"Twenty years after the death of Violette Leduc (1907-1972), I wrote a book in the collection edited by J-M-G. Le Clézio and his wife Jemia, a homage to this writer whose work had a decisive effect on me. The principle of this short-lived collection was to publish texts that were not only portraits but also private confidences. So this was not a biography, but a very personal account of my relationship with Violette Leduc's work. I describe how she influenced my personal life as well as my life as a reader and writer. I met Martin Provost when he was in pre-production for his film Séraphine, and I told him Violette Leduc was a great admirer of that self-taught mystic artist. Martin then started reading Violette Leduc and was so bowled over by her talent and personality that he decided to devote a film to her, and asked me to help write the screenplay. This film covers Violette's life from 1942 to 1958, from the time when she wrote her first book to when she started writing La Bâtarde (The Bastard Girl) and had a taste of success."
René de Ceccatty has written some thirty novels (L'Accompagnement, Aimer, Une fin, L'Hôte invisible, Raphaël et Raphaël), essays (Noir souci) and biographies (Pasolini, Callas, Moravia). In March 2013 he published Un renoncement about Greta Garbo. He is an editor for Le Seuil and a translator of Italian and Japanese. He also writes for the stage (frequently co-writing with Alfredo Arias) and screen. He co-wrote the screenplay for Martin Provost's film Violette.
