In the Lotus Pantheon of Literature
Clément Marot was born in Cahors around 1496. Marked by a medieval heritage, he belongs to the modern poets, precursors of the Pléiade. The following century saw the birth in Cahors of the Renaissance poet Olivier de Magny (1529-1561), considered a disciple of Ronsard. A third name is inscribed in the poetics of the Lot, that of André Breton (1896-1966). The father of surrealism fell madly in love with Saint-Cirq-Lapopie in the middle of the 20th century and declared "I have stopped wanting me elsewhere". He acquired a house in the heart of the village.
Françoise Sagan, an emblematic figure of the new post-war literature, was born in Cajarc on June 21, 1935. The novelist never forgot her native village and gave her friend Georges Pompidou a taste for the Lot. She lies in Seuzac (near Cajarc) alongside her first companion Peggy Roche (whose name does not appear on the tombstone) and her husband Robert Westhoff.
Contemporary authors
Other writers make the Lot shine, like Christian Signol, the author of the soil, born in Quatre-Routes-du-Lot in 1947. His trilogy La Rivière Espérance (The River of Hope) propelled him to the top of the sales charts and made him one of the most widely read contemporary French authors.
More recently, it is in the Lot that Serge Joncour chose to set the scene of his novels. For the Parisian writer, the Lot is a kind of ideal land to make his characters evolve. He discovered this department through his beautiful Lot family and since Vu, his first novel, he uses the Lot as a breeding ground for his stories. His latest work Nature humaine, published by Flammarion in 2020, won the Prix Femina. Once again, we read about the Lot.
On a local level, the writer Jean-Pierre Alaux is known for his detective stories about the wine world. Radio and TV journalist and today mayor of his town Albac, the man has more than one string to his bow. He is the author, with Noël Balen, of the oeno-police series Le Sang de la vigne (The Blood of the Vine ), which has been adapted for television in 25 installments. The action of one opus of the series, On achève bien les tonneaux (2012), takes place in the Lot vineyards.
The little Angoulême lotois!
In the comics department, a native of the Lot, Joël Polomski, is today one of the undisputed figures of the local literary landscape. Since the publication of his album Le Diable du Pont Valentré, Joël has met his public and published other works on the Lot : La Fondation de Figeac, Le Diable du gouffre de Padirac and Le Saut de la Mounine.
Every year in September, Cajarc becomes the little Angoulême, attracting comic book lovers for a weekend. The Festival "La bd prend l'air" welcomes international and renowned artists since its first edition in 1997. During this event, a dozen authors are invited to animate the show. Booksellers specialized in comics also come to sell their treasures.
