She holds her precious sesame in her hands: this little piece of paper with green outlines with the number 1. To be sure of being the first in the queue, Sandrine, French teacher at Édouard-Quéau college, in Portsall, has arrived at around 1 p.m. “I first went to Dialogues, then to the Capucins media library. I had even planned my picnic,” she says with a smile. The reason? The arrival of Gaël Faye, the author-composer and performer, but above all, this Tuesday, October 15, the writer, who came to defend his latest novel, “Jacaranda”, printed in 150,000 copies.
Critically acclaimed
“I discovered him for the first time at the Bout du monde festival, in 2013. He was playing under the big top,” remembers the woman who refuses to allow her middle school students to arrive at high school without knowing the artist or Grand Corps Malade. “For me, it is fundamental that they know these kinds of texts like “My wife” when we talk about the theme of love, or “Paris métique”. These contemporary writings perfectly complement the classics of literature.”
But more than song, even if it was obviously a question this Tuesday evening, the 42-year-old Franco-Rwandan came to defend in Brest, before joining Rennes then Nantes the next few days, his latest work, acclaimed by critics and selected for several prizes such as Goncourt or Femina. In front of a media library full as an egg – the capacity of 430 people, staff included, having almost been reached – Gaël Faye spoke with modesty and emotion of the terrible reality of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda and the difficult question of forgiveness faced by one party of Rwandan society. “What is disturbing,” testifies the author, “is that when you go there, of course there are memorials, but you cannot imagine everything that happened. In “Jacaranda”, even if what I write is very hard, I am much more about restraint than the testimonies of survivors. I toned it down so much because what happened was much, much more violent.”
Signings until 11:30 p.m.
After discussing his novel, Gaël Faye delivered a musical reading performance. Accompanied by Samuel Kamanzi on choir and guitar, the singer offered an acoustic session of some of his pieces interspersed with extracts from his work. A real suspended moment which earned him a long standing ovation.
“Upsetting,” breathes Sandrine, still very moved. An adjective unanimously echoed, as by Elsa, 36, who “had tears in her eyes”. “Hearing this story, here, in Brest, is very beautiful,” testifies the Brestoise who, to meet the author, had to be patient since the dedications stretched until more than 11 p.m. satisfy an audience that is in any case won over.
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