From childhood, Angela possessed a very particular "gift." As soon as she fell asleep, she woke up in other people's dreams. Now an adult, having become very solitary and withdrawn, she is only just beginning to accept this peculiarity and is trying to lead a more or less balanced life. It is then that she meets Guillaume, a dreamer who, unlike the others, can see and speak to her, but who will never leave her side at night. This young man is a mystery. He will disrupt her routine and her peace, which will irritate her to no end.

The Blossoming of Peonies: Poems. In Greek mythology, nymphs protected themselves from prying eyes by covering their nakedness with peonies. Flowers of modesty and shame, they were believed to have the power to heal all kinds of ailments, both physical and emotional, and are still used in traditional Chinese and Japanese medicine.

In this story, the author recounts the coming-of-age journey of a young man searching for his purpose in life, starting from a prison cell where he was twenty years old. Torn between a profound aspiration to live a lofty ideal and the vital need to heal the wounds of his childhood, he reveals, in these sometimes deeply moving pages, the intimate details of an extraordinary path.

The story recounts how a few memories altered the course of a Buddhist meditation practice session held with a group in a temple. I went to stand beside the coffin, which was placed on trestles in front of me. On the other side, directly facing it, about three meters away, family and a few friends were present. There was also the expanse of other graves all around. I would have preferred that there were none, that we were the first. And then, there we were, it was our turn to be here; we never think about it, or only fleetingly, and yet here we are.

Joël Dranthia is an economist with a passion for travel. His heritage spans three continents (Europe, Africa, and Central America), which has instilled in him a deep appreciation for the blending of cultures. Passionate about Japan, the Caribbean, and Africa, he explores the common threads between cultures through poetry. Besides photography, his other interests include writing, film, and music. For the past few years, he has been writing poetry, searching for the humanism that lies dormant within the human soul.

“I am a buoy adrift at sea, wandering aimlessly. I am that old book, forgotten on a shelf, gathering dust. Yet, I remain within reach for those who despair.” This is an excerpt from Simon’s work; he has written this and much more, but not all his stories spring from the whimsical, jumbled world of his imaginative mind. Indeed, Simon has a strangely peculiar muse: his Eidôlon, his reflection in the mirror.

This incendiary book, upon its initial publication in 2006, was burned. Literally. Reduced to ashes by flames ignited by some mind disturbed by what it had read. A malevolent presence for a woman, Monsieur, the central character of this text. An embodiment of evil so unbearable that only fire could destroy it.

Caroline and Patricia met through online writing courses. Finding the course unsatisfying, Patricia put out a call for writers interested in collaborating. Caroline responded, and after a few exchanges, they decided to write "The Alphabet of Horrors." Why not a more positive alphabet? Because of a play Patricia had already written, "Alphabet Game." It was through this game that Caroline and Patricia discovered each other and, above all, expressed ideas and opinions in a lighthearted atmosphere. The game the authors played culminated in a brand-new short story.

Nourishing the sap of a useless struggle For anyone who has eyes for light Building makeshift shelters on aerial rocks And then discovering oneself in one's purest incompleteness So that at last, our own point of descent may rise These are the different voices of gentleness and uncertainty that move within this collection.

“It’s my own escape, a place of escape. Éric Costan’s poetry sometimes oscillates between literature and philosophy, between meditation and crucifixion, between what is known and what refuses to be understood, and worse, to be understood by common sense.” Jean-François SAMLONG – Writer

Filth has always been everywhere, but nowhere more so than in families, to begin with. In which just about everyone who's ever been involved is still involved, and ultimately, everyone else is involved too. To betray the family, to accuse it: guaranteed dereliction. Unless you laugh at it, with a laugh as filthy as the family itself. But no one does that anymore; respect has prevailed everywhere. If Jugnon, with En ordre de Bataille, is a play. A play straight from… The names don't abound: Müller, Bernhard, of course. More directly: Jarry & Beckett. Jarry for seriousness, Beckett for farce. En ordre de Bataille: to be put in the hands of all old people of all ages. To put an end to their venereal family venerations. Michel Surya

There are some people whose resilience is innate. Magda followed her husband around the world, but a separation abruptly changed the course of her life. A mother of two, she found herself forced to look for work. She proved to be a shrewd businesswoman, becoming a leading figure in the world of luxury. After making her mark in Paris, she decided to leave everything behind. She went to Russia as soon as communism fell, opening the first French high jewelry boutique in Moscow, complemented by prestigious Swiss watch brands. This book is the true story of a woman, a real adventurer, who courageously and tenaciously overcame every obstacle.

After learning of his mother's death under suspicious circumstances, a man, obsessed with the idea of having been born at midnight, boards a train at the same time from Paris-Gare-de-Lyon. A train with no destination, its only passengers a mad and aggressive conductor, the ghost of Edith Piaf, and a sad, melancholic clown. The night train seems to travel through time, dreams, and fantasies, as the man relives entire sections of his past. But where is this old steam locomotive taking him?

Murielle Compère-Demarcy (who also sometimes signs her work with her pen name MCDem.) began wanting to publish in 2014 after studying Literature and Philosophy and working as a bookseller. She is currently a teacher-librarian. Her latest publications include: Alchimiste du soleil pulvérisé (a poem for Antonin Artaud), Dans les landes de Hurle-Lyre, L'écorce rouge followed by Prière pour Notre-Dame de Paris & Hurlement, and Voyage Grand-Tournesol, all published by Z4 éditions.

Cupid departed in the spring. The death of a beautiful love story emerged in the season of blossoming. This lyrical poetry unravels the frayed thread of passion, the broken thread of rupture, gathering the precious light of an intimate drama, the passage from sun to night. Love was, the days undid it, and Christophe Bregaint narrates this without rage or bitterness, with subtlety and sensitivity. The sublime suddenly shattered into fragments, but the pain surfaces gently, sorrow moistens the words without a deluge. Where was the fault line? Where was the present already inscribed?

These few pages recount, day by day, an intimate experience: the lockdown imposed by the Covid-19 epidemic in March, April, and May 2020. I didn't intend to create a work of literature, nor to write a diarist, nor to be a journalist of the intimate. These are simply chronicles—sometimes funny, sometimes acerbic, sometimes moving—that I posted daily on Facebook. They follow no plan other than to find something to say when nothingness was our daily reality. There is no unity of style or form. That was not my intention. Besides, how could one speak of coherence when what we were experiencing bordered on the most unbridled absurdity? So I wrote almost playfully, to make the time pass more quickly. DF

Kamel is a very reserved man, certainly, but ambitious. He knows where his steps are leading him. An appliance salesman, his life is all mapped out: a wife he loves, adorable children… But that was before he was kidnapped by a group of unknown men who immediately promised him death… which he managed to escape. When he left the country to escape the certain death his kidnappers had planned for him in Algiers, he didn't know that in Tripoli, he would be confronted with the same elements, with a few variations… The investigation led by Inspector Ramzi, from the Tripoli central police station, proves far from easy, especially since pressure from higher-ups constantly orders him to close the case.

Is it still possible to write and publish erotic texts in 2020? Can one, however modestly, attempt to participate in a literary tradition that has long been a respected art form in France? It would be easy to answer yes, and yet these questions are relevant in this era of turbulent passions; at a time when our society is being battered by a wave of censorship and puritanism of rare violence, a consequence of American political correctness. A glance at the walls of our cities, increasingly requisitioned by neo-feminists, is enough to understand that the hunt is on, that men's desires are increasingly condemned and relegated to the realm of perversion. In this sense, the short stories collected in this volume are not without a polemical intent. Through their diverse narratives, they express a revolt against this stifling state of affairs.

The longer your life gives voice to the political memory, often unofficial, of ordinary people, convinced patriots nonetheless, under the reign of Hassan II, by putting in the foreground the story of the repatriation of the body of a Moroccan immigrant, related by his brother who remained in the country.

"Passion devours everything and opens new horizons. It also brings the timid out of the shadows to allow them to face, without fear, the burning sun." Could we find common ground between a priest who became passionate about a Zola novel, a soldier in love during the First World War, an unlucky cyclist on the side of a road, a photographer lost near the Calanques of Piana, a young thug hiding with his girlfriend, a megalomaniac night eater, and even a piano that feels exiled on a train platform?

It was around the year 2350. The Earth had changed after the "catastrophe," yet remained fundamentally the same. It was the end of the technological age. Mutant beings, still human in appearance, had emerged within a regressive humanity. Alexandre, a solitary herbalist, fleeing his contemporaries who, like him, were survivors of this upheaval, one day encountered the unexpected in the form of a child, a shepherd endowed with extraordinary abilities; an encounter that would abruptly alter his destiny.