Alice Rivaz
A strong literary persona uniting expression of intimacy with that of universality, and who relentlessly attempted to outline the zeitgeist by delving deep into the daily lives of ordinary people. Her contemporaries praised her writing: Corinna Bille, Maurice Chappaz, Catherine Colomb, Georges Haldas, Jean-Georges Lossier, Marcel Raymond, Gustave Roud. Charles-Ferdinand Ramuz endorsed her first novel, Nuages dans la main (1940).
Two years before Simone de Beauvoir published her Second Sex, Alice Rivaz released La Paix des Ruches (Peace in the beehives) in 1947, thus becoming the first francophone author to publish a feminist novel.
Comme le sable (1946) was followed by Sans Alcool (1961), Comptez vos jours (1966), Le Creux de la vague (1967), L’Alphabet du matin (1968), De Mémoire et d’oubli (1973), Jette ton pain (1979), Ce nom qui n’est pas le mien (1980) and Traces de vie (1983).
Laureate of the Grand Prix Ramuz in 1980, and of the Schiller Prize, first in 1942 for Nuages dans la main and then in 1969 for L'Alphabet du matin, Alice Rivaz is undoubtedly one of the major authors shaping the Swiss literary landscape.
Upcoming events
Une heure avec Alice par Yvette Théraulaz - two additional dates
If you missed the previous occasions, Yvette Théraulaz will read her favourite texts written by Alice Rivaz again on the following dates:
- on 25 July 2024 at the Bulle de culture and Chapit’O festival | Find out more →
- on 21 November 2024 at the Pavillon du Théâtre de Vidy | Find out more →
The next General Assembly of the Association will be held on 22 November at 17:30 at the Cercle Littéraire in Lausanne. The GA will be followed by the Alice Rivaz Literary Prize ceremony, at the same venue at 18:30.
Catherine Lovey receives the 2024 Alice Rivaz Literary Prize
The Jury unanimously awarded the Alice Rivaz Literary Prize to Catherine Lovey for her novel Histoire de l'homme qui ne voulait pas mourir, published by Éditions Zoé.
With this novel, Catherine Lovey delivers a powerful work on the human condition.
The simplicity of the narrative, the delicate portrayal of the characters, the humanity and humour that emerge, despite the illness and the seriousness of the topic combine into a profound and engaging novel. Its pages, so close to the realm of shadows and yet so luminous, transform into a veritable ode to life, as colorful as its cover page.
The award ceremony will take place on 22 November 2024 at 18:30 at the Cercle littéraire de Lausanne, Place Saint-François 7.
New edition of Alice Rivaz' press articles!
Éditions Héros-Limite has published La machine à tricoter. Écrits sur les femmes et le travail.
Available in bookshops from 14 June 2024, this new volume unveils a little known side of her work: writing articles for the press. Needing to earn money after losing her job when the International Labour Office moved to Montreal during the Second World War, Alice Rivaz sought work at various newspapers and magazines. Today, her articles leave a lasting impression of committed, precise and poetic authorship.
This volume was curated and prefaced by Jacob Lachat and shines new light on Alice Rivaz' talent.
La Paix des ruches reviewed on France Inter, October 2022 (in French only)
Juliette Arnaud talks about La Paix des ruches, following the current republishing of Alice Rivaz' feminist novel.
New edition, November 2022, published at Editions Zoé, prefaced by Mona Chollet
Keywords
Her works
Published between 1940 and 1986, her works relate the profound changes in the status of women and relations between the sexes, as well as the taboos and constraints affecting ordinary people.
The Association
About the Alice Rivaz Association
La Paix des ruches
La Paix des ruches (The peace within the beehive) was published two years before Simone de Beauvoir’s The Second Sex and precedes the feminist novels of the latter half of the 20th century.