There are at least two good reasons to read Paul Claudel nowadays, two reasons that explain why young people still care about him, even if they don’t share his convictions. The first is his political vision, which was on a global scale, well ahead of his time; the other is his vision of love. Both belong to a school of Catholic thought that was light-years away from pre-war catechism (…) Claudel offers us the image of a renewed man.

Olivier Py

Excerpts from Claudel’s texts, chosen by Olivier Py, and preceded by an introduction that aims to rehabilitate the unjustly slandered poet.

Olivier Py has always read and defended Paul Claudel. In 2009, when his staging of Claudel’s Satin Slipper – which lasted no less than 11 hours – was performed, he declared, No one has ever written such a beautiful work about love; the mystical discourse is fascinating, the political writing is tremendous, and we rediscovered Claudel’s comical side.