Perrine Tripier, novelist

Writers' portraits
Black-and-white portrait of novelist Perrine Tripier, three-quarter view, hair pinned up, gaze lifted out of frame, lips parted, listening; soft light, dark background.

Novelist Perrine Tripier, at the literary breakfast held at the Le Failler bookshop in Rennes, for the release of Conque (Gallimard). I didn’t catch her talking about her book, but listening — her gaze lifted toward someone out of frame, her lips on the edge of a reply, all her attention turned toward the other. It’s the truest posture for a writer: not the face one presents, but the listening, which is her real material. An absorption turned outward.