3 November 2011 Michel Houellebecq did not arrive in Krakow
The organisers of Michel Houellebecq’s stay in Poland – the French Institute in Krakow, Conrad Festival and the W.A.B. publishing house – would like to inform you that Michel Houellebecq has indeed been invited by the French Institute in Krakow to participate in the 14th edition of the Goncourt List – Polish selection Award as the winner of the prize in 2010. He was also invited to participate in the 3rd Conrad Festival as a special guest, and was going to promote his most recent book, The Map and the Territory, published by the W.A.B.
The author, who has many fond memories of his last stay in Poland, has indeed accepted these invitations, and talks on the details of the flights and organisation of his meetings with the public in Krakow and Warsaw were held directly with his French publisher and agent.
However, we regret to inform you that due to reasons beyond our control, the writer did not arrive at the airport today and did not collect the plane ticket that had been purchased for him. Neither the author’s agent, nor his publisher can confirm if this is tantamount to a cancellation of his participation in the events planned for Krakow and Warsaw.
As a result, the meeting with the author planned for tomorrow (Friday, November 4th) at 10 pm at the Pałac Pod Baranami as part of Conrad Festival, has in fact been cancelled.
Even so, we would like to invite you to a press conference related to the announcement of the winner of this year’s Goncourt Prize – Polish Selection and the promotional meeting dedicated to The Map and the Territory by Michel Houellebecq at the Krakow Book Fair on Saturday (November 5th) at 11.00 am in Room 3. The participants will include Beata Stasińska, Agnieszka Drotkiewicz and Beata Geppert.
