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
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