petalridge.com
the website of
Derek Kannemeyer
AUVILLAR, 2006
In August 2006, I was a Fellow in residence at the French branch of the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, which is located in the commune of Auvillar, in south-west France. Auvillar, a village of about 1000 people, is set on a rocky outcrop, with the town center at the top of the hill, and the artists' colony at the base, at the port building called Moulin à Nef. I don't always produce creative non-fiction about the places I travel to, but this was a writing residency, sponsored by a grant from Sr. Catherine's School, where I taught both French and Creative Writing, and I was encouraged to do so, in addition to my other writing projects, by both my school and the VCCA. I had no working camera with me, but I took a few shots with a broken one; I've patched up four of them as best I can, to place in the slide gallery below. The two prose pieces I've included have some overlap. "L'Autrier Jost'una Sebisssa" is the more crafted and unified one. "Postcards from Auvillar" is a set of miniatures.
Looking down from the top of the hill
The Grain Market is a covered space in the center of the village's central open courtyard
Looking down on the river from the village ramparts
Looking down from the top of the hill