March 18, 2026 - Reading and Literary talk: Simon Chevrier, photo on request

As part of the French Language and Francophonie Week

Toulouse in 2020: While life is gradually frozen by measures to combat the pandemic, a nameless first-person narrator records his unsteady everyday life between job hunting, Grindr dates, apartment hopping and occasional rendezvous as an escort. When he discovers the black-and-white photograph "Daniel Schook Sucking Toe" by Peter Hujar on the wall of his ex-boyfriend's bedroom, the model's penetrating gaze never lets him go. Finding out his identity becomes a new obsession in the protagonist's already restless everyday life. Only the death of his beloved father gives him pause for a few thoughtful days. Is the feverish research into Daniel Schook ultimately a search for himself?

Simon Chevrier received the prestigious Goncourt du Premier Roman 2025, France's highest honor for a debut novel, for Foto auf Anfrage. Without pathos or restraint, the narrator shares his precarious existence in the digital present with the reader. Along the way, he sketches the Chelsea Hotel bohemia in New York in the 1970s and 1980s, based on the Hujar photo. David Wojnarowicz, Hervé Guibert and Nan Goldin are just as present as Billie Eilish, Annie Ernaux and Netflix. Photo on Demand is an unsparing and touching portrait of a queer Generation Z that seeks to find a foothold in the present by fraternizing with the past.

Press reviews:

"With disarming honesty, the clear, fearless prose of this debut unfolds a force all of its own (...) Simon Chevrier is an author to remember."(Le Monde)

"The portrait of a young man, a part-time escort, raw, hyper-realistic and unagitated, often like fragments of a new language of love."(Les Inrocks)

About the author:

Simon Chevrier, born in 1992, studied English and literature in Le Havre, London and Galway. In his native France, his debut novel Photo on Demand has often been compared to Annie Ernaux. In May 2025, the book was awarded the "Goncourt du Premier Roman".

In German and French.

Admission free.

Moderation: Dr. Torsten König, Centre France | Francophonie (CFF)

WHEN? Wednesday, March 18, 2026, 19:00-20:30

WHERE? Institute français Dresden, Lingnerallee 3, 01069 Dresden

A cooperation between the Institute français and the Center France | Francophonie (CFF) of the TU Dresden.

The poster can be downloaded as PDF.