Next Annual Meeting -- A Literary Festival?
Where and when should we have our next annual meeting (assuming hopefully more frequent regional and Parisian meetings)?
Should it be in Paris given how many of the members don't live in Paris?
Could it be turned into a weekend event; a mixture of speakers, readings, discussion about writing and issues facing writers in France, and of course socialising? Could we pull in speakers from the SOA in London?
Is there someone who would like to take charge of organising an annual event?
During our October meeting it was suggested that our annual meeting could take place alongside a literary festival somewhere in France where many members lived. Lennox Morrison, the Scottish novelist, has looked into the matter of festivals and this is what she writes (24 October):
The biggest festival is the Salon du Livre in Paris. Next year it runs from 23rd to 27th March with the theme of India. There's a further general book festival in Nice in June or July with more than 200 authors and various events including cafes litteraires. Smaller general book festivals take place round the country, for instance, the Foire du Livre at Brive-la-Gaillarde which in 2006 is from 3rd to 5th November. Specialised festivals include: children's and youth fiction at Seine-Saint-Denis and at Boulogne; cartoon books (BDs) at Angouleme, Paris and Saint-Malo; thrillers at Montigny-les-Cormeilles; crime at Le Mans; Breton lit in Brittany; roman noir at Frontignan la Peyrade -- by their very nature these festivals a bit to specialised for us. My attention was caught, however, by the Salon du Livre Insulaire which is held on the l'île d'Ouessant , Finistere at the end of August. They seem mainly interested in islanders within the French speaking world although they also include all the islands of the Med, many of which are of course not within la francophonie. They don't mention the UK. Perhaps an off-shore meeting is a little too adventurous? However, if there's a clutch of Society of Authors members in this area then the festival organisers might welcome participation from British islanders? Another festival with a difference is the Etonnants Voyageurs Festival International du Livre et du Film in Saint-Malo. Created in 1990, the festival is based around the idea of writers going out into the world with a sense of discovery; a sense of elsewhere. In this spirit it sometimes exports itself abroad, for instance, to Dublin, where the emphasis is on rencontres with writers in the host country. This year's festival will take place between 26th and 28th May in Saint-Malo and the theme is World Cities, including, of course, London. For a flavour of this festival take a peek at www.etonnants-voyageurs.net/ Since our aim was to consider a meeting outside Paris I would suggest that either the general festival in Nice or the Etonnants Voyageurs festival in Saint-Malo might be worth a closer look. I do, however, remember Lucy Wadham's comment about the dreariness of a book festival she attended. An alternative to arranging a meeting parallel to a book festival would be to identify a cluster of Society of Authors members outside Paris. The Languedoc? Normandy? We could then find out whether there was an English language bookseller who might be interested in hearing from us. Shakespeare & Co. felt like the ideal meeting place in Paris and the restaurant next door was superb. However, if we ever had difficulty finding a suitable date for Shakespeare & Co. then the Maison des Ecrivains on the rue de Verneuil in the Seventh has very grand premises with a relaxed cafe-restaurant in the courtyard and one of their missions is to be friendly to foreign writers.
Question: What are your suggestions for next year’s meeting? Do share with us your ideas of venues and dates.
Should it be in Paris given how many of the members don't live in Paris?
Could it be turned into a weekend event; a mixture of speakers, readings, discussion about writing and issues facing writers in France, and of course socialising? Could we pull in speakers from the SOA in London?
Is there someone who would like to take charge of organising an annual event?
During our October meeting it was suggested that our annual meeting could take place alongside a literary festival somewhere in France where many members lived. Lennox Morrison, the Scottish novelist, has looked into the matter of festivals and this is what she writes (24 October):
The biggest festival is the Salon du Livre in Paris. Next year it runs from 23rd to 27th March with the theme of India. There's a further general book festival in Nice in June or July with more than 200 authors and various events including cafes litteraires. Smaller general book festivals take place round the country, for instance, the Foire du Livre at Brive-la-Gaillarde which in 2006 is from 3rd to 5th November. Specialised festivals include: children's and youth fiction at Seine-Saint-Denis and at Boulogne; cartoon books (BDs) at Angouleme, Paris and Saint-Malo; thrillers at Montigny-les-Cormeilles; crime at Le Mans; Breton lit in Brittany; roman noir at Frontignan la Peyrade -- by their very nature these festivals a bit to specialised for us. My attention was caught, however, by the Salon du Livre Insulaire which is held on the l'île d'Ouessant , Finistere at the end of August. They seem mainly interested in islanders within the French speaking world although they also include all the islands of the Med, many of which are of course not within la francophonie. They don't mention the UK. Perhaps an off-shore meeting is a little too adventurous? However, if there's a clutch of Society of Authors members in this area then the festival organisers might welcome participation from British islanders? Another festival with a difference is the Etonnants Voyageurs Festival International du Livre et du Film in Saint-Malo. Created in 1990, the festival is based around the idea of writers going out into the world with a sense of discovery; a sense of elsewhere. In this spirit it sometimes exports itself abroad, for instance, to Dublin, where the emphasis is on rencontres with writers in the host country. This year's festival will take place between 26th and 28th May in Saint-Malo and the theme is World Cities, including, of course, London. For a flavour of this festival take a peek at www.etonnants-voyageurs.net/ Since our aim was to consider a meeting outside Paris I would suggest that either the general festival in Nice or the Etonnants Voyageurs festival in Saint-Malo might be worth a closer look. I do, however, remember Lucy Wadham's comment about the dreariness of a book festival she attended. An alternative to arranging a meeting parallel to a book festival would be to identify a cluster of Society of Authors members outside Paris. The Languedoc? Normandy? We could then find out whether there was an English language bookseller who might be interested in hearing from us. Shakespeare & Co. felt like the ideal meeting place in Paris and the restaurant next door was superb. However, if we ever had difficulty finding a suitable date for Shakespeare & Co. then the Maison des Ecrivains on the rue de Verneuil in the Seventh has very grand premises with a relaxed cafe-restaurant in the courtyard and one of their missions is to be friendly to foreign writers.
Question: What are your suggestions for next year’s meeting? Do share with us your ideas of venues and dates.
posted by SOAF Chairman at 9:27 AM
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