and to remain present in the moment: so it does not allow any room for error. And you can see if someone is boring, or unbelievable: thus it explains what it means to practice theater. I also chose it for its visual quality, as it allows the audience to participate in the unfolding of the exercise. It is an immersive experience.
The Tightrope, fundamentally, is a matter of life and death, as you have to find a balance not to fall, but it also allows the evaluation of an actor, through the intensity of his presence: is that a conception of theatre similar to Antonin Artaud’s vision, “le Theatre de la Cruauté”,* an approach to acting as a total and dramatic involvement, commitment?
Yes: good theatre is a shared experience where the audience is changed. But then, making a film about it is not very interesting. Thus the challenge was: how can I make an immersive film, where you are not just watching an actor jumping around, but allowing the spectator to experience what an actor really goes through?
So, was this rehearsal work secret until today?
It was not, as such, “a secret”, but it did happen behind closed doors, as the presence of people would affect the outcome of what Peter is doing: that is why it had never been seen before.
Did you experience any specific difficulties during the shooting?
It has been a very difficult film, bringing actors, musicians from all over the world, to create this atmosphere, with five hidden cameras. The logistics were complex, the real difficulty being the fact that the film is based on improvisation. So when the partners would ask: “what is the film about?" I would just answer, "improvisation"… And for the making of the film, the cameramen had to keep a high level of concentration, as no one knew what was going to happen, like in the tightrope practice: nothing is done a second time, or rearranged.
The “Tightrope” is a condensate of your father’s teaching. How did he react to the movie?
He was very happy with it, as it expresses his approach of theater, and life. And then, he is also happy, because when people ask him, “What goes on during the rehearsals?" He can now answer: "watch the movie!"
Peter Stephen Paul Brookwas born in London on 21 March 1925 and was educated at Oxford. World famous for his pioneering work in the theatre, in a spectacular career that encompassed more than half of the 20th century, Brook made his debut in the British cinema with an adaptation of John Gay's satirical The Beggars Opera (1953), with Laurence Olivier as the highwayman MacHeath. Brook's next British film, Lord of the Flies (1963), was an adaptation of William Golding's classic literary parable on the descent of society.
Two of Brook's most famous theatrical productions for the Royal Shakespeare Company in the '60s, The Marat-Sade by German modernist Peter Weiss and Shakespeare's King Lear, were made into films. Brook also directed two drama documentaries in Britain: Tell me Lies (1968), about British anti-Vietnam War sentiment in the late '60s, and Meetings with Remarkable Men (1979), the story of Gurdjieff, an Asian mystic. Since the completion of the latter film in 1979, Brook has continued his filmmaking career in France.
Simon Brook : Born in London and was educated in Paris and London. He started working as a runner at Pinewood at the age of twelve on various film productions. After training for a year as an actor at the Drama Center, he moved to Paris where he worked as Company Manager for the European tours of the Dave Brubeck Quartet, Murray Luis Dance Company and Pina Bausch.
As an assistant director, he was worked with academy Award winning director Zbigniew Rybczinsky, Phil Kaufman on UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESS OF BEING and Marek Kanievska amongst many others. Since 1991 he has been directing documentaries and fiction. His films have been selected at numerous festivals worldwide, such as AFI/Silverdocs, FIPA, Venice, Telluride, Brussels, Sao Paolo. Simon Brook is a member of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts and the Director’s Guild of Great Britain.
Dominique Godrèche is a French anthropologist, writer, freelance journalist, author of Santana, and contributor to various medias in France, and Europe. Born in Paris, she studied in India, Mexico, and New Mexico, where she specialized in Native American and Hispanic cultures, attending anthropology and psychology at the University of Paris, and at Ehess. (Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales de Paris). She is a laureate of the Prix de la Villa Medicis Hors les Murs en littérature 1933, for her essay on Native American storytelling, and the Prix spécial de la Fondation pour l’Enfance de Paris, for her research on Native American and Hispanic acculturation and youth in the American Southwest. Trained in semiology, she keeps a regular chronicle on movie and TV productions, with contributions for Télérama, le Monde Diplomatique, les Cahiers du cinéma, le Film Français, and Libération. See also her interview in French "Les Brook s'en vont en paix" for Libération and Télérama.
About The Tightrope: Synopsis: “How does one make theater real? It is so easy to fall into tragedy or comedy. What is important above all is to be on this strict razor edge of the tightrope...” For the very first time in 40 years, Peter Brook, one of the major directors of contemporary theater, has agreed to raise the curtain and allow his son Simon Brook to film behind the scenes and to reveal the secrets of his approach. This unique and personal film takes us beyond the intimacy of a workshop, into a philosophical experience, on a tightrope. [Synopsis courtesy of Venice Film Festival] Director: Simon Brook, Writer: Simon Brook, Peter Brook, Cast: Yoshi Oida, Peter Brook, Shantala Shivalingappa, Marcello Magni
https://www.facebook.com/TheTightrope
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* Antonin Artaud “Le Theatre et son Double”. Editions Gallimard 1964
Le Theâtre de la Cruauté
“Une idée du theâtre s’est perdue….
Nous avons besoin avant tout d’un theâtre qui nous réveille: nerfs et coeur…La longue habitude des spectacles de distraction nous a fait oublier l’idée d’un theâtre grave…
Tout ce qui agit est une cruauté. C’est sur cette idée d’action poussée à bout, et extrême, que le theâtre doit se renouveler.”
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"dramatiquement drôle" - L'Express
"Une fraîche et amusante satire du monde de la recherche." - Le Monde des Livres
