Activities

The Federation is managed by a Board of 18 members, elected for three years by the general meeting. This board is meeting regularly to decide upon the Federation’s activities, which are based on projects prepared by different committees. These committees are open to all members.

The currently existing committees are :

• "Rencontres des maisons d'écrivain et des patrimoines littéraires. " organizing committee
• Publications committee
• Internet committee
• Educational activities committee
• Audiovisual resources committee
• International relations committee
• Public committee
• Regional organization

"Rencontres des maisons d'écrivain et des patrimoines littéraires." organizing committee

The role of this committee is to set up a pilot group to prepare and organize the “Rencontres des maisons d'écrivain et des patrimoines littéraires.” every two years. It also establishes a thematic programme for the coming years. In collaboration with the Publications committee, it designs the proceedings and the promotion documents for the conference.
The next "Rencontres" will take place on November 19, 20 and 21, 2010 in Bourges and at the Noirlac Abbey on the topic: the written works and the writer’s house.
Person in charge: Jean-François Goussard

Publications committee

This committee controls the edition of the newsletter (“Bulletin d’informations”) twice a year and all publications related to the Federation’s works. For the time being, it is working on the proceedings of the "Rencontres" 2006 (Audiovisual resources and literary places) and other projects like the publication of a guide of patronage and sponsoring, a new edition of the map of the French writers’ houses, and so on…
Person in charge : Patrick Maunand

Internet committee

The first aim of this committee is to manage the website of the Federation, which is the information, exchange and promotion tool of literary places and collections, and also of the Federation’s activities. The second one is to organize the networking of members. It is thinking about a cooperation with other European countries, particularly in order to set up a real network for European writers' houses on the web. Last year a forum (for members only) was set up and the committee is currently preparing a monthly newsletter with direct links to the website and a new chapter entitled Activities for all.
Person in charge : Florence Lignac

Educational activities committee

This committee aims at promoting the relationship between writers’ houses and literary places which develop educational activities with their counterparts in the National Education service. Last year, it published a Guide of educational activities: directions for use, composed of a series of technical slides about the possible supports, the institutional framework and how to prepare an educational project in a writer’s house. This guide will shortly be readable on this website.
It is currently working on the publication on the website of slides regarding specific activities for students and probation periods for students and teachers proposed by the members of the Federation. The committee also studies the new general lines issued by the Ministry of Education concerning artistic and cultural education.
Person in charge : Michèle Gorenc

Audiovisual resources committee

This committee is working in three directions:

• to set up an inventory of audiovisual literary resources (sound tracks, documentaries, TV magazines and programmes where writers appear and those which are dedicated to them, and also recording of shows) to inform writers’ houses and literary places,
• to negociate with the companies managing copyrights in order to set up a juridical framework and fix reasonable financial terms for the use of audiovisual documents as records and for public display,
• to think about audiovisual resources as museographical and animation means for writers’ houses and literary places.
  In 2002 the committee made a short film promoting writers’ museum-houses, which was shown for the first time in an evening event organized with Scam (Société Civile de Auteurs Multimédias), and then during the “Rencontres” in Bourges. It prepared the "Rencontres" 2006 about Audiovisual ressources and literary places and will shortly issue a guide about this topic for writers' houses.

Person in charge : Jacques Mény

International relations committee

This committee was born in 2003 and received positive answers from our foreign counterparts for participating at the “Rencontres” 2004. Since then, an active cooperation is going on with Spain and Portugal. The Federation has links with several places abroad: Dr Johnson’s House in London, the Latvian Literature Centre in Riga, the Petöfi Museum in Budapest which works for the promotion of the Hungarian literary patrimony (website: http://www.emlekhazak.hu), the Literature House of Quebec which became a member in 2008. Other projects for the promotion of the French writers’ houses abroad are in work: since 2009 the Federation is participating to the new European network set up by ALG, our German neighbour.
Person in charge : Jean-Paul Dekiss

Public committee

This new committee was set up at the end of 2007. Its first mission: to pilot a study about the visitors of writers’ houses and literary places in France. This (qualitative) study about the public’s motivations was conducted in 2008 with twelve voluntary houses. The (quantitative) inquiry about the number of visitors in such places has been run at the same time. The results of both were published for the “Xth Rencontres de Bourges”.
This committee is now collecting information about activities proposed to the visitors (except pupils), with the aim to put them at the disposal of tourists and literary places’ managers on this site. It also works on the opportunity for the Federation to help the small writers’ houses to provide their shops through grouped orders.
Person in charge: Hervé Joubeaux.

Regional organization

New committee, created in 2009, to precise the position of the Federation regarding the regional networks initiated by local public authorities in France and to think about the opportunity for the Federation to create regional structures. It proposes a modification of the Federation’s statutes and a general project for regional statutes: in works in 2010.
Person in charge : Jean-Claude Ragot

The Federation’s appointments

In order to reach all its aims and to meet the needs of its members, the Federation fosters cooperation between literary places and organizes study and discovery trips in the writers’ houses along with its general meeting:

• Jules Verne’s House in Amiens, 2000,
• Manosque and Provence (Giono), 2001,
• Malagar in Gironde, Mauriac’s region, 2002,
• Centre Charles Péguy and Maurice Genevoix’s House, in the Orleans area, 2003,
• Villa Mont-Noir, Marguerite Yourcenar’s property in the North of France, 2004,
• Villa Arnaga, Edmond Rostand’s House in the Basque country, 2005,
• Espace Maurice Carême, Bruxelles-Anderlecht in Belgium, 2006,
• Les Charmettes - J.J. Rousseau's House in Savoy and Hector Berlioz' Museum in Isère, 2007,
• Rimbaud’s Museum and the house of his youth in Charleville-Mézières (Ardennes), 2008,
• Following the writers of Provence in 2009,
• The Touraine and its writers in 2010.

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