Jackie Pigeaud on Théroigne’s last letter: the clip

My project on the Oulipo led me to unexpected discoveries, and one of the most inspiring was undoubtedly the letter Théroigne wrote to the French revolutionary Danton in 1801 from the asylum – seven years after his death- and the beautiful text Jackie Pigeaud wrote about it.

Théroigne’s letter of art resonates with my own research on so many points. What “happens” there in terms of lisibility/illisibility, the line and the stroke, the voids and the full, the bloches, is for me properly fascinating.

In his brilliant presentation, Pigeaud points out what is the most striking in this object-letter, that today, for us, it is a work of art. And this, he says, is the result of the history of art, of how, after Pollock, our eye has changed. He also shows a remarkable empathy with the work of the writer-artist and her unique sense of beauty.

I had the opportunity to visit Pigeaud at his home near Nantes and ask him to read his text while I filmed him. In this clip I chose the passages I found the most important from the perspective of my research. I hope you will enjoy it.

Many thanks to Prof. Timothy Mathews for his English version of  Jackie Pigeaud’s clip

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Hervé Le Tellier : Clip from the interview

My series of interviews with Oulipian writers closes with Hervé Le Tellier. In these interviews I was especially interested in two topics: materiality and translation. What strikes me now, after going again through the six films I shot, is how diverse the approach of the writers are, something I didn’t anticipate. I believe I was expecting them to share the same views on these subjects and that the Oulipian philosophy or method would have provided them with a common set of believes.

Olivier Salon : Clip from the interview

Olivier Salon

When I went to interview Olivier Salon, I knew I was meeting an Oulipian writer and an actor, but I had no idea I would also find myself in front of a translator! It was fascinating to hear Olivier explain how he understood his work as an actor as an experience in translation from a written text into spoken language. In the following video, he talks about the difficulties he faced as an actor and also as an Oulipian who understands the subtleties of the text when he was rehearsing for a theatrical adaptation of Georges Perec’s famous “W”.

Ian Monk : Clip from the interview

Today I am posting a clip from my interview with Ian Monk, a British Oulipo writer and a translator.

I was especially happy that he accepted to come to my place after a long flight from Canada to talk about his practice, as it was a unique occasion to talk to a member of the Oulipo who actually writes in the two languages I was exploring for the project and who also is a translator of Oulipian texts from the French to the English.

As he explains here in a very tongue-in-cheek way, Ian initially wrote only in English but after many years living in France, he decided to start writing in French too. He even has a work in both languages now.

Marcel Benabou : Clip from the interview

I am especially happy to post today this clip from Marcel Benabou’s interview. He is Oulipo’s provisional in perpetuity and in perpetuity provisional secretary and he was the first of the Oulipian writers to be so kind as to answer my questions. I am utterly grateful for that!

Marcel Benabou gives here important insights into his writing process. He explains what materiality of the text means to him and he describes his work with words. He actually handles words as objects, turning them in all directions, and simultaneously plays with the meaning of words and of the letters that form them.

Fournel Workshop in Pau University

This 27th April, a workshop took place at the Université de Pau et des Pays de l’Adour to celebrate Paul Fournel and I had the pleasure to present there for the first time the complete version of my interview of Fournel.

The title chosen by the organizers, Mmes Bérengère Moricheau-Airaud and Vanessa Loubet-Poëtte, was particularly appropriate: « Paul Fournel, goûteur de formes”, as Fournel has just published a booked inspired by his love of good food Le Bel Appétit.

The event was on the occasion of the literary award Prix Heptaméron, of which Paul Fournel was this year the president.

Frédéric Forte: Clip from the interview

As promised, here is the second clip from the interviews I made last winter in Paris.

I met Frédéric Forte as he had been working on the English edition of his collection of poems Opéras-Minute, published under the title Minute-Operas this January in the States. It’s after the publication of this book in France in 2005, that Frédéric was elected a member of the Oulipo.