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Boualem Sansal Breaks With Gallimard After Dispute Over Housing, Money and Trust

The row spotlights contested claims about an editor's eviction of a detained writer and competing accounts of the payment that prompted his move to a rival publisher.

Overview

  • Boualem Sansal has left his 27-year relationship with Éditions Gallimard and is now published by Grasset, a move that supporters helped arrange.
  • Sansal says he felt betrayed after Gallimard, who had initially housed him on his return to France, later told him to leave while his French bank accounts remained blocked.
  • The author told reporters that Gallimard offered €100,000 for his new book while Olivier Nora at Grasset offered €1,000,000, a claim that is reported but disputed in coverage.
  • Le Journal du Dimanche reported it reviewed a letter from Antoine Gallimard in which the publisher admits 'maladresses' and expresses regret about a harsh conversation with Sansal.
  • The episode has been framed differently across French media, with some outlets repeating an unverified 'million-euro' narrative and others highlighting Sansal's material hardship and questions about publisher ethics.