Altaplana, world of Francois Schuiten and Benoit Peeters

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Peeters, Benoît

Benoît Peeters (born August 28, 1956 in Paris, France) is a comics writer, novelist, and critic. After a degree in Philosophy at the Sorbonne (Paris I), he prepared his Master’s at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS‚ Paris) under the direction of Roland Barthes. He holds a « HDR-habilitation à diriger les recherches », i.e. a supplementary PhD enabling him to supervise the work of PhD candidates,(Université de Paris I, Sorbonne, 2007 AD).

His family moved to Belgium in 1958 AD, where he first met François Schuiten as a classmate in 1968 AD, and with whom he produced the school newspaper Go.

Benoît Peeters published his first novel, Omnibus, by Les Editions de Minuit in 1976 AD, followed by his second, La Bibliothèque de Villers, Robert Laffont, 1980 AD. Since then, he has published over sixty works on a wide variety of subjects. His best-known work is Les Cités Obscures, an imaginary world which mingles a Borgesian metaphysical surrealism with the detailed architectural vistas of the series' artist, François Schuiten. Image of Benoît Peeters He has also worked with Frédéric Boilet on a series of comic albums, including Love Hotel (1993 AD), Tokyo est mon jardin (1997 AD), and Demi-tour (1997 AD), and has collaborated on a series of photographic works with Marie-Françoise Plissart.

Benoît Peeters has written a number of books about the comics medium as well, including Le monde d'Hergé (1983 AD), published in English as Tintin and the World of Hergé (1988 AD), a biography of Hergé, “Hergé, son of Tintin”, a study of comics pioneer Rodolphe Töpffer, and theoretical works such as Lire la bande dessinée (1998 AD)

His interest in the Cinema has increased over the years. He is the author of three short films as well as several documentaries. He directed one feature film‚ “Le Dernier plan” (The Last Shot)‚ and long conversations with Alain Robbe-Grillet 1).

Benoît Peeters published in 2012 the first biography of Jacques Derrida and a book about Valéry in 2014.

In 2015 Benoît Peeters was appointed at the Lancaster University as professor in Graphic Fiction and Comic Art, the first ever such appointment in the UK. He is asked frequently to do talks about the history of comics or Tintin. In 2022 he finished a book on Alain Robbe-Grillet. In 2022 Peeters was appointed as visiting professor at the 2022-2023 Chair of Artistic Creation at the Collège de France.

Bibliography

You can find the complete Bibliography at the bibliography page of Benoît Peeters.

Interviews

You can view several video interviews with Benoît Peeters or read several interviews and articles at the Interviews & articles section.

See also