The consequences of the Matzneff affair continue in the world of French publishing. "Gallimard editions, which have published their newspaper since 1990, have decided to stop marketing it," said in a statement published on Tuesday, January 7, the Parisian publishing house. "The suffering expressed by Mrs. Vanessa Springora in 'The Consent' makes a word heard, the force of which justifies this exceptional measure", he specifies.
Last Friday, the Paris prosecutor's office had opened an investigation the day after the publication of "Consentement" (Grasset), an autobiographical book by the editor Vanessa Springora recounting the relationship she had in adolescence with the writer, then 50 years old.
In her story, Vanessa Springora, now 47, portrays the man she calls "G." by predating multiplying relationships with very young girls. The allusion to Gabriel Matzneff, who reported on his actions in his own works, is transparent, especially as Vanessa Springora names him in an interview with the Parisian published last week.
"Awful portrait"
L'Express published last Thursday on its website a column from the 83-year-old writer, who claims to have lived an "exceptional love" with Vanessa Springora and not to recognize himself in the "awful portrait" drawn from him. Gabriel Matzneff did not comment on the opening of the prosecution's investigation.
The writer, who is under investigation for rape of minors, will be deprived of public aid, after also giving up his column in the weekly Le Point.
The Minister of Culture, Franck Riester, considered that the annual allowance to authors granted by the National Book Center, from which he has benefited since 2002, was "not justified".
Even before its publication, "Le Consentement" shook the whole French edition, which for a long time granted Gabriel Matzneff the honors due to great writers - the Renaudot Prize for essay in 2013, in particular - without ever, or almost, questioning his practices. The affair has spilled over to many influential figures in the world of literature, accused of complacently turning a blind eye.
With AFP
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