Under the title “Sous influences. De l’art dans la literature”, the association Maison des écrivains et de la littérature (Mel) is organising once again this month the “Enjeux contemporanis” from 23 to 26 January at several venues in France, including Centre Pompidou, Nanterre-Université and Théâtre du Vieux Colombier.
With support from IRL, Mel has invited writer, critic and audiovisual producer from Mallorca Emili Manzano to participate on 23 January, based on his career as a literary critic and as the director of the film El dia de la sípia.
El dia de la sípia
Shot in Paris, the film looks at the writer’s encounter with painter Miquel Barceló. Despite having many friends in common and shared generational experiences, Vila-Matas and Barceló had only crossed paths briefly in Palma one night in the mid-1970s. The title of the documentary alludes to cephalopods’ ability to blend in with their surroundings when they sense danger, a reaction Enrique Vila-Matas identifies with when he enters the painter’s workshop to sit for his portrait. Blending, camouflaging, disguising… As if being portrayed brought out the rawest truth and sincerity, Enrique Vila-Matas remembers, at one point in the documentary, how hard he worked to create an attractive, mysterious figure in order to draw attention to his literary work.
About the director
Emili Manzano Mulet (Palma, 1964) is a journalist and TV producer. He has a degree in Spanish Philology from the Autonomous University of Barcelona. He has worked as a journalist at the newspapers ABC, Diario de Mallorca, La Vanguardia and El País. Between 2001 and 2005, he directed and hosted the literary programme “Saló de lectura” on municipal television channel BTV and from 2007 to 2011 hosted the literary programme “L’hora del lector”. He also produced and hosted the program “Amb filosofia” on Canal 33. He edited and translated an anthology of works by philosopher Alain Badiou entitled Mira a lo lejos (RBA), and has published the novel Pinyols d’aubercoc (L’Avenç).
Maison des écrivains et de la littérature (Mel)
This organisation promotes literature through several lines of dissemination and services for writers. The association hosts activities and events to encourage reflection on the circumstances and challenges facing literature today in order to get different groups of readers involved and analyse traditional and contemporary manners of literary transmission in a dialogue with literary stakeholders: publishers, booksellers, critics, cultural representatives and territorial organisations. They also provide guidance in rolling out public policies on books in schools, business and general society, in partnership with the professional, institutional and association sectors and in collaboration with the Ministère de la culture et de la communication – Centre national du Livre, la Ville de Paris, Ministère de l’Education nationale and Région Ile-de-France.
