American-born Parisian journalist Lindsey Tramuta has made it her mission to highlight the many ways in which the French capital is evolving and share stories of the people making it happen. Her first book, The New Paris, documented the city’s changes in recent years while her new book, The New Parisienne, looks at the influence of Parisian women. In this series, discover Paris in a new light, through the eyes of a Lindsey, as she shares her favourite aspects of the capital from the best spots for book lovers to the most colourful, independent businesses that help create the Paris' vibrant atmosphere.
The New Parisian
The New Parisian
American-born Parisian journalist Lindsey Tramuta has made it her mission to highlight the many ways in which the French capital is evolving and share stories of the people making it happen. Her first book, The New Paris, documented the city’s changes in recent years while her new book, The New Parisienne, looks at the influence of Parisian women.
In this series, discover Paris in a new light, through the eyes of a Lindsey, as she shares her favourite aspects of the capital from the best spots for book lovers to the most colourful, independent businesses that help create the Paris' vibrant atmosphere.
SERIES 1
A DIVERSITY OF THOUGHT
Books & Parisian cultural life have always gone hand in hand. Today, the literary world stays afloat thanks to a number of devoted publishers and booksellers, willing to go up against online giants.
As France goes into another lockdown, we want to dedicate this episode to all the small businesses and bookshops upholding a diversity of thought who are affected by the closures. During this difficult time, we need to support them more than ever. Below, discover some of Paris' coolest, independent bookshops & how to support them.
ICI LIBRAIRIE
The largest independent bookstore in Paris intra-muros, ICI launched on the Grands Boulevards in 2018 with an astounding 75,000 titles spanning genres and publishers. Founders Delphine Bouétard et Anne Laure Vial spent 20 years working in publishing and were eager to create a welcoming, spacious center for bibliophiles that’s perfect for lingering. Browse both floors, attend one of their many author events, and stay for a coffee in the café run by Coutume Cafe in the heart of the shop. Discover their webSite!
L’ESPACE DES FEMMES
Like all the best cultural spaces, Des Femmes wears multiple hats. It is at once a publisher, bookshop, and gallery specialized in the creative and intellectual work of women. Through her publishing arm, created in 1973, Antoinette Fouque has ushered women’s voices into the most prominent literary and cultural spheres in France and similarly celebrates contemporary female artists with her gallery, opened in 1981. Set up in Saint-Germain-des-Prés, L’Espace des Femmes carries on the tradition of the city’s historic-artistic neighborhood.Discover their webSite!
PRÉSENCE AFRICAINE
The Latin Quarter has long been considered the book district of Paris and one of the leading publishers and shops anchored to the neighborhood is Presence Africaine, a pan-African shop on rue des Écoles. Established first as a literary, cultural, and political review by Alioune DIOP in 1947, the focus expanded two years later into a publishing house and then a bookstore in the 1960s, which continues to this day highlighting influential Francophone African authors and themes related to the African diaspora. Its bestselling work to this day? “Discourse on Colonialism” by Aimé Césaire, released in 1955. Discover their webSite.
THE RED WHEELBARROW
This isn’t Penelope Fletcher’s first bookstore, nor is it the first iteration of The Red Wheelbarrow. The Canadian’s foray into bookselling began at age 19 with her first shop. Life led her to Paris where she raised her three children (surrounded by books, bien sûr) and eventually, the original Red Wheelbarrow, located in the Marais. A destination for English-language readers, the current shop sits across from the Luxembourg Gardens and draws in French and foreign clients for a sharp selection of new releases and classics (for young and old). Discover their webSite.
LES MOTS A LA BOUCHE
Until recently, this was the last remaining LGBTQ bookstore in the Marais but gentrification took its toll and forced the shop out. Fortunately, it has a new home in the evolving 11th arrondissement, home to a host of gay and queer-friendly shops, bars (like @dirtylemon.bar), and cafes and a dynamic community spirit. There is no doubt that this inclusive bookshop, focused on LGBTQ literature, will continue welcoming the world’s most talented writers and thinkers just as it has in decades past. Discover their webSite.
THE AMERICAN LIBRARY IN PARIS
Not a bookstore but a literary destination all the same. Founded in 1920 with works primarily donated by American libraries to US armed forces serving in WWI, the American Library in Paris has evolved into the largest English-language lending library on the European continent. Beyond spacious reading rooms and a state of the art facility, the library remains a magnet for its vast selection and author program, through which it has hosted discussions with figures such as Ta-Nehisi Coates, Nicole Krauss, David Sedaris, Colson Whitehead, Viet Thanh Nguyen, and Angie Thomas (open to non-members free of charge!). Discover their webSite.
SHAKESPEARE & CO
It’s been called the most famous bookstore in the world and certainly needs little introduction — what other bookshop could bring in the world’s leading writers, from Henry Miller and James Baldwin to Annie Ernaux and Zadie Smith? The store’s roots go back further than the current location and iteration brought to life by George Whitman— the original Shakespeare and Company was owned by Sylvia Beach, an American expat in Paris, in the 1920s and 30s, famous for transforming her slice of literary real estate into a hangout for Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and James Joyce (she published Ulysses!). She closed her doors during the Nazi occupation and never reopened. George Whitman gave it new life across from Notre Dame in 1951 and has been thriving since his daughter, Sylvia Whitman, took over with her husband after her father passed in 2011. She’s also upheld the Tumbleweed program, one of the most storied traditions in the bookstore’s history— allowing young writers to live in the bookstore for a time in exchange for their help. Discover their webSite!
THE NEW PARISIAN
In a follow-up to the popular The New Paris, Lindsey Tramuta explores the impact that the women of Paris are having on the rapidly evolving culture of their city.
The New Parisienne focuses on one of the city’s most dynamic features: its women. Lifting the veil on the mythologized Parisian woman—white, lithe, ever-fashionable—Lindsey Tramuta demystifies this oversimplified archetype and recasts the women of Paris as they truly are, in all their complexity. Featuring more than 40 activists, creators, educators, visionaries, and disruptors—such as Leïla Slimani, Lauren Bastide, Sarah Ourahmoune, and Mayor Anne Hidalgo—the book reveals Paris as a blossoming cultural center of feminine power. You can order your copy here! Discover more of Lindsey on her blog Lost in Cheese Land & follow her on Instagram @lostincheeseland.
