Giuliano da Empoli, Laurent Gaudé, Philippe Claudel, Brigitte Giraud, the American Lionel Shriver, the Argentine Mariana Enriquez, the Scotsman Douglas Stuart, Amélie Nothomb, Grand Corps Malade… The cast of the 12th edition of the festival Le Goût des autres , organized this weekend in Le Havre, had nothing to envy to other French literary events. A cast to which should be added Edouard Philippe, first city councilor of the port city, and founding father of the said festival. Rather at ease in this literary milieu – in particular for having co-written two novels and an essay with Gilles Boyer and talking about his reading pleasures in 2017 in men who readt -, he is all smiles, on this Friday, January 20, delighted to attend the conference of the winner of the Grand Prix of the novel of the French Academy, Giuliano da Empoli. The meeting takes place, it is true, in the astonishing Oscar Niemeyer library, a stone’s throw from the town hall, the work of architects Auguste Perret and Jacques Tournant, inaugurated in 1958. It is in the 18-storey tower and 90 meters altitude of his town hall which he has also invited to lunch this Saturday his hosts of feathers. Just to show them the extraordinary panorama of the city and the port that unfolds before their eyes on this beautiful winter day. After the feast, Edouard Philippe entrusted L’Express with some of his literary impressions.
L’Express: You launched Le Goût des autres in 2012. Is it essential for a city to have its own literary festival?
Edward Philip: I found it important in a popular, industrial, working-class town which, in many respects, has challenges to overcome in terms of access to higher education, to make a global reading policy with considerable investment in new libraries, or the renovation of old ones, in writing competitions, etc. We did not make a festival to make a festival, The Taste of Others is part of this global policy, it embodies, materializes this policy. Basically, its objective is to ensure that those who like to read find their pleasure in it and that those who do not yet know that they will like reading can discover it.
Has the event really succeeded in attracting all those who are foreign to the world of books?
It is a fight, which we sometimes succeed. For example, Thursday, the opening night was devoted to a reading and an exchange between Grand Corps Malade and Ben Mazué. In the hall there were 800 people. And among these, many people who would not define themselves as loving literature. On the other hand, they like the texts and, in a certain way, the rhythm and the poetry. So they can love literature. It was precisely interesting to show them that this festival was open to all. In the same spirit, we had programmed, during the first edition, a big concert of the Orchester national de Barbès. We had a colorful, extraordinary crowd, to which we immediately offered a public reading of The Stranger, by Camus. I can tell you that in the room, it was a surprise, not a fly was flying, it was very impressive. This is how, through surprises and astonishments, we trigger aspirations.
Do you have a say in the Festival’s programming?
I never deal with the programming of cultural events in Le Havre. I consider this to be within the freedom of the inviting power. This is the case, for example, with the programming of the Scène Nationale du Havre. For The Taste of Others, it happens that I am asked if I can help at the invitation of such and such an author, which I sometimes do, either because I know the author, or because if it is me who asks for it, it may come more easily. So Paul Auster came in 2018. I had invited him. I had been to New York in 2015, and asked him. He accepted very kindly, it amused him to come to a country where a Prime Minister loved literature, while at home…
For this edition, have you read or appreciated some of the invited authors?
The one on which I insist the most is Giuliano da Empoli. First, because he did us a favor by coming to Le Havre when he had put an end to his book presentation tour on December 31, I am very grateful to him. And then, because I read The Magician of the Kremlin a long time ago, a book that I really liked and recommended or gave to friends. I was very happy to listen to him on Friday and to meet him.
And the others, like the American Lionel Shriver, whom you have just saluted, and her wonderful new novel, Take it or leave it ?
No, you know when I see the list of books I have to read, I tell myself that I have great prospects ahead of me.
In 2017, you published men who read, a book on reading in general and your reading in particular. You would add today other names to those announced then?
Ah yes, certainly, moreover, I do not rule out one day redoing a book on my favorite authors. I would include writers already quoted in men who read of which I have since read other works and new ones which fascinated me. Right now, I’m reading a wonderful book that I discovered when I knew the title since I was a college student, Christ stopped at Eboli, by Carlo Levi. That’s wonderful ! I spoke about it just yesterday with da Empoli, who recommended two other books to me, the list goes on…
“Paradoxically, when I write, I find it more difficult to read”
You often read Dante, they say…
I never claimed to read Dante, my father (French teacher then college principal, editor’s note), he read it very regularly and knew the text intimately. I own a number of versions of The Divine Comedyand sometimes I flip through them and try to get into them, but I’m not an expert at all.
When do you take the time to read?
I read when I can, on the train, at home, on weekends, a lot on vacation. Sometimes I read three pages, one chapter… I read a lot, not as much as I would like. And then there are times when I write. However, paradoxically, when I write, I find it more difficult to read.
You are therefore in a writing phase. What are you writing? A novel ? A document ?
A series, which is the television adaptation of the novel In the dark, co-written ten years ago with Gilles Boyer. I work with a team of screenwriters. It was very confusing at first because this is another way of writing. I’m learning a lot, it’s very rewarding. And then I’m writing something else on the side, a book. Which I won’t talk about now, it’s too early.
You are published by Lattès, a subsidiary of the Hachette group, which will be owned by Vivendi as soon as Brussels gives the green light. A takeover and concentration risks that greatly agitate the publishing world. What do you think ?
I don’t know what Brussels will say, I don’t know the file. I understood that giving an opinion without knowing the facts was a French tradition. Me, when I don’t know the facts, I have no idea. In reality, what matters to me is more the people who work with me than the name of the shop where I edit. As long as I can work on good terms with my wonderful editor, I’m very happy.
“I don’t plan to release my next book in 2027”
You do not fear censorship or at least the intervention of Bolloré, the boss of Vivendi?
I don’t have the impression that in France, we suffer from a lack of access to publication. When I see the number of books that are published each year, whether novels or essays, I don’t feel that we are facing a serious danger of not being able to be published. For the rest, I don’t impugn people’s intentions. I’m much more afraid of self-censorship. I am thinking of the self-censorship that we indulge in with regard to a certain number of authors who should no longer be mentioned, or themes that we no longer invoke because they are considered inappropriate today. Thus, wokism or the notion of cultural appropriation are, in my eyes, much more distressing than the economic power of this or that which, in my opinion, can be circumvented quite easily.
We publish a lot, indeed. This is particularly the case, very French tradition, of politicians who consider the book as an obligatory passage, at the risk of selling very few works, as happened to many of them in 2022, the year presidential campaign.
It is true that in France, literature has a place in the national imagination and perhaps also in the representation that we can have of intellectual power. We will not complain. If it is a French characteristic, I find it good. And then, let’s face it, it’s hard to sell books. And it’s true for everyone, politicians, athletes, academics… It would be funny all the same if only politicians were opposed to the importance of their sales and not to others. Still, if you write a book in two weeks… Me, I started writing when nobody knew me, and I continued, I take time, I’m rather the slow type. In any case, I don’t plan to release my next book in 2027.
Will you take it out first?
If it’s over, yes.