Arthur Dayras, a member of the The Eye of Photography, has just published his first book. A book of photos? Not at all It’s a tough and harsh first novel with a fascinating wealth of words. Its title is Que brûle la nuit. Its publisher: Robert Laffont, a reference in France. It’s always great to be pleasantly surprised by someone close to you!
– Jean-Jacques Naudet.
“Forged over four years, Que brûle la nuit tells the story of a youthful love, its great hope and its downfall. It recounts the story of Victor, a student in his final year of architecture in Lille, and Fleure, who aspires to be a schoolteacher. One is a wealthy Parisian, arrogant with a tinge of snobbery, misogynistic, and vertical in his relationships to women; the other comes from a more modest background, with a calm and quiet nature. Their asymmetrical love spills over into drunken nights, in the town of Lille that I aimed to depict in both its beauty and grittiness. And this love gradually stretches, unravels, and breaks on the dark side of sweetness, with violence slowly creeping into them.
Throughout the novel, I wanted to jump from one inner world to another, building imaginary spaces, seeking harmony between two dissonant voices. Reflecting this, the novel reconsiders male violence, its psychological hindrances, while also facing the world of the night, with its excesses and glimmers.”
— Arthur Dayras
Arthur Dayras
Born in 1993, he now lives in Paris after having lived in Lille, Lyon, and Saint-Étienne. Co-founder of the literary magazine L’Allume-Feu, he works at the Centre Pompidou and writes for the newspaper L’Œil de la Photographie. He previously worked as head of publications at the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art of Saint-Étienne Métropole and as assistant curator at the Dia Art Foundation.
Arthur Dayras – Que brûle la nuit
Robert Laffont Editions, 2024
256 pages, 135 x 215 mm
French
EAN: 9782221276990
Available in bookstores and online.
Book Signing:
- Cahiers de Colette, Paris, September 11th, 18 p.m
- Librairie L’Etagère, Saint-Malo, October 3rd
