Geneva’s upcoming book fair, running from March 18 to 22, will spotlight journalist and author Laure Adler as an honored guest, giving her free rein to curate a special program.
Among the prominent figures at this year’s Salon du Livre de Genève, Laure Adler stands out as a champion of culture. When asked about being labeled an intellectual, she responded with characteristic humility.
“I don’t think I’m really an intellectual, but I am someone who loves to learn and loves to share what she learns. Intellectual is something I always still aspire to.”
A Program Focused on the Future
For her featured program in Geneva, Adler has chosen to highlight women whose work inspires her, blending established voices with emerging talents. Among them is Julie Brafman (winner of the 2025 Albert Londres Prize) to discuss exceptional women. Adler believes Brafman’s latest work, focusing on Marguerite Duras’s partner, goes beyond a simple biography: “Julie Brafman’s book has this philosophical scope for me; she manages to investigate Yann Andréa, but she also manages to investigate someone who doesn’t desire to be anyone. And that’s magnificent.”
Philosopher Claire Marin, whose “depth of philosophical insight” Adler admires, will also participate, as will poet Laura Vazquez. The program will conclude with a performance by actress Clara Pacchini, who will deliver texts by Duras in a spoken-word style, underscoring Adler’s belief in the vitality of contemporary poetry.
“They are awakeners of consciousness, they are people who understand everything before everyone else, poets.”
From the Shock of Boris Vian to a Passion for Libraries
Adler’s relationship with books wasn’t always immediate. She describes herself as a “late reader.” Growing up in Africa where books were scarce, she didn’t encounter literature until age 17 during a stay in England, thanks to a boyfriend who gifted her L’Écume des jours by Boris Vian.
It was a transformative experience: “Was it because it was my boyfriend? I think so. Was it because the book was extraordinary? I think so. Was it because the two went together and were ultimately a kind of revelation of love in all its forms, and of the love of reading, which for me now merges with love itself? Because the love of reading is for me today a form of love.”
Today, she nurtures that love in places of knowledge, frequently expressing her fondness for libraries.
“I am a great lover of libraries… they are extraordinary places that bring books and everything else to life.”
Reading as an Act of Resistance
Against a backdrop of international unrest and “the noise of war,” Adler advocates for the importance of artists and intellectuals. She sees literature as a lifeline in the face of simplistic and authoritarian rhetoric: “Writers, philosophers, poets… they can send us signals, like cosmonauts in the universe, signals that flash, telling us: ‘attention, we are still here, we need you, the community of men still exists.’”
“Old age is also a permission to read for oneself, to broaden one’s vision of the world… the freedom of reading is a gift given to my old age.”
For her, a book remains the best “comfort object” for understanding the world, at any age—it was, in fact, the first gift she gave her granddaughter, a gesture of hope for the future of reading.
Interview by Benjamin Smadja / Web adaptation with AI
