We regret to inform you of the passing of Paul Otchakovsky-Laurens, publisher of P.O.L. and a major figure in the French publishing industry.
Paul Otchakovsky-Laurens published major works by Georges Perec (Je me souviens, La Vie mode d’emploi) and Marguerite Duras (La Douleur, La Vie Materielle), and his catalog has been home to many of the most gifted authors working today, such as Emmanuel Carrère, Atiq Rahimi, Marie Darrieussecq, Rene Belleto, Valère Novarina, Camille Laurens, Martin Winckler, Nathalie Léger, Frédéric Boyer, Charles Pennequin, among many others.
If Paul’s elegance and grace were legendary, he was also known for his adamant, eclectic literary choices, and unflagging love of authors. As he once said in an interview to the French magazin Livres Hebdo: “At a certain moment of my existence, I’ve been forbidden to speak. So I found this solution to make others speak. And it has allowed me to not be a failure, to remain somewhat in control of what I was doing. I owe this to authors. For this reason, I am attached to literature that says the truth, the true, through a certain use of form and language. ”

Our thoughts are with his family and friends, his authors, and his faithful readers.