Alain Veinstein's 'Radio sauvage' explores voice, silence, and poetry on air

Alain Veinstein's recently published book 'Radio sauvage' (Éditions du Seuil) examines the paradoxical relationship between voice and silence in his radio work. Veinstein, a poet and novelist, hosted iconic France-Culture programs such as 'Poésie ininterrompue' (initiated by Claude Royet-Journoud), 'Nuits magnétiques', 'Surpris par la nuit', and 'Du jour au lendemain'. The book reconciles his public radio activity with his private poetic writing, tracing a history of voice from Saint Augustine's silent reading to modern poetry's reclamation of orality. Veinstein's interview method creates a 'small dramaturgy' where he seeks truth beyond mere speech, often frustrated by eloquent talkers. He dreams of interviewing Franz Kafka, who wrote that only from within can one maintain silence and truth. The term 'sauvage' (wild) references how ethnologists and philosophers used 'wild' for concept-building free of preestablished ideology. Veinstein's approach is described as a 'wild practice of the airwaves', producing a strange gay science. The book also reveals that despite his calm exterior, Veinstein shares the same fear as his guests when the red recording light goes on.