The year 2020 has been difficult for the literature sector, even if many publishers manage to limit the damage.
A positive signal: the literary re-entry in January promises to be rich in publications.
Many writing "heavyweights" are making an expected comeback.
In 2020, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the world of culture has been shaken.
Among the sectors affected, it is perhaps the literature sector that is doing the best.
The publishing world is not completely unscathed, but many publishers have saved the day, with revenues falling on average -7% over the year.
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Among writers, it is the authors of bestsellers who are doing the best, but the less established authors have suffered much more from the crisis.
For 2021, some signals are positive.
First of all, books and reading have made a lot of followers this year.
And the literary re-entry in January promises to be rich.
The return of Marie N'Diaye and Yasmina Reza
Nearly 493 novels are in the running, 12 more than last year, including 153 foreign novels and 63 early novels.
The "heavyweights" of words will also be there.
Goncourt Prize in 2009 for
Three powerful women
, the author Marie N'Diaye returns with
La vengeance m'appartient
, at Gallimard.
The story of a lawyer, Maître Suzanne, 42 years old.
One day a man asks him to defend his wife, Maryline, who has committed an atrocious crime.
The lawyer has the impression of recognizing in this client a young boy already met in the past, when she was a child.
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On January 6, Yasmina Reza publishes her fourth novel
Serge
, at Flammarion.
The story of a Jewish sibling, the Popper, with characters who look like "magnificent losers".
The novel deals, with distance and humor, with a serious subject: the concentration camps.
Also at Flammarion, the author Olivier Adam returns with
Tout can s'oublier
, a novel full of sweetness and intelligence.
The story of a father who discovers that his ex-wife has returned to his native country, Japan, with their sons.
A story between Brittany and the Japanese archipelago, in search of his little boy and perhaps himself.
Philosophical tale by Gaspard Koenig and short stories by Stephen King
Gaspard Koenig, philosopher and writer, publishes with the Editions de l'Observatoire
L'Enfer
.
The story of a college professor, with an ordinary life, who dies and arrives in heaven.
He doesn't quite know where to go and comes across some sort of admissions official, who shows him a direction.
Confident about the sobriety of his life, he thinks of going to paradise but discovers by advancing an airport terminal.
It is Hell, a clean, sanitized universe where he can get on a plane but in which he always, or almost always, ends up in an airport terminal.
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French author Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt is also launching his large fresco on the history of humanity,
La traversée du temps
, with a first volume called
Paradis Perdu
.
Later, in February, author Philippe Delerm will publish
Une vie en relief
, a collection of short texts.
As for foreign novels, the master of suspense Stephen King also returns with four long short stories published in a single book:
Si ça bleigne
, available in bookstores on February 10, 2021. Readers will be able to find an investigation, a story related to the au- beyond, the adventures of a writer lacking inspiration and the story of a man told from the end.