For the sixteenth edition of the Rendez-vous littéraires rue Cambon [Literary Rendezvous at Rue Cambon] held at the 7L library in Paris, CHANEL and Charlotte Casiraghi, ambassador and spokesperson for the House, invited novelist Katie Kitamura.

Moderated by journalist Caroline Issa, this encounter dedicated to the work of Katie Kitamura explores the changing nature of identity—a theme at the heart of her latest novel Audition—and the essential role of reading in her writing process: “The most intimate and optimistic thing I do every single day is to read. Because when I read, I open myself up to the mind of another person. And I hope to write the kind of fiction that allows a reader to do the same thing.” Together, they also talk about the contemporary questions that the author’s fictional heroines encounter.

(00:10) : Opening by Charlotte Casiraghi

(02:20) : Introduction by Caroline Issa

(03:50) : Katie Kitamura and her unnamed women characters

(06:17) : Reading of an extract of “Audition” by India Ennenga

(11:37) : The role of self-performance in the construction of one’s identity

(16:15) : Charlotte Casiraghi on female protagonists in contemporary literature

(20:50) : On the relationships shaping Katie Kitamura’s characters

(24:35) : Siri Hustvedt’s message to Katie Kitamura

(26:40) : Reading of an extract of “A Separation” by Charlotte Casiraghi

(32:40) : On literature as a collaboration between reader and writer

(33:40) : On taking risks in the creative process

(38:14) : On literature as a way to approach the complexity of truth

(39:40) : On feelings after reading Katie Kitamura’s books

(42:32) : Katie Kitamura’s takes on how to start writing

(44:05) : Questions from the audience

Katie Kitamura, Gone to the Forest © Clerkenwell Press, 2013 

Gone to the Forest by Katie Kitamura. Copyright © 2012 by Katie Kitamura. Reprinted with the permission of The Free Press, an Imprint of Simon & Schuster, LLC. All rights reserved 

The Longshot by Katie Kitamura. Copyright © 2009 by Katie Kitamura. Reprinted with the permission of The Free Press, an Imprint of Simon & Schuster, LLC. All rights reserved 

A Separation by Katie Kitamura, copyright © 2017 by Katie Kitamura. Published by Riverhead, an imprint of Penguin Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC 

A Separation by Katie Kitamura © Clerkenwell Press, 2017 

Excerpt from A Separation by Katie Kitamura, copyright © 2017 by Katie Kitamura. Used by permission of Penguin Random House LLC. All rights reserved 

Intimacies by Katie Kitamura, copyright © 2021 by Katie Kitamura. Published by Riverhead, an imprint of Penguin Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC 

From Intimacies by Katie Kitamura published by Jonathan Cape. Copyright © Katie Kitamura, 2021. Reprinted by permission of The Random House Group Limited 

Audition by Katie Kitamura, copyright © 2025 by Katie Kitamura. Published by Riverhead, an imprint of Penguin Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC 

From Audition by Katie Kitamura published by Fern Press. Copyright © Katie Kitamura, 2025. Reprinted by permission of The Random House Group Limited  

Excerpt from Audition by Katie Kitamura, copyright © 2025 by Katie Kitamura. Used by permission of Penguin Random House LLC. All rights reserved 

Mrs Dalloway © Virginia Woolf, 1925 

The Lady with the Dog © Anton Tchekhov, 1899 

The Aliens © Annie Baker, 2010. Published by Faber & Faber Ltd 

If I Had a Hammer  

Hays Lee, Seeger Peter, Ludlow Music Inc  

© Ludlow Music via Tro Essex Music Ltd