Paris has a long legacy not merely as a world capital of culture but as a literary capital. Some of the world’s greatest writers and thinkers have created some of their best work in or about Paris and found homes for it in bookstores, to be sure, but also libraries. Two years ago I interviewed the bestselling author Janet Skeslien Charles on this show about her novel The Paris Library (Episode 74) but today I’m excited to be joined by the executive director of The American Library in Paris Audrey Chapuis, someone I’ve had the great pleasure of collaborating with over the years as I’ve spoken at the library about my own work and moderated discussions for other authors. This fall, we were among the inaugural speakers at the Angers English language Literary Festival and Audrey spoke at length. In this conversation, we talk about her library path, bookish culture in Paris, the role that libraries play in the world and the role that this library has played since 1920, and much more.

Mentioned in this episode:

Audrey Chapuis

The American Library in Paris

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Proust and the Squid

Sara Georgini

Viet Thanh Nguyen

Hala Alyan

Kirstin Chen and Grace Ly in conversation

On the Road events

The BNF

Galignani Bookstore

Joan by Katherine Chen

The Curse of the Marquis de Sade by Joel Warner

Audio production & editing: Matthew Jordan

⁠⁠Music by Little Glass Men⁠