28 Paradises

Published in English for the first time, 28 Paradises is the marriage of prose and painting by Nobel prize-winning author Patrick Modiano (born 1945) and his partner, the illustrator Dominique Zehrfuss (born 1951). 28 Paradises is a rare book: it reveals not only the individual talents of its authors, but also the depth of the couple's creative union. Sensitively translated into English for the first time by Damion Searls, Modiano's poem captures the exquisite sadness of waking from a beautiful dream. There are 28 dreams in this book--visions of paradise imagined by Zehrfuss during a time of deep sadness. Captured in her brightly colored gouaches, each paradise has been refashioned as a poem by Modiano.
Zehrfuss' paintings are Edens in miniature, and rather than describe them outright, Modiano dreams himself into these reveries in quiet, understated verse. These paradises are wishes for moments when a painting, or a poem or a lover, relieves the loneliness of being human. As Modiano writes with a touch of wistfulness, "The Lilliputian painted her paradises / And I / Next to her / Wrote a poem." A pure example of ekphrastic writing--poetry inspired by paintings--this book shows how writing and visual art can together create a unique emotional experience.
Patrick Modiano (born 1945) won the Grand Prix du roman de l'Acad mie fran aise in 1972 and the Goncourt Prize in 1978. In 2014 his oeuvre was crowned with the Nobel Prize for Literature.
Dominique Zehrfuss (born 1951) is an illustrator and jewelry designer living in Paris. She has illustrated three books co-written with Patrick Modiano, including Choura's Adventure (1986) and A Bride for Choura (1987).
First published by Editions de l'Olivier/ Le Seuil in 2005