Latest news with #Gallimard
New York Times
01-07-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
Algerian Court Upholds 5-Year Sentence for Writer, Angering France
An appeals court in Algeria on Tuesday upheld a five-year sentence for an Algerian French writer who has been accused of undermining Algeria's national unity and security. The case has strained relations with France, which was once Algeria's colonial ruler. The writer, Boualem Sansal, an outspoken author who is critical of Islamic fundamentalism and of the Algerian government, was born in Algeria and became a French citizen last year. In March, a lower court in Algeria convicted him over comments he made that favored Morocco in a territorial dispute with Algeria. He has been detained for over seven months. President Abdelmadjid Tebboune suggested in a February interview with the French news weekly L'Opinion that Mr. Sansal was part of a 'scurrilous affair designed to mobilize against Algeria.' But France's Foreign Ministry denounced Tuesday's court ruling as 'incomprehensible and unjustified.' The ministry, in a statement, urged Algeria to 'show clemency and find a rapid, humanitarian and dignified solution to the situation of our compatriot.' French officials, intellectuals and writers have called for the release of Mr. Sansal, who is believed to be about 80 and has cancer. They have characterized the case against him as an arbitrary denial of free speech. The Algerian president was elected with military support in 2019, and his government has cracked down on political debate and dissent in recent years. Antoine Gallimard, Mr. Sansal's publisher in France, told France Inter radio on Tuesday that the writer's lawyer had been able to see him in Algiers this week. 'He is being treated well and is in fairly good spirits,' Mr. Gallimard said. He added that the lawyer was recommending that Mr. Sansal 'accept the verdict in the hope that he may be granted amnesty.' Mr. Sansal's lawyer was not immediately reachable for comment. The appeals court in Algiers did not immediately respond to a request for comment. France was Algeria's colonial ruler for over a century, until a brutal eight-year war of independence that ended in 1962 — a traumatic history that still shapes relations between the countries. In recent months, tensions have been heightened between their governments, with the two sides criticizing each other and engaging in tit-for-tat expulsions of diplomats. Last summer, Algeria's government was furious when President Emmanuel Macron of France aligned with Morocco over Western Sahara, a disputed northern African territory that the Moroccan authorities claim but that is facing an Indigenous independence movement supported by Algeria. Then, in October, Mr. Sansal gave an interview with a French right-wing news outlet in which he endorsed an argument that Algeria had benefited from French colonization, because it gained Western Saharan territory that once belonged to the kingdom of Morocco. Ségolène Le Stradic and Ephrat Livni contributed reporting.
Indian Express
01-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
20 years on, Salman Rushdie's ‘Shalimar the Clown' reimagined for the French with Delhi artist's vision
Twenty years after India-born British-American writer Salman Rushdie's Shalimar the Clown was first published in 2005, its French folio Shalimar le clown that released last month has on its cover an artwork by Delhi-based artist Mukesh Sharma. 'Salman Rushie and publisher Antoine Gallimard approached me after seeing this work on my Instagram. I was told that Salman Rushdie had really liked it and asked the publishing house (Gallimard) to get in touch with me for it to be used on the cover of the book. A lot of correspondence followed and Salman Rushdie also asked for more of my works to see, but they finally decided on this work as it was suitable for this particular book.' Speaking about the 2018 acrylic on canvas titled Revitalising Memory, Sharma elaborates: 'Like a lot of my other recent works, here too I use elements from the keyboard to ponder our relationship with technology. The representation that looks at myth, memory, identity also also borrows from Indian miniatures and traditional stories from the Panchatantra to comment how in several scenarios it difficult to distinguish between who is the puppet and who is controlling the strings, who is riding and controlling whom.' Rushdie's eighth novel, which took nearly four years to complete, the layered narrative details the murder of Max Ophuls, former US ambassador to India, by his Kashmiri-Muslim driver who calls himself Shalimar the Clown. The story spans across continents, including Kashmir, France and the United States, and reflects how personal histories are influenced by larger political decisions. Rushdie has shared a close relationship with the Indian art world, with his friends including the likes of Nalini Malani and the late Vivan Sundaram. He also shared a long friendship with the late artist Bhupen Khakhar. While Rushdie immortalised him in his book The Moor's Last Sigh through a character inspired by him – that of an account with the soul of an artist – Khakhar painted a portrait of Rushdie titled The Moor, incorporating elements from his book. Khakhar also made a set of five woodcuts and three linocuts for a limited edition based on two stories by Rushdie.
Morocco World
28-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Morocco World
Moroccan Author Zineb Mekouar Wins Henri de Régnier Prize from French Academy
Rabat – Moroccan writer Zineb Mekouar has won the prestigious Henri de Régnier Prize from the French Academy (Académie Française) for her second novel 'Souviens-toi des abeilles' ('Remember the Bees'), published by Gallimard. The award was announced on Thursday as part of the Academy's 2025 literary prize list. The Henri de Régnier Prize is given as support for literary creation. It is one of 71 prizes awarded this year by the French Academy to honor achievements in literature, poetry, history, philosophy, cinema, music, and more. 'I'm very moved to receive this beautiful prize, given by the French Academy, an institution I admire and respect immensely,' Mekouar said in a statement to Morocco's state news agency MAP. The author explained that the prize shines a light on both her writing and the themes explored in the novel, such as motherly love and the urgent need to care for the Earth. Set in the ancient collective beehive of Inzerki in Morocco, which is considered the world's oldest and largest traditional apiary, 'Souviens-toi des abeilles' also pays tribute to local Moroccan heritage. Mekouar dedicated this prize to the people of Inzerki, who she said welcomed her so warmly. The novel has already received acclaim in France for its poetic style and delicate treatment of climate change issues. It was one of the French Academy Goncourt's summer 2024 favorites and appeared on the first selection list for the 2024 Jean Giono Prize. In addition, 'Souviens-toi des abeilles' won the 2025 Folire Prize, which spotlights the connection between mental health and community life. Born in Casablanca in 1991, Mekouar has lived in Paris since 2009. Her first novel, 'La poule et son cumin' ('The Hen and Its Cumin'), published by JC Lattès in 2022, was a finalist for the Goncourt Prize for First Novels and was also selected as a summer favorite by the Goncourt Academy in 2022. Tags: AuthorZineb Mekouar
Spectator
11-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Spectator
No escaping mother: Lili is Crying, bv Hélène Bessette, reviewed
'Everyone has a mother, but we don't all smash up our lives for her sake,' we hear in the first few pages of Lili is Crying. It's a sensible message, but one which seems suited to an entirely different book. Hélène Bessette's 1953 debut novel – translated into English for the first time – is a tale of bust-ups, mistakes and life-ruining decisions in a fiery, fickle relationship between a mother and daughter. Charlotte and her daughter Lili live in Provence, and the novel jumps between the 1930s and 1940s, from Lili's 'ribbons and Sunday dresses' to her first freighted dalliances with boys. Charlotte runs a boarding house from which Lili longs to escape – and nearly manages to, with the same young man who tries to convince her not to destroy her life for her mother. His honesty is his mistake, and Lili fails to leave for him – eventually 'going off' not with 'the man I do love' but instead 'with the man I don't'. Her flight ends in failure – there are disappointments and a backstreet abortion – and it isn't long before she is back with Charlotte. The two stay together while Lili's husband, a Slav, is interned in Dachau for the duration of the war. Bessette's prose is prickly and snappy, with short lines and speech introduced by dashes. On the page it looks more like verse than prose, an effect which matches Bessette's take on the 'poetic novel'. Yet the style is even less defined than this suggests. The action is narrated by everyone and no one. Even the house in Provence has a voice, resentful, complaining: 'Naturally, they slam my doors. What do they care if my doors are damaged?' There is also a mysterious, ever-present shepherd. The effect is one of a verse drama, with a mocking chorus in the wings. People's ages change and remain the same, defying chronology. This is a novel with no regard for anything as stuffy as the traditional passing of time. In 1953, Bessette – a 35-year-old divorcée and teacher at an école maternelle – was hailed as someone radical. Gallimard signed her up for a ten-book deal; Marguerite Duras called her the very definition of 'living literature'. Yet the early acclaim failed to sustain her career. When she died in 2000, all 13 of her novels were out of print. Perhaps Lili is Crying – a story of unachieved dreams and the pain of continuing to hope – will be the one to revive her reputation.
LeMonde
03-06-2025
- General
- LeMonde
Pierre Nora, historian who shaped intellectual life in France, dies at 93
Saint-Germain-des-Prés, in Paris's Left Bank, was his domain. Living at the corner of Place de Furstenberg, Pierre Nora was a few steps away from the Quai Conti, home to the Académie Française, of which he was a member, and from the headquarters of the prestigious Gallimard publishing house, where he oversaw collections in the social sciences and humanities. From this triangle, the founder of the journal Le Débat was a central figure in shaping intellectual life and debates in France. His elegant silhouette will no longer be seen crisscrossing these streets. Nora died on Monday, June 2, in Paris, at the age of 93, his family told Agence France-Presse. He had become an essential "public historian" whom journalists called upon for analysis of the evolution of national sentiment or the meaning of commemorations and national symbols. His name will remain above all associated with one of the most innovative historiographical undertakings of the past 40 years: Les Lieux de Mémoire, translated as Realms of Memory and Rethinking France, a monumental seven-volume project published between 1984 and 1993. As its director, he brought together 130 historians, including Raoul Girardet, Maurice Agulhon, Antoine Prost and Pascal Ory, notably to decipher the symbols of the French Republic (the tricolor flag, the Republican calendar, La Marseillaise) and its monuments (the Panthéon, town halls, war memorials).
