Festival America Follow Up
The Frankfurt Book Fair is right around the corner and as always it's become even more impossible to read non work related books! It's always an exciting time because there's so much going on but it definitely feels like your brain has died after each fair, right in time for the post-fair follow up which is a whole other sort of madness! And that's bearing in mind that I'm not even attending the fair this year, I am just involved in the whole pre-fair preparations and the previously mentioned dreaded post-fair...
What's also making it more difficult to read non work related title is that I have recently joined the agency's New Writing Team and now attend weekly meetings where we go through the slush pile. I'm not complaining mind you! It's really interesting and because I work in foreign rights, this is not something I have done before. It's really interesting to read and see some of things we get sent but it's also very difficult to evaluate a work on just a covering letter, a synopsis and the first three chapters. You generally know quite early on when you don't like something but every once in a while, you get this nagging doubt, could this be good? Could this fit one of the agents' list? It can be really tricky as between themselves, our agents cover nearly every genre and obviously what I feel more comfortable making a judgment on are works science fiction and fantasy and we get so few of those. Anyway, we have just started accepting online submissions so while that's not likely to decrease the slush pile, it has at least now gone virtual!
Back to fairs, I have had my share of traveling and excitement this week as I have just come back from the Festival America which was taking place in Paris last weekend, well more precisely in Vincennes. To be honest, I was only too happy to volunteer to attend this. I do get a bit homesick sometimes, well I mostly miss the general grumpiness, especially in Paris, and the food. I often forget how much people can be rude in Paris and I won't even want to relate my experience trying to buy a European adapter plug for my blackberry charger and the absolutely useless clerk! It's quite fascinating and throughout my limited conversation with him, I kept telling myself that this would never happen in London. That being said, being back home I experience this weird relief that I too am allowed to be rude and grumpy to anyone crossing my way because they sure as hell aren't going to spare me... It's a strange and weirdly comforting feeling. Anyway, apart from being grumpy to my heart's content, I also ate loads of cheese, saucisson, paté, bread, and pastries and brought back plenty with me.
For those who have never heard of or attended the Festival America before, it's been described as the greatest festival of American literature and well, it's in France! This year marked the festival's 10th year anniversary and a record level of attendance when it came to authors, agents and general public.
Toni Morrison was the guest of honor and I was lucky enough to be introduced if only briefly to the great lady herself! Having studied African American literature and Black feminism for several years, Toni Morrison has long been my hero and one of those writers whose works have strongly impacted me. So of course, I was a bit tongue tied when the big moment actually came and didn't manage to say anything that she had not heard a thousand time before but oh well, I am content that I even got to meet her and shake her hand! She's such a wonderful lady, funny and dynamic which you wouldn't necessarily expect given her age.
She also is a proper rock star in France! In order to attend any of her events, you had to arrive at least an hour in advance as the organizers had to refuse people entrance! I think she could've signed books for three whole days and there still would have been a massive queue brandishing their copies of not just her latest novel Home or Beloved which won the Pulitzer but also old editions of all her other works! So that brief meeting was definitely the highlight of the festival for me!
But there were also so many panels, debates, signings and so many great authors attending! So much going on that must have required so much preparation. It's even more amazing when you know that apart from one or two people, all of the organizers are volunteers! I didn't remember there being so much going on the last time I attended, two years ago, although back then Bret Easton Ellis and Jay McInerney were among the authors invited.
Anyway, it was a very exciting opportunity to meet up with old colleagues and friends, meet new editors and get a clearer idea of what's going on French publishing as well as discovering new exciting American authors! I have definitely come back reinvigorated and added quite a few American authors to my Goodreads list!
What's also making it more difficult to read non work related title is that I have recently joined the agency's New Writing Team and now attend weekly meetings where we go through the slush pile. I'm not complaining mind you! It's really interesting and because I work in foreign rights, this is not something I have done before. It's really interesting to read and see some of things we get sent but it's also very difficult to evaluate a work on just a covering letter, a synopsis and the first three chapters. You generally know quite early on when you don't like something but every once in a while, you get this nagging doubt, could this be good? Could this fit one of the agents' list? It can be really tricky as between themselves, our agents cover nearly every genre and obviously what I feel more comfortable making a judgment on are works science fiction and fantasy and we get so few of those. Anyway, we have just started accepting online submissions so while that's not likely to decrease the slush pile, it has at least now gone virtual!
Back to fairs, I have had my share of traveling and excitement this week as I have just come back from the Festival America which was taking place in Paris last weekend, well more precisely in Vincennes. To be honest, I was only too happy to volunteer to attend this. I do get a bit homesick sometimes, well I mostly miss the general grumpiness, especially in Paris, and the food. I often forget how much people can be rude in Paris and I won't even want to relate my experience trying to buy a European adapter plug for my blackberry charger and the absolutely useless clerk! It's quite fascinating and throughout my limited conversation with him, I kept telling myself that this would never happen in London. That being said, being back home I experience this weird relief that I too am allowed to be rude and grumpy to anyone crossing my way because they sure as hell aren't going to spare me... It's a strange and weirdly comforting feeling. Anyway, apart from being grumpy to my heart's content, I also ate loads of cheese, saucisson, paté, bread, and pastries and brought back plenty with me.
For those who have never heard of or attended the Festival America before, it's been described as the greatest festival of American literature and well, it's in France! This year marked the festival's 10th year anniversary and a record level of attendance when it came to authors, agents and general public.
Toni Morrison was the guest of honor and I was lucky enough to be introduced if only briefly to the great lady herself! Having studied African American literature and Black feminism for several years, Toni Morrison has long been my hero and one of those writers whose works have strongly impacted me. So of course, I was a bit tongue tied when the big moment actually came and didn't manage to say anything that she had not heard a thousand time before but oh well, I am content that I even got to meet her and shake her hand! She's such a wonderful lady, funny and dynamic which you wouldn't necessarily expect given her age.
She also is a proper rock star in France! In order to attend any of her events, you had to arrive at least an hour in advance as the organizers had to refuse people entrance! I think she could've signed books for three whole days and there still would have been a massive queue brandishing their copies of not just her latest novel Home or Beloved which won the Pulitzer but also old editions of all her other works! So that brief meeting was definitely the highlight of the festival for me!
But there were also so many panels, debates, signings and so many great authors attending! So much going on that must have required so much preparation. It's even more amazing when you know that apart from one or two people, all of the organizers are volunteers! I didn't remember there being so much going on the last time I attended, two years ago, although back then Bret Easton Ellis and Jay McInerney were among the authors invited.
Anyway, it was a very exciting opportunity to meet up with old colleagues and friends, meet new editors and get a clearer idea of what's going on French publishing as well as discovering new exciting American authors! I have definitely come back reinvigorated and added quite a few American authors to my Goodreads list!