17 Boulevard Haute Guyenne
Villefranche-de-Rouergue, 12200
France
organised by The English Library
Many writers, from Joyce to Hemingway, have seen and used the value of the estranged position. Not entirely fitting in, being a bit of a voyeur is the ideal position for a writer. Not belonging can allow a writer to see afresh. I’m looking forward to talking in Villefranche-de-Rouergue on Friday this week, about the impacts and inspirations that living in France have had on my writing.
‘Southern France is graced by spectacular hilltop castles, medieval towns and a rash of English historical novelists,’ I wrote in my article ‘The Lure of Another Time, Another Place’, published in Historical Novels Review magazine (Feb 2016). I interviewed a number of other English writers about living and writing in France. ‘Writing starts with landscape,’ declared Kate Mosse. ‘The landscape itself often suggests the stories that might be possible within it,’ said Deborah Lawrenson. And in the same vein, Jacqueline Yallop found that, ‘It’s actually treading the ground which makes a difference, which allows…you to inhabit other lives’. Amanda Hodgkinson pointed out the supportive attitude in France towards the notion of an artist’s life. And, of course, there is an avid English-reading readership living here in France.
I will be talking alongside another locally based writer Stephen Goldenberg whose latest thriller is set in Villefranche.
The event will take place in the Salle de Travail, across from the terrace of Hotel Les Fleurines. Entry is free.
Tapas available afterwards at 10 euros per plate and must be pre-ordered by email to jackienaismith@hotmail.com.
Tracey Warr Writing 