Russell Williams
@rwilliamsparis.bsky.social
Associate Prof of Comparative Literature and English, The American University of Paris; French Editor, The Times Literary Supplement. Thinking about French Weird.
Henriette Korthals Altes reviews @laurenelkin.bsky.social's recent translation of Simone De Beauvoir's The Image of Her in the latest issue of @thetls.bsky.social
www.the-tls.com/literature-b...
www.the-tls.com/literature-b...
Simone de Beauvoir’s novel of a mental breakdown
The first reviews of Simone De Beauvoir’s novel Les Belles images (1966) were dismissive. Some critics disliked its focus on the Parisian bourgeoisie and
www.the-tls.com
January 25, 2026 at 10:28 AM
Henriette Korthals Altes reviews @laurenelkin.bsky.social's recent translation of Simone De Beauvoir's The Image of Her in the latest issue of @thetls.bsky.social
www.the-tls.com/literature-b...
www.the-tls.com/literature-b...
Images of Baudelaire’s muse Jeanne Duval revealed for first time
@thetls.bsky.social @mariascott.bsky.social
www.thetimes.com/culture/book...
@thetls.bsky.social @mariascott.bsky.social
www.thetimes.com/culture/book...
Images of Baudelaire’s muse Jeanne Duval revealed for first time
Photographs of the French poet’s mistress, who posed for Edouard Manet, have been found in the archives of the Bibliothèque nationale in Paris
www.thetimes.com
January 22, 2026 at 10:57 AM
Images of Baudelaire’s muse Jeanne Duval revealed for first time
@thetls.bsky.social @mariascott.bsky.social
www.thetimes.com/culture/book...
@thetls.bsky.social @mariascott.bsky.social
www.thetimes.com/culture/book...
Reposted by Russell Williams
We are pleased to share that David Evans is the new General Editor of French Studies, succeeding Martin Crowley after seven years. We thank Martin for his leadership.
An interview with Crowley & Evans in French Studies Bulletin is free to read this January➡️bit.ly/FS-Editor
@frenchstudies.bsky.social
An interview with Crowley & Evans in French Studies Bulletin is free to read this January➡️bit.ly/FS-Editor
@frenchstudies.bsky.social
January 6, 2026 at 1:30 PM
We are pleased to share that David Evans is the new General Editor of French Studies, succeeding Martin Crowley after seven years. We thank Martin for his leadership.
An interview with Crowley & Evans in French Studies Bulletin is free to read this January➡️bit.ly/FS-Editor
@frenchstudies.bsky.social
An interview with Crowley & Evans in French Studies Bulletin is free to read this January➡️bit.ly/FS-Editor
@frenchstudies.bsky.social
Reposted by Russell Williams
I'm very proud to have written this article about two newly identified photographs, or card portraits, of Baudelaire's long-term mistress, Jeanne Duval. The first (left, below) was discovered by American writer Summer Brennan, and published on her brilliant Substack A Writer's Notebook in 2021.
A special one in the latest @thetls.bsky.social
In a compelling essay, @mariascott.bsky.social recounts her archival research, presents and validates two previously unknown photographs of Jeanne Duval, mistress and muse of Charles Baudelaire. Important work.
www.the-tls.com/lives/biogra...
In a compelling essay, @mariascott.bsky.social recounts her archival research, presents and validates two previously unknown photographs of Jeanne Duval, mistress and muse of Charles Baudelaire. Important work.
www.the-tls.com/lives/biogra...
Portraits of the ‘Black Venus’
Last April, a surprising photograph (see near right) appeared on the Wikipedia page devoted to Jeanne Duval, the long-term mistress of Charles Baudelaire and the “Black Venus” who inspired some of the...
www.the-tls.com
January 21, 2026 at 1:44 PM
I'm very proud to have written this article about two newly identified photographs, or card portraits, of Baudelaire's long-term mistress, Jeanne Duval. The first (left, below) was discovered by American writer Summer Brennan, and published on her brilliant Substack A Writer's Notebook in 2021.
A special one in the latest @thetls.bsky.social
In a compelling essay, @mariascott.bsky.social recounts her archival research, presents and validates two previously unknown photographs of Jeanne Duval, mistress and muse of Charles Baudelaire. Important work.
www.the-tls.com/lives/biogra...
In a compelling essay, @mariascott.bsky.social recounts her archival research, presents and validates two previously unknown photographs of Jeanne Duval, mistress and muse of Charles Baudelaire. Important work.
www.the-tls.com/lives/biogra...
Portraits of the ‘Black Venus’
Last April, a surprising photograph (see near right) appeared on the Wikipedia page devoted to Jeanne Duval, the long-term mistress of Charles Baudelaire and the “Black Venus” who inspired some of the...
www.the-tls.com
January 21, 2026 at 1:06 PM
A special one in the latest @thetls.bsky.social
In a compelling essay, @mariascott.bsky.social recounts her archival research, presents and validates two previously unknown photographs of Jeanne Duval, mistress and muse of Charles Baudelaire. Important work.
www.the-tls.com/lives/biogra...
In a compelling essay, @mariascott.bsky.social recounts her archival research, presents and validates two previously unknown photographs of Jeanne Duval, mistress and muse of Charles Baudelaire. Important work.
www.the-tls.com/lives/biogra...
Reposted by Russell Williams
Shout out to the people who still have their Christmas decorations up
January 24, 2025 at 5:04 PM
Shout out to the people who still have their Christmas decorations up
A great way to kick off this year's French literature coverage in the @thetls.bsky.social: Marie Darrieussecq on the latest book by Emmanuel Carrère in the latest issue.
www.the-tls.com/literature-b...
www.the-tls.com/literature-b...
Mother was always right
It seems that Emmanuel Carrère is now thought to be France’s “greatest living writer”. France has always needed a greatest writer, and even if there are
www.the-tls.com
January 7, 2026 at 12:19 PM
A great way to kick off this year's French literature coverage in the @thetls.bsky.social: Marie Darrieussecq on the latest book by Emmanuel Carrère in the latest issue.
www.the-tls.com/literature-b...
www.the-tls.com/literature-b...
Today I had a reply to a letter I sent 26 years ago
January 6, 2026 at 7:03 PM
Today I had a reply to a letter I sent 26 years ago
Reposted by Russell Williams
Over the moon to have Deborah Levy making her début writing in @thetls.bsky.social with a rereading of Eugène Ionesco in the issue out now.
A great way to end the year. See you in 2026
www.the-tls.com/literature-b...
A great way to end the year. See you in 2026
www.the-tls.com/literature-b...
The bald truth
When I was nineteen, I met a man who seemed very old to me, in a cafe in Trastevere, Rome. He asked me what I did in life. I was a theatre student and grandly told him I was a playwright. I had at tha...
www.the-tls.com
December 30, 2025 at 5:54 PM
Over the moon to have Deborah Levy making her début writing in @thetls.bsky.social with a rereading of Eugène Ionesco in the issue out now.
A great way to end the year. See you in 2026
www.the-tls.com/literature-b...
A great way to end the year. See you in 2026
www.the-tls.com/literature-b...
Over the moon to have Deborah Levy making her début writing in @thetls.bsky.social with a rereading of Eugène Ionesco in the issue out now.
A great way to end the year. See you in 2026
www.the-tls.com/literature-b...
A great way to end the year. See you in 2026
www.the-tls.com/literature-b...
The bald truth
When I was nineteen, I met a man who seemed very old to me, in a cafe in Trastevere, Rome. He asked me what I did in life. I was a theatre student and grandly told him I was a playwright. I had at tha...
www.the-tls.com
December 30, 2025 at 5:54 PM
Over the moon to have Deborah Levy making her début writing in @thetls.bsky.social with a rereading of Eugène Ionesco in the issue out now.
A great way to end the year. See you in 2026
www.the-tls.com/literature-b...
A great way to end the year. See you in 2026
www.the-tls.com/literature-b...
Reposted by Russell Williams
For anyone interested in this 🎯 mention of French critic #RolandBarthes, I wrote this for @engelsbergideas.bsky.social about the Barthes-Garlic&Pearls connection, and the ‘stealth bomber of Frenchness’ that - dixit @suzanneraine.bsky.social - is the 4-colour BiC pen.
@rwilliamsparis.bsky.social
@rwilliamsparis.bsky.social
December 27, 2025 at 12:22 PM
For anyone interested in this 🎯 mention of French critic #RolandBarthes, I wrote this for @engelsbergideas.bsky.social about the Barthes-Garlic&Pearls connection, and the ‘stealth bomber of Frenchness’ that - dixit @suzanneraine.bsky.social - is the 4-colour BiC pen.
@rwilliamsparis.bsky.social
@rwilliamsparis.bsky.social
Reposted by Russell Williams
A wonderful review appeared on our Garlic&Pearls website in time for Christmas - a lovely gift from a long-standing and ever-perceptive friend of our 🇫🇷🇬🇧 podcast.
December 27, 2025 at 12:19 PM
A wonderful review appeared on our Garlic&Pearls website in time for Christmas - a lovely gift from a long-standing and ever-perceptive friend of our 🇫🇷🇬🇧 podcast.
Reposted by Russell Williams
Dec 12th 1959 - Marion Crane checked into the Bates Motel.
📽️📅 Psycho (1960)
📽️📅 Psycho (1960)
December 12, 2025 at 6:26 PM
Dec 12th 1959 - Marion Crane checked into the Bates Motel.
📽️📅 Psycho (1960)
📽️📅 Psycho (1960)
Including @sebemina.bsky.social on Jacqueline Feldman, Peter Salmon on 100 years of Gilles Deleuze
John Updike’s literary letters; Jane Austen at 250; irritating professors; Cixin Liu’s stories of wonderment; beer as object and metaphor; our annual Christmas quiz – and much more.
The new TLS is out now: www.the-tls.com/issues/curr...
The new TLS is out now: www.the-tls.com/issues/curr...
December 11, 2025 at 6:16 PM
Including @sebemina.bsky.social on Jacqueline Feldman, Peter Salmon on 100 years of Gilles Deleuze
Reposted by Russell Williams
A statement about David Bellos just issued by his department: www.princeton.edu/news/2025/11...
David Bellos, renowned scholar of French fiction and ‘totally brilliant translator,’ dies at age 80
His work grappled with the tricky nature of interpreting between languages and embraced the potential of language itself to help us understand the human condition.
www.princeton.edu
November 14, 2025 at 11:58 PM
A statement about David Bellos just issued by his department: www.princeton.edu/news/2025/11...
"I was talking about the Green Man, but he wasn’t having it."
“I pointed to the rich folkloric imagery already within the Abbey. Such as the colossal vegetable astronaut-alien hybrid inspired by the notion of the Green Man that was filling the roof cavity…”
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
‘Demonic’ Wind in the Willows jumper banned from Westminster Abbey
Woman told to remove or cover up garment featuring 1908 illustration of Pan lest it offend worshippers
www.theguardian.com
November 14, 2025 at 7:53 AM
"I was talking about the Green Man, but he wasn’t having it."
Reposted by Russell Williams
And very delighted to be there! Subscribers can read the full piece, but as with practically all Wittkop's writing, don't say we didn't warn you ...
"Slightly deaf, she leans in and out, and pivots to her fellow interviewees with ferocious energy, enthusiasm and, at times, disdain"
Delighted to have @louiserl.bsky.social on Gabrielle Wittkop in the new issue of @thetls.bsky.social
www.the-tls.com/literature/l...
Delighted to have @louiserl.bsky.social on Gabrielle Wittkop in the new issue of @thetls.bsky.social
www.the-tls.com/literature/l...
Necrophilia, poisoning and murder: a transgressive French novelist
We are on the set of Bouillon de Culture, a late-night cultural chat show hosted on French TV by the public intellectual Bernard Pivot, genial and
www.the-tls.com
November 12, 2025 at 10:44 PM
And very delighted to be there! Subscribers can read the full piece, but as with practically all Wittkop's writing, don't say we didn't warn you ...
Reposted by Russell Williams
Boualem Sansal gracié : l’écrivain a quitté l’Algérie et est «en route» pour l’Allemagne
Lire ⬇️
Lire ⬇️
Boualem Sansal gracié : l’écrivain a quitté l’Algérie et est «en route» pour l’Allemagne
www.liberation.fr
November 12, 2025 at 6:08 PM
Boualem Sansal gracié : l’écrivain a quitté l’Algérie et est «en route» pour l’Allemagne
Lire ⬇️
Lire ⬇️
"Slightly deaf, she leans in and out, and pivots to her fellow interviewees with ferocious energy, enthusiasm and, at times, disdain"
Delighted to have @louiserl.bsky.social on Gabrielle Wittkop in the new issue of @thetls.bsky.social
www.the-tls.com/literature/l...
Delighted to have @louiserl.bsky.social on Gabrielle Wittkop in the new issue of @thetls.bsky.social
www.the-tls.com/literature/l...
Necrophilia, poisoning and murder: a transgressive French novelist
We are on the set of Bouillon de Culture, a late-night cultural chat show hosted on French TV by the public intellectual Bernard Pivot, genial and
www.the-tls.com
November 12, 2025 at 6:03 PM
"Slightly deaf, she leans in and out, and pivots to her fellow interviewees with ferocious energy, enthusiasm and, at times, disdain"
Delighted to have @louiserl.bsky.social on Gabrielle Wittkop in the new issue of @thetls.bsky.social
www.the-tls.com/literature/l...
Delighted to have @louiserl.bsky.social on Gabrielle Wittkop in the new issue of @thetls.bsky.social
www.the-tls.com/literature/l...
Looking forward to presenting virtually at the
@hauntedfutures.bsky.social
conference this week.
Just recorded my presentation on Hellier and Broken Veil.
Might make it available after, will see how I feel.
@hauntedfutures.bsky.social
conference this week.
Just recorded my presentation on Hellier and Broken Veil.
Might make it available after, will see how I feel.
November 11, 2025 at 4:34 PM
Looking forward to presenting virtually at the
@hauntedfutures.bsky.social
conference this week.
Just recorded my presentation on Hellier and Broken Veil.
Might make it available after, will see how I feel.
@hauntedfutures.bsky.social
conference this week.
Just recorded my presentation on Hellier and Broken Veil.
Might make it available after, will see how I feel.
Reposted by Russell Williams
The US-China confrontation; beliefs vs facts; Tennyson, science and catastrophe; Iris Murdoch’s poetry; Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein; a history of shamanism – and much more.
The new TLS is out now: www.the-tls.com/issues/curr...
The new TLS is out now: www.the-tls.com/issues/curr...
October 30, 2025 at 4:32 PM
The US-China confrontation; beliefs vs facts; Tennyson, science and catastrophe; Iris Murdoch’s poetry; Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein; a history of shamanism – and much more.
The new TLS is out now: www.the-tls.com/issues/curr...
The new TLS is out now: www.the-tls.com/issues/curr...
Ah, the cold brutality with which colleagues decline beautifully-worded Outlook invitations to the bookish event you have organised
September 19, 2025 at 7:39 AM
Ah, the cold brutality with which colleagues decline beautifully-worded Outlook invitations to the bookish event you have organised
"In the world of Parisian publishing, rumours – even legends – emerge around certain books that help to shape their success. Adèle Yon has written one such book"
Marie Darrieussecq on Mon vrai nom est Elisabeth in the new
@thetls.bsky.social
www.the-tls.com/literature/f...
Marie Darrieussecq on Mon vrai nom est Elisabeth in the new
@thetls.bsky.social
www.the-tls.com/literature/f...
The violence of the past
In the dense world of Parisian publishing, rumours – even legends – emerge around certain books that can help to shape their success. Adèle Yon has
www.the-tls.com
September 17, 2025 at 3:56 PM
"In the world of Parisian publishing, rumours – even legends – emerge around certain books that help to shape their success. Adèle Yon has written one such book"
Marie Darrieussecq on Mon vrai nom est Elisabeth in the new
@thetls.bsky.social
www.the-tls.com/literature/f...
Marie Darrieussecq on Mon vrai nom est Elisabeth in the new
@thetls.bsky.social
www.the-tls.com/literature/f...
@stuartmaconie.bsky.social alas, it seems that Madonna never actually was part of Patrick Hernandez’s dance troupe, but they did share a flat!
www.parismatch.com/People/Patri...
www.parismatch.com/People/Patri...
Patrick Hernandez : ‘"Je fais passer son premier casting à… Madonna !"
Il y a quarante ans exactement sortait mon tube « Born to Be Alive ». La même année, je rencontre Madonna avant qu’elle devienne célèbre.
www.parismatch.com
September 13, 2025 at 5:57 PM
@stuartmaconie.bsky.social alas, it seems that Madonna never actually was part of Patrick Hernandez’s dance troupe, but they did share a flat!
www.parismatch.com/People/Patri...
www.parismatch.com/People/Patri...
Reposted by Russell Williams
September 4, 2025 at 8:02 AM