Ouistreham

Ouistreham is a port, and home of the Riva Bella seaside area on the Normandy coast of Calvados in France. It has a population of a little over 9,300. It is bordered by the Canal de Caen à la Mer, which connects Caen city with the English Channel.

In 2024, I focused on researching Ouistreham for literary and creative cultural connections after completing the Millbay Residency the year before. I am hoping the town will begin to reveal catalysts for a new piece of literary travel writing or a place-making meta-fiction along the lines of ‘Millbay & Mill Bay’.

Residencies for Writers and Artists

My first discovery was that the town, La Ville de Ouistreham Riva-Bella, had renovated a building and created La Maison des Artistes, specifically to host residencies for artists and writers. On contacting the director, I was very kindly invited to go along for a visit in November.  Here was a starting point around which to build a visit and fieldwork.

Research Rewarded

Then the first literary connection came from a source which I used before for my PhD on Concarneau. A Maigret detective novel exists which is set in Ouistreham. Using a free resource, I’ve relied on before, the French National Library’s Gallica, I found the original feuilleton publication of the story by Georges Simenon in a Paris morning newspaper called, Le Matin. Here is a short taster:

You can see in the newspaper's banner that it was the 5am edition on Tuesday 23rd February 1932

I will add more to this post as my research for the trip progresses, please Follow and add Comments to keep in touch ...