Régis Sénécal
Régis Sénécal, actor and director, ran a nationally recognized music venue near Rouen for twenty-four years. A playwright, he also authored and co-authored books on local history. He hosted numerous writers at the literary cafés he organized. During Perestroika, he developed an interest in rock music and Russian painting, around which he created several events. He also worked on numerous Francophone exchanges with Quebec and West Africa. He is a member of the Charles Cros Academy. Régis Sénécal was 21 years old when he made his first trip to Portugal in July 1974, a few months after the Captains' Putsch. He returned a second time in April 1975, and then a third time in July of the same year. To this day, he remains impressed by this revolutionary process, which he considers as important as the Paris Commune. Régis Sénécal published his first novel, L'Antre du Serpent (The Serpent's Lair), in 2021, in the "Ici et d'Ailleurs" (Here and Elsewhere) collection by Douro publishers.
Portugal 1974/1975, the Carnation Revolution. The handwritten pages that Maria entrusted to me in 1998 succinctly narrate a series of episodes from her life, from her birth in 1925 to the beginning of the 2000s. Strangely, she speaks little of the period during the Carnation Revolution, although she returned to Portugal, where she remained between August 1974 and November 1975. And what she recounts reveals an extraordinary moment in her life. The fragmented information testifies that she was thrown into the revolutionary whirlwind alongside a childhood friend, the political leader and anti-fascist hero Manuel Serra. And with him, she will intimately share the political vicissitudes of this period. In this surprising interlude, Maria Portugal, whose character oscillates between real facts and imaginary narrative, becomes the heroine of this novel. She will traverse what was in Europe the last insurrectionary movement, where a people attempts to take ownership of their own destiny and imagine another form of society. What if the path outlined by the Carnation Revolution was the one that European nations could have followed? The Portuguese people, awakening after half a century of dictatorship, tried to show us another possible path. "I wanted to kill Mário Soares" is a work of fiction that reveals unusual aspects of the post-April 25, 1974 period. 2024 will mark the fiftieth anniversary of that Revolution. Régis Sénécal Date of publication of the Portuguese version: April 25, 2024 On pre-order
Portugal 1974/1975, the Carnation Revolution. The pages Maria entrusted to me in 1998 succinctly recount a series of episodes from her life, from her birth in 1925 to the dawn of the 2000s. Strangely, she says very little about the period during the Carnation Revolution, yet she returned to Portugal between August 1974 and November 1975. And what she does recount reveals an extraordinary moment in her life. The snippets of information she shares bear witness to her being thrust into the revolutionary maelstrom alongside a childhood friend, the political leader and anti-fascist hero Manuel Serra. She would intimately share in its political upheavals. In this astonishing interlude, Maria Portugal, whose character oscillates between real events and imagined moments, becomes the heroine of this novel. She will experience what was in Europe the last insurrectionary movement where a people attempted to take its destiny into its own hands and imagine a different kind of society. What if the path outlined by the Carnation Revolution was the one European nations could have taken? The Portuguese people, awakening after half a century of dictatorship, tried to show us another possible way. "I Wanted to Kill Mário Soares" is a work of fiction that reveals unusual aspects of the aftermath of April 25, 1974. 2024 will mark its fiftieth anniversary. Publication date: October 1, 2023. Order now
Paul, an average European, has taken a sabbatical during which he decides to travel to a West African country. He has no particular goal, other than to shake off a certain apathy. A chance encounter will give him purpose and lead him on a quest to discover the origins of a people. His journey, in the company of the enigmatic Yekpa, will take us, in a clash of cultures, to the very limits of human understanding. A tale where lived experience meets imagination, The Serpent's Lair is an ethnographic adventure novel poised between myth and reality. Publication date: November 1, 2021. Order now
