Laurel Zuckerman's Paris Weblog

English-language writers in France: August Update

Authors’ directory

 

Author interviews

 

Workshops, Festivals

 

Resources  and More!

 

 

 

 

News from Tatiana de Rosnay, Nicola Keegan,  John Baxter,  Sophie Loussouarn, N. A. Diaman, David Downie,  Janet Skeslien Charles and more !

 

Paris Writers News has added a sidebar called  PARIS WRITERS NEWS AUTHOR DIRECTORY & INTERVIEWS which has links to :

 

TOP FESTIVALS, WORKSHOPS, and RETREATS

PARIS WRITERS NEWS: DIRECTORY OF AUTHORS' WEBSITES

PARIS WRITERS NEWS : INTERVIEWS

as well as a link to author interviews on the Paris Expat site.

 

Authors listed in the PARIS WRITERS  DIRECTORY  include:

Stephen Clarke , Nikos Diaman , David Downie , Jennifer K Dick , Mary Duncan , Karen Fawcett , Charles Glass ,Mark Greenside , Hilary Kaiser , Nicola Keegan , Julie Mautner , Richard Nahem , Paul Schmidtberger , Janet Skeslien Charles , Keith Spicer., Heather Stimmler-Hall , Louise Thunin , Harriet Welty Rochefort , Patricia Westheimer ,Tatiana de Rosnay , Lucy Wadham , Laurel Zuckerman

If you would like to be listed, please contact me at : [email protected] or leave a comment with your name and the address of your site .



NEW BOOKS !

David Downie's thriller, Paris City of Night, has just been published, in time for summer reading.

Tatiana de Rosnay'snew book, Boomerang, is out in French. 



PARIS DREAMS, a travel memoir by N. A. Diaman, is now available from Persona Press, 2009 ($14.95 USD, £9.99 GBP, €10,95



The Washington Post and Time magazine gave rave reviews to Nicola Keegan’s debut novel,Swimming, now available.



Publishers Weekly heaped praise on Janet Skeslien Charles' novel Moonlight in Odessa, which comes out in September



Les Echos explored Sophie Loussouarn’s ODYSSÉE POLITIQUE DE TONY BLAIR 



John Baxter is offering a Memoir Master Class :  €475 per person.   Next session 19-21 August, 2009; other dates in October and February 2010. For further information and registration, email: [email protected]

Summer reading fun!

What are you reading --and why?

You can post your recommendations directly in the comments.

(Here’s Louise Thunin’s pick: “I have a wonderful little bilingual collection of Gerard Manley Hopkins' poetry here published by Points. "Poèmes et proses" ; the translater is Pierre Leyris.  In the same bilingual collection, they have "Lieu-dit l'éternité" which is some of Emily Dickinson's poetry translated by Patrick Reumaux.” Thanks Louise!)

 

 

Interview !!!

Laurel Zuckerman interviews Janet Skeslien Charles on her novel to be released this September, MOONLIGHT IN ODESSA.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you would like your site or blog to be listed in the writer directory, please send me the full address at [email protected] !

If you have additional news to share, please consult the guidelines .

  

Tourists in Paris Beware ! top rip-off number two

In the popular "extra" bill scam, the waiter "accidentally" includes the bill for another table with yours.

You are in deep in conversation with a tablemate. The waiter informs you of the total orally, holding out the "tickets de caisse" which you pay without examining.

If you react to the amount and check the bill, you will see that you are being charged for things you did not order.

"I'm so sorry," the waiter apologizes, "It's a mix-up. I'll fix it immediately."

You smile graciously as if to acknowledge that we all make mistakes. You are above getting excited about a mistake.

Careful!!! This is when you must really watch out.

The waiter redoes the calculation. You are again distracted, joking about Picasso's late period with a companion you'd like to know better, or, more likely, yelling at the kids.

HE ADDS INSTEAD OF SUBTRACTS the amount from the bill.

"Ahem," you say, "I believe that is the wrong operation. Shouldn't you subtract 17.58 euros from my bill, not add it?"

"Oh, my, where did I put my head this morning," the waiter says. "Whatever could be wrong with me. I am so sorry."

"That's ok," you say, holding out your hand for the cash, which you count twice. There is no way to be absolutely sure that it wasn't an accident--except to compare notes with other travelers.

Interestingly, this scam usually occurs in the "better" places.

My jaw dropped when I saw a waiter in my favorite Anglophone tearoom pull this on my brother-in-law, who is German and ridiculously polite. He was treating us, of course, and delighted by the hot chocolate. But even he thought adding instead of subtracting was a little much.

Even so, it was all I could do to persuade him not to leave the waiter a tip.

But my brother-in-law insisted.

"For the performance", he said kindly. "Really outstanding."

Last week,  foreigner-only prices on Ile St Louis (see Tourists in France beware! Tips to avoid the three most common rip-offs...)

Next week: "mistakes" making change.

Killer algae strike again ! French horse dead - rider saved just in time.

Nitrates from intensive agriculture have fueled growth of a toxic algae which now poisons beaches in Brittany.

(photo : l'Express)

Le Figaro, L’Express and The Times report that fumes overpowered a horse and rider on the beach of Saint-Michel-en-Grève.

The horse died immediately, the unconscious rider was pulled to safety and saved.

This recent incident follows several others, including a beach worker who fell into a coma ten years ago, and the suspicious deaths of a jogger and two dogs.

French pig and poultry farmers remain in denial, despite nitrate pollution so intense that the EU imposed fines for nitrate pollution.

Jean-François Piquot, a spokesman for the environmental group Eau et Rivières, said in The Times that toxic seaweed had been present on beaches in Brittany for decades and was spreading.

“There is no doubt that farming is to blame,” said Mr Piquot. “Britanny has 5 per cent of French agricultural land but 60 per cent of the pigs, 45 per cent of the poultry and 30 per cent of the dairy farms. As our rivers are not long, the pollution does not have time to clear before the water reaches the sea. If it enters a closed bay and there is sunlight, that produces the seaweed.”

The mayor of a neighboring town, Trédrez-Locquémeau, closed 200m of his beach. (Le Figaro) Alain Menesguen, director of research at the French Institute for Sea Research and Exploitation, said: “This is a very toxic gas, which smells like rotten eggs. It attacks the respiratory system and can kill a man or an animal in minutes." (The Times, article by Adam Sage)

For more, see The Times, Le Figaro, L’Express, the Grenelle discussion group, EndsEurope and, most intriguingly, an article by supermarket giant Michel Edouard Leclerc, who demands that the government apply the principle of “polluters- payers”.

That is, that farmers pay for the environmental damage they cause.

For information about the government's ambiguous position on nitrate pollution in Brittany, here is a selection of articles (in French):

http://www.mediapart.fr/club/edition/desaccords-de-grenelle/article/080709/l-ecologie-est-elle-soluble-dans-les-nitrates

 

http://sciencesetavenirmensuel.nouvelobs.com/hebdo/parution/p727/articles/a353397-nitrates__la_france_bient%C3%B4t_condamn%C3%A9e.html

 

http://www.ecologie.gouv.fr/Dossier-des-nitrates-en-Bretagne.html

 

http://www.localtis.info/servlet/ContentServer?c=artVeille&pagename=Localtis%2FartVeille%2FartVeille&cid=1247200831666

 

http://www.novethic.fr/novethic/planete/environnement/grenelle_de_l_environnement/developpement_durable_borloo_promet_action/110218.jsp

 

 

http://www.altermonde-sans-frontiere.com/spip.php?article3101

 

 

ANOTHER DEATH JUST DISCOVERED SEPTEMBER 5. CLICK HERE

PARIS WRITERS NEWS : AUGUST UPDATE !

 

 

Authors’ directory

 

 

Author interviews

 

 

Workshops, Festivals

 

Resources  and More!

 

 

 

 

News from Tatiana de Rosnay, Nicola Keegan,  John Baxter,  Sophie Loussouarn, N. A. Diaman, David Downie,  Janet Skeslien Charles and more !

 

Paris Writers News has added a sidebar called  PARIS WRITERS NEWS AUTHOR DIRECTORY & INTERVIEWS which has links to :

 

 

• TOP FESTIVALS, WORKSHOPS, and RETREATS
• PARIS WRITERS NEWS: DIRECTORY OF AUTHORS' WEBSITES
• PARIS WRITERS NEWS : INTERVIEWS

   

as well as a link to author interviews on the Paris Expat site.

 

 

 

• Authors listed in the PARIS WRITERS  DIRECTORY  include:

  Stephen Clarke , Nikos Diaman , David Downie , Jennifer K Dick , Mary Duncan , Karen Fawcett , Charles Glass ,Mark Greenside , Hilary Kaiser , Nicola Keegan , Julie Mautner , Richard Nahem , Paul Schmidtberger , Janet Skeslien Charles , Keith Spicer., Heather Stimmler-Hall , Louise Thunin , Harriet Welty Rochefort , Patricia Westheimer ,Tatiana de Rosnay , Lucy Wadham , Laurel Zuckerman

  If you would like to be listed, please contact me at : [email protected] or leave a comment with your name and the address of your site .
  
  
  
  NEW BOOKS !

   

  David Downie's thriller, Paris City of Night, has just been published, in time for summer reading.

  
  
  
  
  Tatiana de Rosnay'snew book, Boomerang, is out in French. 
  
  
  
  PARIS DREAMS, a travel memoir by N. A. Diaman, is now available from Persona Press, 2009 ($14.95 USD, £9.99 GBP, €10,95
  
  
  
  The Washington Post and Time magazine gave rave reviews to Nicola Keegan’s debut novel,Swimming, now available.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Publishers Weekly heaped praise on Janet Skeslien Charles' novel Moonlight in Odessa, which comes out in September
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Les Echos explored Sophie Loussouarn’s ODYSSÉE POLITIQUE DE TONY BLAIR 
  
  
  
  
  John Baxter is offering a Memoir Master Class :  €475 per person.   Next session 19-21 August, 2009; other dates in October and February 2010. For further information and registration, email: [email protected]
  
  
  
  
  
  

• Summer reading fun!

  What are you reading --and why?

   

  You can post your recommendations directly in the comments.

   

  (Here’s Louise Thunin’s pick: “I have a wonderful little bilingual collection of Gerard Manley Hopkins' poetry here published by Points. "Poèmes et proses" ; the translater is Pierre Leyris.  In the same bilingual collection, they have "Lieu-dit l'éternité" which is some of Emily Dickinson's poetry translated by Patrick Reumaux.” Thanks Louise!)

   

   

  
  
   

   

• Interview !!!

  Laurel Zuckerman interviews Janet Skeslien Charles on her novel to be released this September, MOONLIGHT IN ODESSA.

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

  If you would like your site or blog to be listed in the writer directory, please send me the full address at [email protected] !

  If you have additional news to share, please consult the guidelines .

    

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

•  

 

Disinformation on organic food : deliberate or accidental?

   "Organic no healthier says Food Standards Agency!"

By yesterday these headlines had spread like wildfire through the media.

But are they true?

 

The study in question compared the nutritional value of organic and non-organic foods. It's scope excluded contamination by pesticides and their impact on human health. (see previous post, here)

And yet, news outlets fail to mention the very limited nature of the study, giving the public a false impression that organic food offers no benefits.

  Is this misinformation deliberate?

BBC, Reuters, Yahoo, The Independent--the list of media spreading this misinformation is large and growing.

A quick google search gives these results :

 

1.               Organic food is no healthier, study finds - Yahoo! News

 - [ Traduire cette page ]

Organic food has no nutritional or health benefits over ordinary food, according to a major study published Wednesday.
news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090729/hl_nm/us_food_organic - Pages similaires -

2.               Organic food 'no healthier than conventional' - News, Food & Drink ...

 - [ Traduire cette page ]

29 Jul 2009

... Organic food is no healthier than conventional food, according to the world's biggest research project into the issue.
www.independent.co.uk/.../organic-food-no-healthier-than-conventional-1764448.html - En cache - Pages similaires -

3.               BBC NEWS | Health | Organic 'has no health benefits'

 -

00:45

 - [ Traduire cette page ]

29 Jul 2009

... Organic food is no healthier than conventionally produced food, a large independent review has concluded.
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8174482.stm - En cache - Pages similaires -

4.               Organic food no healthier - study | Stuff.co.nz

 - [ Traduire cette page ]

30 Jul 2009

... Get the latest health news on Stuff.co.nz/health. Stuff brings together the vast news resources of Fairfax New

Zealand

's nine daily ...
www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/.../Organic-food-no-healthier-study - Pages similaires -

5.               Organic food no healthier: study

 - [ Traduire cette page ]

30 Jul 2009

... Organic food no healthier: study. Organic asparagus. Perception v reality ... organic food found to be no healthier than conventional ...
www.theage.com.au/.../organic-food-no-healthier-study-20090730-e27z.html - En cache - Pages similaires -

6.               Organic food is no healthier: News24: SciTech: News

 - [ Traduire cette page ]

29 Jul 2009

... Organic food is no healthier: News24: SciTech: News. Organic food has no nutritional or health benefits over ordinary food, according to a ...
www.news24.com/.../Organic_food_is_no_healthier - En cache - Pages similaires -

7.               WUSA9.com | Washington, DC | Organic No Healthier Than Ordinary Food?

 - [ Traduire cette page ]

Organic No Healthier Than Ordinary Food? Posted By: Samara Martin Ewing 11 mins ago. Read Comments; Print Article · Email Article; Larger; Smaller ...
www.wusa9.com/news/.../story.aspx?...28 - Il y a 17 heures - Pages similaires -

8.               Organic food is no healthier, study finds (Reuters) - Yahoo ...

 - [ Traduire cette page ]

Organic food is no healthier, study finds (Reuters) · Yahoo! Health - Made Popular: 4 hours ago. Reuters - Organic food has no nutritional or health ...
buzz.yahoo.com/.../1:y_health:3103ed8f19bc073ec98acc1c06813b26 - En cache - Pages similaires -

9.               ORGANIC FOOD IS NO HEALTHIER

 - [ Traduire cette page ]

30 Jul 2009

... There is no evidence to support the selection of organic over conventionally produced foods on the basis of nutritional superiority, ...
www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?Article_ID=18266 - Pages similaires -

10.          Organic food is no healthier than other produce, scientists say ...

 - [ Traduire cette page ]

30 Jul 2009

... Organic food is no healthier than conventional produce, shows a comprehensive review of 50 years of evidence. Scientists at the

London

...
www.nzherald.co.nz/.../article.cfm

None of these headlines mention that the study focused exclusively on nutrition, deliberately excluding the impact on health of contamination by pesticides.

Why?

 

Astonishingly suspicious report on organic foods by the British Foods Standards Agency

What kind of scientific panel compares organic to regular food WITHOUT TAKING INTO ACCOUNT PESTICIDES?

 

The British Foods Standards Agency (FSA), that's who!

In the Times article "'Organic food not better for health than factory-farmed food' says report" we learn that the lead researcher, Dr Dangour, is a nutritionist. And as such "he was not qualified to look at pesticides."

 

“There is a possibility that organic food has less pesticide residues, but this was not part of the review,” he said.

The FSA report, by deliberately excluding from the study the main benefit of organic foods, concluded  that organic food is "no healthier than other produce", thus landing a blow against the 2 billion pound organic food industry.

"Consumer groups said that shoppers may now think twice before buying organic."

 The motivations behind this report, issued ahead of an EU study, deserve some clarification.  See the Soil Association's response here.

Contamination of fresh produce by pesticides continues throughout the EU, most alarmingly in France, where regulatory agencies tend to be controlled by the pesticide industry (called "phytosanitaire").

For a close analysis of the situation here, read (in French), Pesticides : Révélations sur un scandale français.

Solar energy in France : EDF joins forces with First Solar while French regulator CRE fines Voltalis for helping consumers to reduce electrical consumption--from EDF !

What does EDF want?

To punish consumers for reducing power consumption ? (See Le Figaro article from July 20, 2009 entitled "Taxes on energy conservation disputed.")

To usher in a new industry producing solar panels?  (See today's Le Monde article entitled "Energy: France starts to believe in solar power.")

To team up with slick operators that will promise homeowners anything to get them to spend 25,000 euros ? (See my conversation with a telemarketing firm.)

Or, perhaps, all of the above?

Does EDF seriously want solar energy to succeed?

Or is it still betting the house on nuclear? (See The Times article on how British regulators are frustrating EDF's bid to build four EPRs ("the worlds most powerful nuclear reactor") in the UK

Jean-Louis Borloo's job is not done yet!

Ecology: how NOT to introduce solar energy (telemarketing conversations)

I just received a phone call from a "partner of EDF", who offers to install solar panels on my house for only 25,000 euros, 70% subsidized, guaranteed 25 years, with payments FROM EDF of 150-250 euros per month for 20 years!!

"Who are you?" I ask.

"A partner of EDF. We work with the government."

"That's wonderful. What's your company called?"

"Our company?"

"Yes."

There's a pause.

"JESSAM," the man says.

"Can you spell that? I'm going to check you on the internet."

"J-E-S-S-A-M"

I find their site. It has a revolving world.

"Are you sure solar energy makes sense in the Paris region? There's not a lot of sun here."

I'm going for understatement. I don't want him to think I'm a crank. Besides, he called me.

"No, it's fine. It's light that matters, not sun."

"Who guarantees the panels?"

"EDF."

"Are you absolutely sure about that?"

I hear the man call to a colleague. "Hey, who guarantees the panels?" He returns to the phone. "Um, we do."

"How long has JESSAM been in business?"He repeats the question to a colleague.

"Almost four years," he says.

"And your guarantee is for 25 years?"

"Well, we've been doing 'développement durable' for almost four years. Of course we've been in business longer than that!"

Someone takes the phone from him.

"I'm the director," the new person says. "Can I help you?"

"I'd like to know how long you've been in business."

"Since 2000," he says. "Are you interested in solar panels?"

"Maybe. But I just saw a show on La Cinqabout it. You have to be careful. Could you send me some documentation?"

"What? No! This a a special campaign for the Paris Region. We were on Channel Six! We can't send you documentation!"

"But the installation costs 25,000 euros..."

He said something. I said something. After that, somehow, we both ended up talking at the same time, and it was time to bid each other farewell...

Time to end looting by Goldman Sachs ? Comments from the NYT, Rolling Stone and The Economist

Goldman Sachs announced record-breaking profits of 3 billion dollars in a three month period;

Three very different articles shed light on this development.

First, "Is Wall Street Back to Normal" by the venerable Economist.  "To the survivors, the spoils"  the article begins, and yet :

"For the year to date Goldman has set aside $11.4 billion for compensation and benefits, more even than in the halcyon first half of 2007. Its ratio of pay to revenues continues to hover near the dizzying 50% level that was the norm on Wall Street before the meltdown (see article).

For a firm that probably would have collapsed without government capital, debt guarantees and fast-track approval to turn itself into a commercial bank (not to mention a multi-billion-dollar payout as a counterparty of American International Group), such largesse looks cheeky at best. "

click here for the full Economist article

 

For a stunning analysis of Goldman Sachs, see the article in Rolling Stone Magazine entitled, "The Great American Bubble Machine".

Matt Taibbi accuses Goldman Sachs of repeatedly causing bubbles through market manipulations, then looting the public with the help of its strong government ties. The article is detailed  and clear and deserves in depth analysis (ideally by a publication like The Economist). Click here for more.

 

Third, "The Joy of Sachs" by Nobel prize winning columnist Paul Krugman.

"

The American economy remains in dire straits, with one worker in six unemployed or underemployed. Yet Goldman Sachs just reported record quarterly profits — and it’s preparing to hand out huge

bonuses, comparable to what it was paying before the crisis. What does this contrast tell us?

First, it tells us that Goldman is very good at what it does. Unfortunately, what it does is bad for America.

Second, it shows that Wall Street’s bad habits — above all, the system of compensation that helped cause the financial crisis — have not gone away.

Third, it shows that by rescuing the financial system without reforming it, [the government] has done nothing to protect us from a new crisis, and, in fact, has made another crisis more likely." Even more interesting than Krugman's article are the 376 comments by readers.

 

In conclusion, Goldman Sachs pays out 50% of its revenues to its employees as bonuses. It survived the crisis thanks to billions of dollars in direct and indirect government aid, including 100% of what bankrupt AIG owed it. "The huge bonuses Goldman will soon hand out show that financial-industry highfliers are still operating under a system of heads they win, tails other people lose".

 

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/29127316/the_great_american_bubble_machine/1

http://www.economist.com/businessfinance/displayStory.cfm?story_id=14034883

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/17/opinion/17krugman.html?_r=1

Paris Writers News : July update on English language writers in France

This month: news from Charles Glass, Brentanos, Traveling Parisian Poets, Frances Gendlin, Karen Fawcett, Julie Mautner, Janet Skeslien Charles, Nicola Keegan, Susan Israelson, Lucy Michot, Rouja Lazarova, Paul Schmidtberger and more !!!

 

 

 

  In sad news, the famous English language bookstore BRENTANOS has closed after more than a century. Read Charles Bremner's article about it here. Fortunately some English langage bookstores still survive. Support them!!

 

 

 

 

Publications!

Americans in Paris: Life and Death Under Nazi Occupation, 1940 - 1944

by Charles Glass (Order signed copies at www.charlesglass.net. ) shipped worldwide

 

 

 

Canadian author

Eugene Kachmarsky'sdebut fiction work, Let Slip the Dogs of Love, has just been released! An anthology of short stories, the book looks at personal and social issues using a unique fusion of genres and voices to produce a tapestry of vivid and memorable fables.

 

 

 

 

 

Frances Gendlinis currently preparing the third edition of her Culture Shock! San Francisco to be published by Marshall Cavendish in January 2010.  Her fictional memoir “Paris, Moi, and the Gang” will be published by Summertime Publications in September of this year

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lucy Michot's first book Chinongwa, a "riveting and emotional portrait of abusive conditions in rural Zimbabwe during the 1920s" was published in January last year.

 

 

 

The major industry publication Publisher's Weekly has profiled Janet Skeslien Charles whose first novel Moonlight in Odessa will appear in English in September. More about this book as it approaches publication...

 

  Nicola Keegan's debut novel Swimming will also appear on audio CD simultaneously with the Knopf publication on the 14th of July. Swimming is being translated into Spanish, Dutch, German, Hebrew, Italian, Polish and French and has been featured in literary magazines as well as Elle, Good Housekeeping and People!

 

 

Mausolée, Rouja Lazarova's unflinching portrayal of daily life in communist

Bulgaria, was published in French by Flammarion in January 2009. Tracing the experiences of three generations of women, this novel was praised by Figaro Magazine as "the literary equivalent of 'La Vie des Autres'". It will appear in Bulgaria in October. The author is currently looking for an American publisher for the English version.

 

 

Paul Schmidtberger has published Design Flaws in the Human Condition, a comic novel which "opens a window onto our flawed capacity as humans to love and be loved".

 

 

 

 

 

Welcome to recent transplant from NY, Susan Israelson, author of "Lovesick, the Marilyn Syndrome", one of the first self-help books. Check our her Over It blog!

 

 

 

In more blog news, Julie Mautner would like to invite you to visit her new blog about the Provence : ProvencePost.com

 

Special event!! OXFAM POETRY SERIES in tandem with the 14-day UK festival BOOKFEST invites you to a poetry reading in London with Paris-based poets: Barbara Beck, David Caddy, Jennifer K Dick, Brentley Frazer, Rufo Quintavalle, George VanceJonathan Wonha. m They will be introduced by UK poet Todd Swift, Oxfam’s poet in residence. For more information, see Oxfam or the Event list for July 14th.

Writers submit !!

Karen Fawcett at Bonjour Paris is looking for writers and would be delighted to highlight fine articles about this country...

Paris Writers News will soon offer a special advice column for writers. Think of it as Dear Abby for the literary set!!!  submit your questions to [email protected]

To share your news, send an email to the above address. To make our work easier, please see our submissions guidelines.

To see all Paris Writers News, click here!!!