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INSIDER PICKS IN SAINT-GILLES
(and a few just outside)
by French writer and the Literary Salon founder Elliot Ibouzidene.
“Lately, I’ve been starting my weekends at Archive Music, a low-key café near the town hall. You can grab a slice of carrot cake and browse vinyl records at the same time.”
A chat with writer Elliot Ibouzidene on literature, Proust and favourite haunts in Saint-Gilles.
As a graduate in creative writing from ENSAV La Cambre, former bookseller at Filigranes and founder of brand new the Literary Salon at members club TheMerode - “I opened with The Pillow Case from the Japanese author, poet, and court lady Sei Shōnagon -, Elliot was kind enough to share some of his favourite independant bookstores and spots for reading, breakfast and vinyl in St.Gilles.And tell us more on @letswriteaboutbooks where he posts favourite books. Daily.
→ @elliot.ibouzidene
→ @letswriteaboutbooks
Yesterday, I read three short books in French: the short story Si Stefan Zweig pouvait parler by Camille de Toledo (I’m a big fan of Stefan Zweig, and Camille was one of my teachers at La Cambre); Wajdi Mouawad’s inaugural lecture L’ombre en soi, delivered at the Collège de France; and finally, I discovered Henri Michaux’s poetry thanks to Marie Richeux’s book club on France Culture, particularly his collection of aphorisms Poteaux d’angle.I learned that Michaux lived for many years on Rue Defacqz in Brussels, not far from where I live. I read Wajdi Mouawad’s novel Anima this summer on a flight to Greece. It was a shock. Last year, William Marx, Professor of Comparative Literature at the Collège de France, invited the Lebanese-born playwright and director Wajdi Mouawad to hold the annual chair L’invention de l’Europe par les langues et les cultures. I knew Mouawad as the director of the Théâtre de la Colline in Paris. I expected to be blown away by his reflections on literature and politics, and I wasn’t disappointed.I got goosebumps watching the recording of his lecture, especially when he brought it to a close in a magisterial way, covering the stage in blood.
"For me, that is true literature: poetic, performative, alive, and avant-garde, whatever that means today."
“If there’s one book everyone should read today—to put into the hands of everyone we care about and love—it’s Un désir démesuré d’amitié by the writer, curator, and art historian Hélène Giannecchini. And one that definitely shaped who I am today is Proust’s In Search of Lost Time.”
"I read the entire Recherche two winters ago. I had prepared for it for years, reading and listening to everything I could find about Proust and his novel. Beyond being a masterpiece, perhaps the masterpiece, it feels deeply personal to me. I think about it almost every day. I can’t wait to grow older and read it again from scratch.
"For me, literature is not only about reading and writing. It goes beyond books. Text is the first medium humanity created, and people still find time to read today.Proust’s genius lies, for me, in his ability to embrace every aspect of life, especially through his reflections on art and time, embodied by the painter Elstir, the writer Bergotte, the composer Vinteuil, and the actress La Berma. Proust captures time and creation like no one else. Reading him is like experiencing “un peu de temps à l’état pur”, a little time in its pure state.A few months ago, I went to The Hague and visited the Mauritshuis, where View of Delft by Vermeer is on display. Standing in front of it, I remembered the passage in which Bergotte dies while contemplating the painting, a famous reflection on death and reality.Reading Proust and looking at Vermeer, I experienced a true epiphany. This is the kind of book that stays with you long after you’ve finished it, sometimes even bringing you to tears."
“In summer, Duden Park and Parc de Forest, especially when the guinguettes open (technically already in Forest, but right on the edge). I like having meetings at Café La Biche and working in the mornings at Bar du Matin, another spot just across the border. Don’t miss the great bookshops nearby, from Poëtini and Les Yeux Gourmands to Tipi for art books, and Marguerite & Cie. And of course, the best friterie in town, at Barrière.”
“Even though the neighborhood is gentrifying, there’s still a strong sense of diversity and social mix among residents. It feels very local, yet new places keep opening regularly.
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"Bautier has a good selection of design objects, a lovelycafé, and I can always find the latest issue of Apartamento magazine — the only one I read. A true bible for design, architecture, and art lovers."
→ BAUTIER - Vorstse Steenweg 314