I have received some completely unexpected and exciting news as an early Christmas present this year. The French translation of my novel Nineveh (Ninive) has been awarded the François Sommer Literary Prize. This award is given to books that explore the relationship between humans and nature and support the values of humanistic ecology. The prize will be awarded at the Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature in Paris in January. Thanks to the Fondation François Sommer, my wonderful publishers Umuzi in South Africa and Editions Zoé in Switzerland, my brilliant French translator Elisabeth Gilles and agent @Isobel Dixon. I am particularly excited to see the museum, which sounds amazing: quirky, astonishing, strange and eclectic ... housed in the limestone Hôtel de Guénégaud ... outfitted with bronze decorative fixtures ... made to look like vines, antlers and tree branches. The ceiling of one room has been covered in owl feathers in a work called The Night of Diana by contemporary Belgian artist Jan Fabre,[12] previously known for decorating the ceiling of the Royal Palace in Brussels with more than a million and a half beetle wing cases. The museums rooms have names such as Room of the Boar, Salon of the Dogs and Cabinet of the Wolf ... The museum displays ancient and contemporary works together: in the Salon of the Dogs, a collection of gold dog collars throughout the ages is displayed alongside 17th-century portraits of Louis XIVs pets and a small white version of the Scottie dog sculpture Puppy by contemporary American ceramic artist Jeff Koons. It also includes fantastical elements: an alcove dedicated to unicorns contains a small curio cabinet ... In the Room of Trophies, Le Souillot, a wall-mounted animatronic albino boar head by contemporary French artist Nicolas Darrot, speaks to museum visitors in French.
Posted on: Sun, 21 Dec 2014 12:08:47 +0000
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