It was he who, in January, had the favors of Irène Lindon to succeed him at the head of the prestigious publishing house sold in Gallimard. At the start of the school year, this seasoned publisher will present the first two novels published under his direction.
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In the world of publishing as in the building of 7, rue Bernard-Palissy, in the heart of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, in Paris, certain climbs are made by narrow stairs, with unequal steps. Since January, the office on the third floor of this address, which has housed Editions de Minuit since 1951, has been occupied by a new director, Thomas Simonnet, 48 years old. In the room where Irène Lindon officiated, who took the succession of his father, Jérôme, at his death, in 2001, the walls are lined with hundreds of books.
The catalog of the house is a national monument which has three prizes Goncourt (Marguerite Duras, Jean Rouaud and Jean Echenoz), two Nobel Prize for Literature (Samuel Beckett and Claude Simon), a Nobel Peace Prize (Elie Wiesel ) And dozens of other significant authors: Alain Robbe-Grillet, Jacques Derrida, Marie Ndiaye, Jean-Philippe Toussaint, Laurent Mauvignier, Tanguy Viel…
For his first literary school year in this position, Thomas Simonnet will add his stone to the building with his first two publications as director of midnight. In the dining room, the first novel of a 24 -year -old writer, Claire Baglin, who had sent her her manuscript by La Poste, and the latest book by the writer and playwright Yves Ravey, Taormine. A new voice that makes the reader penetrate into the back room of a fast food and the mastered novel of a seasoned writer. Pure midnight.
discreet and ardu selection process
The enthronement of Thomas Simonnet followed Irène Lindon’s decision to sell, after seven decades of independence, the family jewel in Madrigall, the holding of the Gallimard group. While on the side of Editis and Hachette the fusion wanted by Vincent Bolloré made a big noise before being abandoned, everything happened, on this side of the left bank, without scandal or trumpet. If the issues are less financial and political, change at the head of midnight remains a symbol in the world of French letters. The selection process was discreet, but difficult, with several interviews with Irène Lindon, long discussions on manuscripts and emblematic works of the house.
After having politely declined our requests for maintenance since the beginning of the year, Thomas Simonnet agreed to receive us, one morning in July. “It’s more pleasant to talk to each other now that I have titles to defend,” he slips. High silhouette a little clumsy, shy smile, Grège pants, white shirt and soft voice with controlled flow (“I speak a little slowly because I think at the same time”, he apologizes), Thomas Simonnet is the image of Epinal of the Publisher Germanopratin.
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