Confinement, France, avril 2020. The book market is taking a beating, for sure. But never fear, dear booksellers, this is just the calm before the storm. Now that confinees are feeling warm and safe, another virus is spreading, that of writing. All those who have always dreamt of putting pen to paper are finding themselves in ideal conditions. Containment, seclusion, complete social isolation, loss of sense of time, symptoms of autism : this is a writer’s life imposed on all. To your pens, citizens ! Strike your keyboards ! Let’s attack those memoirs, dare some introspection, give life to that amazing thriller novel whose ideas have been brewing for the last twenty years. Within a month, publishing houses can expect a tsunami of manuscripts. The confinement novel may well become a new literary genre.
Le marché du livre morfle, c’est clair. Mais que nos amis libraires se rassurent, c’est le calme avant la tempête. Car chez les confinés qui se croient à l’abri, un autre virus se propage, celui de l’écriture. Tous ceux qui ont rêvé d’écrire un livre trouvent dans ce confinement les conditions idéales. Réclusion, arrêt de toute vie sociale, perte des horaires, symptômes d’autisme : voilà la vie de l’écrivain imposée à tous. Aux stylos, citoyens ! Frappez vos claviers ! On attaque ses mémoires, on tient son journal, on accouche enfin du thriller génial dont on eut l’idée il y a vingt ans. D’ici un mois, les maisons d’édition seront submergées par un tsunami de manuscrits. Le roman de confinement pourrait bien devenir un nouveau genre littéraire.
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