Since its release with legendary publishing house Gallimard on September 9, 1970, Éden, Éden, Éden, the work of Pierre Guyotat, a young author then in his thirties, has provoked scandals, fascinations, and marvels. Deemed a “Saharian fiction,” it was published with forewords by Michel Leiris, Roland Barthes, Philippe Sollers, and was instantly praised by Michel Foucault; upon being censored, it gained immediate international support by the likes of Joseph Beuys, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Pierre Boulez, Italo Calvino, Simone de Beauvoir, Jean-Paul Sartre, and many others.

Fifty years later, the work of Pierre Guyotat – who passed away on February 7, 2020 – exerts an ever-growing impact, having proven to be prescient of a world on the verge of transformation, through violence, sexuality, decolonization, and cosmology. It’s the endpoint of colonialism as well as the starting point of a new history, for language, offering a new vision of the present, the past, and the future.

The question of celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of the publication was considered during the last months of Pierre Guyotat's life. Taking inspiration from the fifty years of Tombeau pour cinq cent mille soldats, in 2017, which gave rise to five hours of readings in French, English, German, Japanese and Russian, the Association Pierre Guyotat, established by the author for the conservation of his work will celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of Éden, Éden, Éden on September 9th, by organizing fifty readings in fifty different places in France, and around the world.

Canadian reading organized by Charles Stankievech, with participation by Julien Lefort Favreau, Lisa Steele, Kim Tomzcak, Jean-Paul Kelly, Lauren Fouriner, Kenneth Brummel, Ali Taheri, Christophe Barbeau, Shani K. Parsons, Matt Nish-Lapidus, Julian Dime, Luis Jacob, John Greyson, Fan Wu, and others.

With kind assistance by Elisa Nuyten.

To participate in the reading, please email: Charles.Stankievech@daniels.utoronto.ca

For more information, please visit: https://eden50.org/

Pierre Guyotat (January 9, 1940, Bourg-Argental) is the author of one of the most radical oeuvres of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. An early critic of colonial oppression and oppression of all kinds, he has played a major role in the opening-up of culture, sexuality, and art by developing the most extreme form of epic fiction. His texts, starting with Tomb for Five Hundred Thousand Soldiers (first released in 1967) and Éden, Éden, Éden (first released and immediately censored in 1970, with forewords by Roland Barthes, Michel Leiris, Philippe Sollers, and immediate praise by Michel Foucault) have changed the fabric of French language. His work has been widely translated, in languages such Italian, Japanese, Russian, German, English, Dutch, Spanish. Idiocy, his last published new book (2018), won the Prix Médicis, the Prix de la langue française, and the Prix special of the jury Fémina (American, Chinese, Spanish, German translations forthcoming). His archive is held at the Bibliothèque nationale de France, France’s Public Library. His drawings have been exhibited in the most prestigious museums and galleries in Paris, Berlin, London, Rome, New York, Los Angeles, Brussels and will be featured in Manifesta in the Fall 2020.

Full list of partners:

Académie du Royaume du Maroc, Rabat.
Ambassade de France en Chine, Beijing.
Ambassade de France en Inde/Jaipur Literary Festival, Delhi and Jaipur.
American University of Beirut, Beirut.
Association Mosaïque, Biskra. Cabinet, London.
Cahiers de Colette, Paris. CATPC, Lusanga.
Center for Contemporary Art, Tel Aviv.
Centre international de Poésie de Marseille, Marseille.
Centre Pompidou-Metz, Metz.
Château de Jau, Case de Pène.
Château La Coste, Le Puy-Sainte-Réparade.
De Balie, Amsterdam.
Diaphanes and espace diaphanes, Zurich, Berlin.
El Atico Pent Cultural, Mexico.
Escuela Multidisciplinaria de Arte Dramático, Montevideo.
Eventos del Libro, Medellin.
Faust, Turin.
Festival d’Avignon, Avignon.
Fonds Hélène et Édouard Leclerc, Landerneau.
Galleria Borghese, Rome.
Garage Museum of Contemporary Art, Moscow.
Groupe Art Contemporain, Annonay and Saint Julien Molin Molette.
Institut Français d’Athènes, Athens.
Musée d'Art Contemporain du Val-de-Marne, Vitry.
Maison africaine de la poésie internationale, Dakar.
MC93, Bobigny.
Mollat, Bordeaux.
Montpellier Contemporain, Montpellier.
Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires.
Musée d’Art moderne Grand-Duc Jean, Luxembourg.
Museu Serralves, Porto.
Nottingham Contemporary, Nottingham.
Ombres Blanches, Toulouse.
Palazzo Grassi/Pinault Collection, Venice.
Performing Arts Forum, Saint Erme.
Perrotin 106, Tokyo.
Press Up, Dublin.
Progetto, Lecce.
Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid.
Rebuild Foundation/Stony Island Bank, Chicago.
The Box, Los Angeles.
The Island Club, Limassol.
Théâtre National de Strasbourg, Strasbourg.
University of Toronto, Toronto.
Writers’ House of Georgia, Tbilissi.
Xavier Hufkens, Brussels.