“This 39th edition is the best ever” for Régis Pénalva, director of Comédie du livre de Montpellier

There was a crowd at the 39th Comédie du Livre – 10 days in May, in the Jardins du Peyrou, during this Pentecost weekend. FREE MIDI – JEAN MICHEL MART

Created in 1986, "La Comédie du livre – 10 days in May" has just experienced an extraordinary 39th edition, not only in the Jardins du Peyrou (of Péïïrou!) for three days, but in the most emblematic cultural places since May 10. Last volume of its third decade therefore, for an edition soon to be quadra, and described by Régis Pénalva, the Director of the Comédie du livre, as being "the most accomplished of all".

While waiting for the figures which will undoubtedly confirm it, the ’felt" was she there for this 39th edition ?

Attendance is clearly increasing, we could measure it with the naked eye, undoubtedly thanks to exceptional weather, which was not the case last year. And a rich and diverse program, just like the public who attended it. For me, it is also the best of all time, since I have been observing it since 1997. I've never seen that! It's a little beyond me to see meeting rooms and tents packed to capacity, in the middle of the Pentecost weekend. More would have been complicated, it was very dense among the 150 meetings proposed.

And on the side of the booksellers' cash drawers ?

The turnover of bookstores should be on the rise. We know that Gibert made the best comedy in its history in terms of sales. It’s not yet the time of reckoning !

And this Sunday, the gauges exploded everywhere!

Neige Sinno blew up the Maison des Choirs, Christine Angot at Panacée. Ditto for the dialogue between Alain Damasio and Karim Kattan while Pascal Quignard was performing at the Cité des arts in front of 400 people! I can't name all the headliners, but yes, as an observer who travels a lot, I was impressed, without being self-satisfied. We produced the most accomplished, most successful edition.

The partnership with the Grand Prix de l’Imaginaire, hosted in Montpellier, also had something to do with it.

Yes, he brought a new audience that we didn't know, or very little about. With the arrival of 35 invited authors, people came from all over the country, this prize being the most important in this science fiction literature.

Le Peyrou continues to have an effect on attendance ?

Everyone, authors and booksellers, praise the quality of welcome at Peyrou, and talk a lot about this beautiful close relationship with the public, deeper, more intimate, pleasant. There was traffic from morning to evening, and large spaces to take a break on the terraces.

Will the baptismal name remain as that of a ’Comedy" from the book that takes place in Peyrou!

"Comedy of the Book, ten days in May", it tells you what it is&nbsp ;! This event at Peyrou is the heir to one of the most beautiful literary events: there is no reason to erase this story. And then Ten days in May, it’s joyful, it’s sparkling! This symbolizes long-term programming, with some misunderstandings sometimes for those who think that it is 10 days of the show!

2025, 40th edition. Ideas ? Will we have to push the walls up to Max Rouquette Square ?

And it would be the 20th anniversary of his death, but it is under construction! We will try to bring new things, to look back on 40 years of history, to embody the link between the last 39 years and the new decade, with others ;nbsp;issues, other expectations, audiences who are renewing themselves and of which this edition is the most striking example. We find an audience of young people in their thirties.

What a quack, unusual, funny or emotional moment, remember?

The "quakes" were of the order of infinitely small compared to the success of the whole. I know that at the end of the dialogue between Alain Damasio and Karim Kattan, the audience was in tears. The host told me "I thought we were all going to burst into tears”. What made me laugh was Jón Kalman Stefánsson who had a full house on Saturday. Someone approached him to tell him that a few years earlier, he had been picked up hitchhiking in Iceland. And that the driver was him!

What particular memory do you look back on after watching a Comedy?

I think of the one who welcomed me as a volunteer when I was 18, Jean Debernard from the Molière bookstore, thanks to whom I got into this profession and of Fanette, his wife& ;hellip; When I turn around, it’s them that I think of. Jean’s universe was also Christine Angot, Detambel, Max Rouquette… that we met there!

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