Video : Annie Ernaux

A rainy Sunday in March. At the entrance to La Monnaie, a queue that seems to go on forever: umbrella in one hand, a book by Annie Ernaux in the other. L’Événement, Passion simple, Les Années or Mémoire de fille. In French, Dutch, English, Turkish. Annie Ernaux is one of the headliners of the 9th edition of the Passa Porta Festival.

The slim figure of the octogenarian author, recently awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, appears. To a standing ovation from readers filling the auditorium, Annie Ernaux sits down with the young author Salomé Kiner. When her first novel (Grande couronne) came out, Salomé Kiner received a letter from Annie Ernaux. A letter that testifies to Annie Ernaux’s unflagging curiosity and to the support that, like Simone de Beauvoir in her day, she gives to young writers, especially women authors. A silent, privileged audience then enjoyed an hour and a half of discussion, which began in a subtle and unexpected way around … a kitchen scene. Take the time to look back at a timeless moment.