Moustiers à la page
Saturday 20 September
For this 8th edition of “Moustiers à la Page!”, your literary event in Moustiers-Ste-Marie, an opening night will kick off the fair on Saturday 20 September at 6.30 pm in the Salle Jean-Marie Plume (small square next to the Tourist Office, accessed via the stairs). Free entry, no booking required.
Four authors are looking forward to welcoming you to an evening of warm hospitality, where each of them is keen to share with you their passion for literature, the secrets behind their latest novels, and their experiences as publishers.
Françoise Bourdon
Françoise BOURDON will give a preview of her latest novel, Fleur de charbon, published by Presses de la Cité.
Pascale Expilly
Pascale EXPILLY will reveal the secrets behind her latest novel, Terribles vanités, due to be published on 12 September 2025, a story of everyday madness, obsession and art.
René Frégni
René FREGNI will discuss two of his books: Dernier arrêt avant l’automne (2019), a story set not so far away… and Minuit dans la ville des songes (2022), a novel that tells the story of a life of wandering and reading, as harsh as it is sensual, as dark as it is radiant.
Gilles Vincent
Gilles VINCENT will talk about his career as a publisher at the publishing house Perles Rares
‘When a novelist, who has been captivated by books since childhood, talks with his daughter – who, like him, is in love with and curious about words – the idea of building a publishing house gradually emerges from their conversation. A house to showcase rare, precious and coveted texts, like little jewels. And so, Éditions Perles Rares was born.’
Sunday 21 september
On Sunday 21 September, the “Moustiers à la Page!” book fair will be taking place on the Place de l’Eglise from 10am to 5pm, right in the heart of the village at the Etoile Bienveillante. No fewer than fifteen authors will be there to sign copies, sketch a few drawings for comic book fans, and spend some quality time chatting with you!
Anne-Lise Besnier
A quirky thirty-something and self-proclaimed ambassador of gentle madness, Anne-Lise Besnier loves dark humour, palm trees and snow, and playing Scrabble and hopscotch. Her first two novels, *La vieille qui cassait la baraque* and *Les vieux qui se faisaient la malle*, have already revealed her delightfully offbeat world.
Françoise Bourdon
Born in the Ardennes, a professor of law and economics, she decided, after seventeen years of teaching, to devote herself entirely to her passion for writing. In her early novels, Françoise Bourdon drew inspiration from her native region; she then continued her work in Provence, her adopted home, crafting stories that blend sweeping family sagas, portraits of women and depictions of trades. A major and indispensable author for Presses de la Cité, all her novels have been met with great critical and public acclaim.
Bruno Carpentier
He was born in Saint-Vaast (Belgium) in 1963. Based in Marseille, he spent several years editing the “Crimes de Pays” series, which he launched in 2012, whilst continuing to write crime novels and discover new talent. Today, he devotes himself full-time to his literary work.
Gilles Dienst
Among other things, Gilles has worked, in no particular order and with varying degrees of enjoyment, as a publisher and gallery owner in the field of illustration and comic books, an HR consultant at Enedis, a curator of various exhibitions, and a budding young writer. He has written for various exhibition catalogues. Several of his short stories have won awards.
Pascale Expilly
Pascale lives and works in Les Chambaran, in the Isère department. A graduate of the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, she is a visual artist and illustrator who now devotes her time to writing.
© OT MoustiersRené Frégni
René Frégni was born on 8 July 1947 in Marseille and is a French writer. He failed at school and spent his entire youth hanging about with a gang of urchins on the streets of Marseille. A deserter at the age of 19, he spent five years doing odd jobs abroad under a false identity before returning to France. He led a turbulent life before devoting himself to writing. He worked in various jobs, including as a psychiatric nurse, and for many years ran writing workshops at the Baumettes prison in Marseille.
During his time in military prison, he discovered, one by one, the great writers who would accompany him throughout his life: Giono, Céline, Camus and Flaubert. It was there, too, that he wrote his first poem: from then on, he would never put down his notebook or his pen. His entire body of work navigates between the darkness of men, the light of the sea and the beauty of women.
Olivier Gay
He is a French writer of crime, fantasy and science fiction novels for both adults and young adults. Formerly a marketing strategy consultant in Paris, he now makes a living as a writer in the south of France. After living in Nantes, then spending a year in the United States, he returned to Paris and frequented parties with the Vodka Club. It was this period of his life that inspired the character of Fritz in his novel *Les Talons hauts rapprochent les filles du ciel* (High Heels Bring Girls Closer to the Sky), published in 2012 and awarded first prize at the Beaune Festival. His first fantasy novel, Le Boucher (2012), was nominated for the Prix Révélations Futuriales. His young adult series, Le Noir est ma couleur (2014–2016), was enthusiastically received by critics and won the 2014 Sélection Histoires de romans prize as well as the Prix Chimères, awarded by secondary school pupils. In autumn 2024, Olivier Gay and Brice Bingono ventured into historical fantasy with the one-shot Les Mages de Bonaparte.
Véronique Hiélard
A psychologist and mother of three, Véronique Hiélard sketches out stories of life, brings them to life with her writing and infuses them with emotion. She weaves in social themes, sometimes drawing inspiration from her profession. Her world revolves around intertwining the fates of characters who bridge the past and the present, and weaving together secrets and intrigues.
Patrick Nieto
Originally from Bordeaux, Patrick Nieto, aged 55, works as a police superintendent in the Paris region. His 30 years in the field of criminal investigation have given him a keen insight into the practices of his profession, as well as the men and women who work within the police force.
A lover of Asian literature and crime novels, he took up writing relatively late in life. It was not until 2014 that he decided to take the plunge. It is therefore his professional experience that now informs his writing and, through his books, his sole ambition is to entertain his readers.
Bénédicte Rousset
Bénédicte Rousset is a qualified teacher of modern literature and works at a secondary school in Vaucluse. As the daughter and granddaughter of primary school teachers, she sees writing as a family tradition. It was in her father’s small printing shop that she first discovered novels.
Serge Scotto
He was born in Marseille in 1963. A versatile author, both a writer and an illustrator, he is noted for the wide range of his activities. A journalist, cartoonist and novelist, he has also embarked on a career as a comic-book scriptwriter. Alongside his collaborator Éric Stoffel, he has created aviation-themed stories for Idées +, historical tales for Plein vent (Ligne Maginot, Juste parmi les nations), and a series of children’s comics for Dargaud (Les Mondes d’Arven). Above all, since 2015, Serge Scotto has been in charge of adapting the complete works of Marcel Pagnol for Grand Angle.
Pierre Taranzano
Pierre was born in 1971 in Marseille. After studying Applied Arts, he became involved in various artistic collectives and tried his hand at painting. He then worked as a stage designer and storyboard artist for animation studios, whilst developing the project *Les Portes de Shamballah* (a four-volume series published by Clair de Lune).
He also illustrated a three-volume adaptation of Bernard Werber’s novel Les Thanatonautes (Glénat), with Eric Corbeyran as scriptwriter, before embarking on an adaptation of Homer’s Iliad and then the Epic of Gilgamesh, again for Glénat, in collaboration with Luc Ferry, Clotilde Bruneau and Didier Poli. He is currently working on a personal, surrealist project entitled L’Ailleurs, to be published by Inanna.
Gilles Vincent
For the past twenty years, Gilles Vincent has devoted most of his time to writing. He runs writing workshops in schools and hospitals.
Dans la douleur du siècle, his contemporary and historical novel, is to be adapted by the ARTE channel.
