Diversity of voices, diversity of languages : one week of events and readings in Lyon and in the Rhône-Alpes region.
Proust-inspired interview of Toine Heijmans
What became of your childhood dreams ?
I completed all of them. Became a writer and a journalist, became a sailor, bacame a father. But normally, as all humans do, I don’t aknowledge the results. When a dream is completed, you still want more and you still think you’re not there. I don’t think that is bad. Only that it’s true.
What is your greatest (or worst) addiction ?
Internet. Since the day I met it (1995).
What is your favourite swear word ?
I’m in France, so this will have to be ‘merde’. And there are some more a don’t dare to write down, I got them from the French hiphop band NTM when I wrote a story about French rap, long time ago.
Which word do you hate most, and why ?
I hate plastic language, as it is being called : words that are only there to conceal something, that are not precise, so the one that uses it (mostly a politician, a bureaucrat or somebody who wants to appear bigger than he is) can go around things. Words like ‘process’ ( ‘that is the process we are following here’), or ‘escalate’ (‘we will have to escalate this matter.’). Lately I wrote a column about a politician, just using his words and building them into poems. That was very funny.
If you were a figure of speech, which one would you be ?
Contradictio in terminis.
Which side of your personality do you keep hidden at first, and why ?
No side at all. And that’s a problem.
What would be your ideal literary encounter (book, author, reader, etc) ?
With Hermin Melville, at his home in Massachusetts. The house is still there (called Arrowhead), I went there, his glasses are on his writing desk. Through the windows, you see a hill that’s just like a whale – Moby Dick. I just want to know from him where this flow of sentences came from. But I think he doesn’t know the answer.
What guilty reading pleasure do you indulge in ?
Twitter. Always Twitter.
Which writer will you never read ?
There is no writer I don’t want to read, it’s just not doable to read them all. Except for E.L. James. Of course.
Which sound or noise do you enjoy most ?
Wind (not too much) whisteling around the mast of a sailing boat.
How would you describe your book collection in one word ?
A chaos. But a beautiful one.
What would your ideal epitaph be ?
Ouch. Don’t like that question. Just my name will be enough. Or just a piece of rock.
