One novel ends, another begins

Raeden Richardson

Country: Australia
Discipline: Writer

Testimony:

During my first stay at the Chateau de La Napoule, I worked on the final copy-edits of my first novel, The Degenerates. Though this process was slow and mechanical, I had the chance to share the cover of The Degenerates and read an excerpt of the final manuscript at the open studio. This July, I returned to La Napoule to read from the published book as part of the Hypurrcollective crypto-art event. It was a remarkable experience to have seen the book evolve, from manuscript to print, on the grounds of the chateau —I’m deeply grateful for the team for nurturing my process through editing and presenting.

Now, I’m working on my second novel, which is set in the first century between Rome and Jerusalem. It is an exegesis of a mysterious line in the Bible. That is as much as I can say about the project. Everyday, I wake up with the sunrise, write by hand through the scenes in around Rome, Galilee and Jerusalem, and then revise what I have written in the evenings. I visited Cimiez, near Nice, to sketch the homeland of one of my characters and learn about Roman occupation along this coastline.

While in residence, I work in solitude both before and after I sleep, so that I can enter the novel in my dreams. The space of the chateau is a reminder of stillness and cycles; the heaviness of the stones in the towers reminds me to look back at history, to feel its weight, and the rolling waves outside my window recall the cyclical nature of revision. My new novel has originated between these contrasting energies. The sea breathes; it meditates, like us.