L’homme terrible de la ville, Nazih Khater: témoin, acteur et inspirateur de la vie culturelle de Beyrouth de 1960 à 2014, L’Harmattan, Paris, 2015. [Traduction arabe joumhouriyyat al ‘a’daa, Dar An-Nahar, Beyrouth, 2015].
Beyrouth. Rue Hamra. Des pas lents. Silencieux. Décidés. Une silhouette mince rôde sur la ville. L’homme au béret entre au café. S’installe sur sa chaise. Avec noblesse, élégance, dignité. Le visage imperturbable. Le sourire doux. Menaçant. Les gestes assurés. Il regarde autour de lui sans rien dire. Comme pour suspendre l’angoisse. Pour surprendre. On lui apporte son café. Avec soin. Il verse le canderel, le tourne avec une tranquillité suspicieuse. Il sort ses papiers bruns. Son feutre. Intransigeant. Libre. Il sculpte ses mots. Sur mesure. Minutieusement. Méticuleusement. Qui sera la prochaine victime? Et le prochain élu? Son texte, tout Beyrouth l’attend. Texte terroriste, autoritaire, agressif. Texte effrayant. Impartial. Les critiques guettent. Ils n’osent pas encore écrire. L’artiste attend la sentence. Cette nuit-là, il ne dort pas.
“Beirut. Hamra Street. Slow, silent, steady footsteps. A slim shadow figure looming over the city. The man with the beret enters the café. He settles into his chair. With nobleness, elegance, dignity. His face is unruffled. His smile is sweet and menacing. His gestures are confident. He looks around and doesn’t utter a word. As if he wanted to suspend anxiety. To surprise. They bring him his cup of coffee. With care. He pours the sweetener, stirs it with a suspicious quietness, takes out his brown sheets of paper, his felt-tip pen, uncompromising, free. He sculpts his carefully crafted words, meticulously. Who will be the next victim? Who will be crowned next? All of Beirut is awaiting his text. A terrorist, authoritarian, aggressive text. A scary text. Impartial. Critics are watching. They dare not write yet. The artist is waiting for the verdict. That night, he will not sleep.”
My Book on “Nazih Khater” published in Braille
In 2018, my book on the Lebanese art critic “Nazih Khater: the Republic of Enemies” was translated in Braille, along with my book “Le Lieu et le corps”.
This initiative intends to make my books accessible to the blind and visually impaired and to support this segment of the population to participate fully in the cultural and artistic life of Lebanon.