At the end of 2023, Aure Hajar submitted the manuscript of Berceau de la violence to Édith & Nous, without really believing in it and without real expectations. Cradle of Violence is a strong, raw, and singular text, that challenges the reader with the accuracy of its words. A few months later, this text was presented

At the end of 2023, Aure Hajar submitted the manuscript of Berceau de la violence to Édith & Nous , without really believing in it and without real expectations. Cradle of violence is a strong, raw and singular text, which challenges the reader with the accuracy of its words. A few months later, this text was presented to Stéphanie Ricordel , the editorial director of Éyrolles Romans, who read it “in a state close to astonishment” and quickly suggested that Aure publish it. Cradle of Violence will be released in early 2023and will be one of the back-to-winter events.

It is the story of this beautiful meeting between an author and her editor which is told through this first joint interview with Aure and Stéphanie.

AURE, HOW LONG DID YOU WORK ON CRADLE OF VIOLENCE BEFORE PRESENTING IT TO PUBLISHING HOUSES

I devoted three years to it (between the beginning of 2023 and the beginning of 2023), but in fragments, never full time. For example, I didn't spend a single second on it in 2023 because my professional activity didn't give me the time; then I returned to it almost full time at the start of my maternity leave, just before my birth. This is what allowed me to finish it (finally, to arrive at a version that I thought was finished)!

WHAT WAS THE JOURNEY OF YOUR MANUSCRIPT

It will not have escaped anyone's notice that 2023 was the year of the first lockdown. This resulted in a delay in the release of scheduled novels, but also an overload of manuscript departments in publishing houses... I had a manuscript, but I saw many publishers who asked authors, through the press, to kindly stop sending them their texts which they would not have time to read... I still tried my luck by emailing a few houses that accepted typescripts (I never received even- what an acknowledgment of receipt), as well as from a literary agent (who contacted me again and accompanied me).

At the end of 2023, I read an article in Livres Hebdo which announced the creation of Édith & Nous; I uploaded my manuscript to the platform. It was quickly identified by the site teams as being publishable, subject to rework, and it was defended to publishers likely to be interested, even though I no longer believed in it myself and had moved on. to something else.

This is how Stéphanie read it and presented it to the reading committee of Éditions Eyrolles.

STEPHANIE, HOW DID YOU DISCOVER CRADLE OF VIOLENCE 

In June 2023, Morgane Carmona , from Édith & Nous, recommended to me Berceau de la violence , for one of our collections. I was then looking for texts for our Aparté collection . Having recently discovered Édith & Nous, I had the opportunity to discuss our editorial line with Morgane. She managed to retain the singularities of our collection and to recognize possible compatibilities in Aure's novel.

I then uploaded the novel to the platform. Morgane got back to me with a lot of patience, because I didn't immediately find the time to delve into the text. In October, I started reading it and I couldn't put it down. I then defended it before our reading committee which gave a favorable opinion.

WHAT CONVINCED YOU TO PUBLISH THIS BOOK

I was immediately touched by the reading experience it gave me. The text was to the point, raw, strong, quite unbearable at times. I read it in a state close to astonishment. This was due to the qualities of the writing, embodied and personal, which seemed to respond to a form of urgency to say, without considerations for the consequences (the way in which it might be perceived by the reader). The topicality of the theme also caught my attention: in Cradle of Violence there is talk of voluntary prostitution among a student. But above all, I read a very fair project: showing how a young woman tries to get rid of the trauma by confronting it again, in a desperate attempt to give it meaning.

AURE HOW DID YOUR FIRST EXCHANGES WITH STEPHANIE GO

Stéphanie first called me to congratulate me and tell me that the reading committee had given a favorable opinion to the publication of the text, on the condition that I rework it. When I met her, I was struck by her intelligence and her understanding of my novel: she had not just read it, she had analyzed everything, understood everything, knew precisely what to improve. She took great pains to tell me what she expected me to rewrite, she was very gentle and respectful of my work. I no longer had any expectations for this text, because I had really moved on to something else, but she re-motivated me, especially since her professional perspective was going to help me transform this “ easy” story into a real one. novel. She told me that I would have to do a lot of work on the structure, but that I absolutely had to maintain my style, which she described as organic. I was touched by it, because it was exactly the word I had in mind when writing: organic. I wanted the style to reflect the sensations of the body. I had at least achieved that. During our meeting, I was also able to find out more about her, her background, her profession as a psychologist which I find fascinating, which allowed me to better understand where this immediate understanding and this intelligence in the construction of a story.

STEPHANIE, WHAT DO YOU USUALLY EXPECT FROM A FIRST MEETING WITH THE AUTHOR WHOSE BOOK YOU WANT TO PUBLISH?

The first meeting with the author is always a very moving moment for me. This is the inaugural and founding time of future collaboration. I discover a stranger who tells me the story behind the story: how the idea for this book came about, what he wanted to do with it, through what character/situation/image the novel came to him. arrived… It is also an opportunity to take stock of the author's future commitment to the work of the text.