Michel Houellebecq Discusses Love and New Music at Monte Verità Literary Festival

The Eventi Letterari literary festival took place on Monte Verità in Ascona, Switzerland, featuring French author Michel Houellebecq as a headline speaker. The event, themed around love with a reference to Leonard Cohen's song 'Dance Me To The End Of Love,' occurred in the early spring. Houellebecq, known for his works exploring degraded forms of love, participated in a conversation with festival curator Stefan Zweifel and Stefan Knuchel. He appeared in his signature hooded coat and read passages from his early novel 'Ausweitung der Kampfzone,' discussing themes like free love and pessimism. Houellebecq also presented his new music album, a synth-pop work featuring spoken vocals, which follows his previous release from 2000 and will be performed in Paris. During the talk, he avoided broader philosophical questions, stating he had no answers to queries linking his work to figures like Bataille or Huysmans. The festival venue, a historic site once associated with reformers and artists, now hosts high-end tourism. Houellebecq noted his interest in the location due to its past practice of free love, but highlighted his inability to write a novel with a happy ending. The event touched on his controversial themes, including explicit content in his books, with Houellebecq emphasizing that shame should not be felt in writing.