Village Voice Bookshop
6, rue Princesse
75006, Paris
Tel: 01-46-33-36-47
On the web at: http://www.villagevoicebookshop.com

Please stop in and say hello to Odile Hellier one of my dearest friends in Paris. Odile truly represents the modern spirit of Sylvia Beach. Not only does she run the best English language bookshop in Paris, but she also hosts an active reading series with well known American writers. Odile is on the advisory board of the Paris Review and is very up-to-date on both English and American contemporary literature.

From their web site, they say: "The Village Voice Bookshop opened in 1982. Located in the heart of the historic Saint Germain des Pres quarter, between the beautiful Roman church of Saint Germain des Pres and the imposing, yet elegant, Saint Sulpice Square, snuggled in a narrow street, rue Princesse, named after La Grande Demoiselle, one of King Louis XIV's favorites, with its two long and narrow windows crammed with colourful new titles, the Village Voice stands out amidst trendy coffee shops, restaurants, bars and fashion shops.
At the time of the opening, Saint Germain and especially this particular block of narrow streets lined up with 16th and 17th century houses was still a "village" known for its numerous bookshops and for its Publishing Houses and literary cafes and restaurants where literary folks would gather - hence one of the reasons for its name Village Voice - and as a homage to the famous vanguard New York Village Voice Weekly founded by Norman Mailer."

"Right from the beginning, the Village Voice Bookshop became a gathering place for American, British and Anglophone in general (former Commonwealth natives or like in America first or second generation migrants who have adopted English as their first language), where for the past twenty years the most prestigious writers have read and discussed their work in front of an appreciative audience, which more often than not overflows from the second floor, down the staircase to the ground floor.
Going through a list of all the authors who have read at the Village Voice Bookshop is like leafing through a huge anthology of American and British literature at the close of the 20th century."

Thank you to Alison Harris for the photographs.