Constance Debré: New visiting professor of literature in Berlin!

Constance Debré: New visiting professor of literature in Berlin!

On May 6, 2025 at 6 p.m., the renowned writer Constance Debré will give her inaugural lecture on taking over the Samuel Fischer Visiting Professorship for Literature at the Peter Szondi Institute of the Free University of Berlin. The lecture entitled “Pas de titre, pas de support” will be held in English and entry is free, how FU Berlin reports. This visiting professorship, which has been an important forum for literary discussions since its founding in 1998, is carried out in collaboration with the DAAD, S. Fischer Verlag and Holtzbrinck Berlin.

Constance Debré, born in Paris in 1972, has an interesting career. She first studied law at the University of Panthéon-Assas before working as a lawyer and criminal defense lawyer. Among other things, she advised her father, who was accused of infidelity in 2011. In 2015, however, she gave up her legal profession to devote herself full-time to writing, and at the same time separated from her husband. She made her literary debut in 2005 with “Un peu là beaucoup ailleurs”, a work for which she received the Prix Contrepoint.

Creative flights of fancy and literary themes

Debré's literary career took off in 2018 with the novel “Play Boy,” in which she reflects on her departure from the Parisian bourgeoisie. This autofictional work addresses themes such as origins, identity and social constraints. Her second significant release, “Love Me Tender,” was released in 2020 and deepens her examination of the bourgeois model of life and her perception as a queer woman. These two works are part of a trilogy that will continue in 2024 with the translation of “Love Me Tender” into German, followed by “Nom” (2022) and “Offenses” (2023), which deals with the French legal system and a murder story.

In the coming summer semester, Constance Debré will lead the “Writing Against” seminar at the Free University. This seminar aims to understand literature as a tool for dealing with social norms and existential challenges. Participants have the opportunity to write their own texts and discuss them in the group. How the knowledge reports, the seminar will be designed both in terms of content and practicality in order to promote an effective exchange between the students and Debré.

The Samuel Fischer Visiting Professorship remains an important part of the Berlin literary scene and for academic engagement in literature. The selection of Constance Debré as a visiting professor shows the merit of her work and its relevance in today's literary discourse landscape. Your visit and the events offered promise to provide new impulses and create a space for creative dialogue.