the essential
Saturday April 27 will take place the 26th edition of the Independent Bookstore Festival, an unmissable event for literature lovers. In Pamiers, the bookstores “Le Bleu du ciel” and “Aux Temps Modernes” will welcome the curious with a beautiful book specially published for the occasion.
The 26th edition of the Independent Bookstore Festival will be celebrated in more than 650 bookstores in France, as well as in French-speaking Belgium and Switzerland, including 52 bookstores in Occitanie this Saturday, April 27. In Ariège, the event can be discovered in two independent bookstores in Pamiers, “Le Bleu du ciel” and “Aux Temps Modernes”.
With Catalan roots, this celebration is inspired by Sant Jordi, April 23, when it is customary to treat yourself to a book accompanied by a rose. It also commemorates the day of the burial of the Spanish novelist, poet and playwright, Miguel de Cervantes. Imported by Marie-Rose Guarnieri, president of the Verbes association, and Librairie Les Abbesses, this event is part of World Book and Copyright Day.
In Pamiers, the “Aux Temps Modernes” bookstore is participating in its third edition this year. An awaited moment where sharing and conviviality rhyme. “We are a general bookstore, for the general public. The objective is that anyone who comes here can find a book that suits them,” confides Marion Laffitte, manager of the bookstore. “We offer each customer who comes a rose and the book published for the occasion within the limits of available stocks. These are limited editions so some come from one year to the next to collect them. We also organize meetings with authors Saturday afternoon, we will welcome François Garde who will present his latest novel, “My uncle from Australia”.
Share the love of words
It is also a mark of recognition for these independent booksellers, in a sometimes difficult economic context. With this celebration, the Verbes association wishes to highlight these “artisans of Culture. They are one of the first ramparts in the defense of the diversity of ideas, creation and freedom of expression”.
For Cédric Leveque, manager of the “Le Bleu du Ciel” bookstore, this meeting would benefit from being better known. “It’s a good thing that this festival exists, it’s great. If it can bring people together around literature, that’s positive.” Many events are also organized within the bookstore. Recently, the author Michel Duthil presented his latest novel, “In the hinterland of silence”.
For this 26th edition, La Fête de la Librairie will honor the great poet Jacques Roubaud by republishing 20 of the author’s poems taken from his collections “Les Animals de Personne” and “Les Animals de Tout Monde”. A member of OuLiPo, he developed an abundant body of work that includes works of prose, poetry, autobiographical stories and essays.
In the tradition of artist’s books, the painter Edi Dubien, collected by the greatest museums, illuminates each of Jacques Roubaud’s poems with 20 unpublished drawings. In this beautiful, unpublished book published in 25,000 copies, the works of the two artists interact in a magical poetry around the animal world.
