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Kultur | lx – Arts Council Luxembourg, in partnership with Lëtzebuerger Bicherfrënn – Les Amis du Livre a.s.b.l., and in collaboration with the National Centre for Literature, launched a call for a two-month writer’s residency at the Literarisches Colloquium (LCB) in Berlin, including a supporting grant. A space for reflection, a workshop for experimentation, and an incubator for talent, this prestigious international literary institution organises readings, seminars and other literary events.

Jury members Christiane Krier (Lëtzebuerger Bicherfrënn), Frank Hansen (Lëtzebuerger Bicherfrënn), Tim Reuter (National Centre for Literature), Sébastian Thiltges (independent literary expert) and Jeff Schinker (author & Luxembourg laureate 2023) assessed the applications received and forwarded their recommendations to the LCB. At the end of the selection process, Florent Toniello‘s application was selected.

Statement of the Jury
Florent Toniello has been an active and prolific figure on Luxembourg’s cultural and literary scene since 2015. With a long list of publications to his name, including works of literary criticism, Toniello’s curiosity and eagerness to experiment is also clearly reflected in his wide range of literary works which include the poetry bundle Hraun and his short story Brasius which impressed the jury for both its literary and linguistic standard.

The Jury unanimously agreed that this residency would offer Florent Toniello, who is a major turning point in his literary career, a suitable setting to focus on his literary work. The jury also noted that for Florent Toniello, already well-established on the French-language poetry scene with various publications in magazines and contacts with publishers at the Marché de la Poésie, a residency at the LCB would offer him the chance to develop new contacts in the German-speaking world and beyond, thus also introducing an international audience to literature from Luxembourg, and as a result benefit the literature from Luxembourg more generally.

The jury believes this residency will be a fruitful contribution to the development and promotion of authors from Luxembourg.

Biography
Florent Toniello, born in 1972 in Lyon, was an IT manager for a transnational company in Belgium and France until 2012 when he moved to Luxembourg to work as a proof-reader and journalist. An avid reader of poetry and fantasy, Toniello writes reviews for magazines and on his blog accrocstich.es. His poetry has been published in bundles in Luxembourg, France and Belgium. And as this book shows, he also tries his hand at writing texts where science fiction and the uncanny meet.

Poetry:

• Flo[ts], Phi, 2015, 1. Preis beim Concours littéraire national
• Ptérodactyle en cage, Phi, 2017
• Lorsque je serai chevalier, Jacques Flament, 2017
• L’Oreille arrachée, maelstrÖm, 2017
• Apotropaïque, Phi, 2018
• Foutu Poète improductif, Rafael de Surtis, 2018
• Vidée vers la mer pleine, Phi, 2021
• Mélusine au gasoil, Facteur Galop, 2022

Prose :

• Ganaha. Un conte futur dans une langue passée, novel, Jacques Flament, 2020
• Honorable Brasius, short stories, Hydre éditions, 2023

Play:

• La Petite Fabrique des notes, 2018 at Théâtre ouvert Luxembourg

Essai/Interview :

•     Pierre Joris, with Florent Toniello, Always the Many, Never the One, Contra Mundum Press, 2022

The LCB residency is made possible due to an endowment from the Lëtzebuerger Bicherfrënn – Les Amis du Livre a.s.b.l. who support the book sector by donating part of the proceeds from sales of second-hand books by Lëtzebuerger Bicherfrënn volunteers to promote the production of literary works in Luxembourg.