Sansal Ignites A Crisis At Grasset Publishing House In Less Than A Month!

Hachette Livre group officially announced on Tuesday, April 14, the departure of publisher Olivier Nora, to be replaced by Jean-Christophe Thiery, a close associate of the right-wing billionaire Vincent Bolloré, at the helm of Grasset publishing house.

This announcement “shocked the house’s employees, as well as its authors, and more broadly the literary community, as Vincent Bolloré seeks to subjugate it a year before the presidential elections,” according to what was published by Media Part newspaper.

Publisher Olivier Nora (65 years old) is leaving Grasset publishing house, a subsidiary of Hachette Livre group, a house he had headed since 2000. This departure comes amidst a dispute with the group, which since the end of 2023, has been owned by the far-right billionaire Vincent Bolloré, following the joining of the Franco-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal, after he was attracted from his previous publishing house, Gallimard. This decision was imposed by the group’s management without Nora being able to oppose it.

This was announced in mid-March, on the occasion of Hachette Livre’s 200th anniversary at the Palais Brongniart, during a ceremony attended by figures from the French right to far-right, such as former French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Éric Zemmour, Sarah Knafo, and Jordan Bardella.

The transition caused astonishment, especially since Gallimard, Boualem Sansal’s former publisher for 26 years, had defended him during his imprisonment and after his release, providing him with a luxurious apartment at the house’s headquarters. Furthermore, Boualem Sansal’s ideas are considered inconsistent with Grasset’s editorial line.

Le Monde newspaper wrote in a long two-page investigation, published on April 7, that some of the writer’s relatives and supporters “began to suspect the possibility of his sliding towards the far-right,” which was also stated earlier this month by Libération newspaper.

Le Monde explained in its investigation titled “About Boualem Sansal… Growing Embarrassment,” how Sansal’s image gradually began to fade away in the weeks following his release, transforming the writer from a “martyr of freedom of expression” into an “ambiguous, even equivocal, figure whose fluctuating positions and statements in media close to the far-right puzzle even his closest relatives.”

According to what was published by Le Canard enchaîné on Tuesday, April 14, the dispute became more prominent between publisher Olivier Nora and Hachette Livre group, owner of Grasset publishing house, regarding the publication date of Sansal’s new book.

Olivier Nora wanted to publish Sansal’s new novel next October, after the literary season, to avoid disrupting the pre-scheduled publishing program and to allow time for reviewing the book, which would require extensive scrutiny.

In contrast, Boualem Sansal consistently asserted that his book was ready and could be published quickly. Therefore, the group decided to impose its release in June, which Olivier Nora rejected, leading to the initiation of procedures for terminating his duties.

A number of the house’s most prominent and best-selling authors are expected to join their publisher Nora if he decides to continue his career at another publishing house, which could weaken Grasset publishing house, according to Le Canard enchaîné.