What better way to talk about Flâneuse than to walk the streets of London with author Lauren Elkin. We stroll through Bloomsbury to talk about Virginia Woolf and other female walkers of the city as we discuss the themes behind her fascinating book. ‘Flâneuse [flanne-euhze], noun, from the French. Feminine form of flâneur [flanne-euhr], an idler, a dawdling observer, usually found in cities. That is an imaginary definition.’ If the word flâneur conjures up visions of Baudelaire, boulevards and bohemia – then what exactly is a flâneuse? In this gloriously provocative and celebratory book, Lauren Elkin defines her as ‘a determined resourceful woman keenly attuned to the creative potential of the city, and the liberating possibilities of a good walk’. Part cultural meander, part memoir, Flâneuse traces the relationship between the city and creativity through a journey that begins in New York and moves us to Paris, via Venice, Tokyo and London, exploring along the way the paths taken by the flâneuses who have lived and walked in those cities. From nineteenth-century novelist George Sand to artist Sophie Calle, from war correspondent Martha Gellhorn to film-maker Agnes Varda, Flâneuse considers what is at stake when a certain kind of light-footed woman encounters the city and changes her life, one step at a time. Read more at https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/1098499/flaneuse/#m7szjT6vgomZ68rS.99

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Lauren Elkin – Flâneuse

‘Flâneuse[flanne-euhze], noun, from the French. Feminine form offlâneur[flanne-euhr], an idler, a dawdling observer, usually found in cities.

That is an imaginary definition.’

If the wordflâneurconjures up visions of Baudelaire, boulevards and bohemia – then what exactly is aflâneuse?

In this gloriously provocative and celebratory book, Lauren Elkin defines her as ‘a determined resourceful woman keenly attuned to the creative potential of the city, and the liberating possibilities of a good walk’. Part cultural meander, part memoir,Flâneusetraces the relationship between the city and creativity through a journey that begins in New York and moves us to Paris, via Venice, Tokyo and London, exploring along the way the paths taken by theflâneuseswho have lived and walked in those cities.

From nineteenth-century novelist George Sand to artist Sophie Calle, from war correspondent Martha Gellhorn to film-maker Agnes Varda,Flâneuseconsiders what is at stake when a certain kind of light-footed woman encounters the city and changes her life, one step at a time.

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