Laurel Zuckerman's Paris Weblog

Laura Marello, author of The Tenants of the Hôtel Biron, on an artists' haven in Paris

by Marylee MacDonald

Despite a two-year renovation, the The Musée Rodin has remained open, but how many visitors know the details of the building’s strange, entangled history as a crucible for avant-garde art? Once known as the Hôtel Biron, by 1907 the eighteenth-century mansion had fallen into disrepair. For a brief time, the crumbling mansion became an artists’ haven.

Low rent attracted the likes of Pablo Picasso, Auguste Rodin, Jean Cocteau, Henri Matisse, Henri Rousseau, Eduard Steichen, Eric Satie, Rainier-Maria Rilke, the sculptress Camille Claudel, and the famous dancer of the Ballets Russes, Vaslav Nijinsky.

Laura Marello’s novel, The Tenants of the Hôtel Biron, invites us into this hotbed of artistic experimentation.

 Laura Marello, author of The Tenants of the Hôtel Biron, talks with Marylee MacDonald,

a Paris Writers News interview

Samantha Vérant and William Alexander talk about learning French

 

Authors talk with Authors:

William Alexander, a New Yorker, is the author of Flirting with French, in which he chronicles his often-hilarious attempts to learn French at the age of 57. Samantha Vérant, a Chicagoan/Californian, is the author of Seven Letters from Paris: A Memoir, in which she chronicles how she jets off to France to reconnect with a Frenchman she'd met over twenty years ago, ends up marrying him, and moves to France. Recently they had an online chat comparing their experiences learning -- and speaking -- French.

 

Marie Houzelle : linguiste du mois de novembre 2014

"Le mot juste en anglais" is featuring Marie Houzelle as their linguist of the month. Marie's lovely debut novel, Tita, written in English, will be available on Kindle as of December 1st.  Read the Interview in French with Marie Houzelle on Le mot juste en anglais ! 

"We will need writers who can remember freedom" - Ursula K. Le Guin Video

Honored at the 2014 Book Awards, gave this thoughtful speech about writers and "this beautiful reward".  

Paris Theatre in English

Paris English Theatre news from the Smith Prize for Political Theatre, Moving Parts, Montmartre Dionysia, Shakespeare and Company's Bard en Seine reading and more!

 

Nov 2014: What's on in literary Paris

This month, news from the Paris Book Award, NanoWriMo, Shakespeare and Company, Celso Ganzalez-Falla; Christodoulos Makris , Freke Räihä, Carole Birkan, Will Cox, Peter Watson, Mah Jones, Alexandre des Isnards, Leslie Clack, Tony Stowers, Vanessa Place, Marc Perrin, Alex Danchev, Christophe Dickey, William Strangmeyer, Paris Lit Up, Ralph Bismargi, Alice Notley and more (update ongoing, images to come)

 

BOOK NEWS

Shakespeare and Company is expanding! Larger premises, a new website, exciting new projects! Paris' preeminent independent English-language bookstore bursting with creative energy - a boon to Paris writers and readers! Bravo, Sylvia and David!

The winner of the prestigious and highly competitive Paris Book Award for 2014 is Robert Harris' An Officer and a Spy. This thrilling - and according to historians -  accurate account of the Dreyfus scandal is an absolute must read, as much for the entertainment pleasure as for the stunning revelations. Highly recommended. 

Random House Germany, Diana Verlag, has purchased the German language rights to Marie Houzelle's oustanding debut novel, Tita. Congratulations, Marie!

Mystery Writer Betty Webb Plans A New Series, Set In Paris. Interview

by Marylee MacDonald

DESERT RAGE, the eighth in the Lena Jones series, grabs you and doesn’t let go. Private Investigator Jones, who grew up in foster care, uncovers the truth behind the brutal murder of a Scottsdale doctor, his wife, and their 10-year-old son.  Jones isn’t just taking on this seemingly hopeless task for the money. She has a personal stake in finding the real killer. Like Lena herself, the young man accused of the crime is a foster child. That makes her doubly determined to overcome harassment and physical threats until she can get to the truth.

Marylee MacDonald sat down with writer Betty Webb and learned that she’s planning two more books in the Lena Jones series, and then she’s off to Paris, the setting for a new series with a different sleuth.

 Betty Webb, creator of Lena Jones, talks with Marylee MacDonald about Murder and Motherhood,

a Paris Writers News interview

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