'Islamic France' Novelist to Promote Book in Germany
Bestselling French novelist Michel Houellebecq will promote his new book imagining a France under Islamic rule next week in Germany after suspending a French tour in the wake of the Paris attacks, his publisher said Tuesday.
He is to present the book, whose German translation will hit bookstores Friday, in the western city of Cologne Monday, French publishing house Flammarion told Agence France-Presse.
It will be his first public appearance since canceling dates to plug the book after the jihadist killings in Paris that left 17 people dead.
The book, "Submission", was released in France last Wednesday, the same day that 12 people were killed when gunmen stormed the Paris office of satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo, including some of France's best-known cartoonists.
The cover of Charlie Hebdo, published the day of the attack, showed a caricature of Houellebecq and included several pages dedicated to "Submission" -- which imagines a Muslim-governed France in 2022.
The novel has provoked fiery debate, with critics accusing the controversy-courting Houellebecq of stirring up Islamophobia and helping the cause of France's far-right National Front.
Houellebecq's friend Bernard Maris, a left-wing economist, was among those killed and the author was "deeply affected by the death," his agent Francois Samuelson told AFP last week, explaining his decision to suspend the French tour.
The German event had long been planned, organized by the local book festival LitCologne. A spokeswoman said an actor would read from the German translation at the event with the author.
Houellebecq sparked outrage in 2001 by stating in an interview that "the most stupid religion is, let's face it, Islam."
Germany is waging a heated debate about a new movement opposing the "Islamization" of the country, whose weekly demonstrations centered in the eastern city of Dresden have grown dramatically since their start in October.
Source: Agence France Presse
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