Sabrina Calvo

Sabrina Calvo
Born
David Calvo

(1974-09-19) September 19, 1974 (age 49)
Marseille
NationalityFrench
OccupationWriter

Sabrina Calvo (born 19 September 1974) is a French author of transfeminist science fiction, illustrator and games writer.

Calvo identifies as a transgender person, with her work published as "David Calvo" before 2018.[1][2]

Biography

[edit]

Sabrina Calvo was born on 19 September 1974 in Marseille.[3][4] She came out as trans in 2017 in the Mauvais Genre programme at the Utopiales festival.[5] She lives between Paris and Montreal.[5]

Sabrina Calvo is a writer and also a performance artist, and has collaborated with artists including Jeff Mills at the Musée du Louvre in 2015.[6] She has given talks and round tables at the Chroniques Digital Arts Biennial,[7] Mutek,[8] Sonic Protest,[9] Étonnants Voyageurs [fr],[10] les Utopiales, les Imaginales, les Intergalactiques and la Maison de la poésie[11], among others.

In 2021 she spoke out in favour of reforming sexist and toxic behaviour in the world of fantasy literature publishing.[12][13]

Sabrina Calvo co-wrote the virtual reality drama 7 Lives, directed by Jan Kounen. 7 Lives is part of the 2019 VR selection at the Tribeca Film Festival.[14][15]

Career in science fiction literature

[edit]

Her first novel, Délius, une chanson d'été,[16] was published in 1997. The book refers in particular to the composer Frederick Delius, and the title is taken from a song by Kate Bush, Delius (Song of Summer), which appeared on the album Never for Ever,[17][18]

In 2004, based on a script by Sabrina Calvo, Thomas Azuélos [fr] drew Télémaque,[19] in which the author's dreamlike world’ is expressed. In 2006, the duo published Akhénaton, co-written with Thomas Azuélos, tackling the subject of transidentity. ActuaBD described the work as [20]

A radical album, with a minimalist and unbridled style, to be reserved for fans of absolute modernity

In 2015, Sabrina Calvo published Sous la Colline, a transfeminist[21] urban fantasy novel exploring the intimate topography of Le Corbusier's Cité Radieuse in Marseille and exploiting the myths of the city.[22][23] Her counter-dystopian novel Toxoplasma, featuring an anti-capitalist commune in Montreal[24] and questioning gender identities, won the Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire in 2018.[25][26]

Melmoth Furieux

[edit]

She continued her exploration of these themes with Melmoth Furieux, an uchronia published in 2021, featuring an update of the Paris Commune in an alternative, policed and authoritarian present.[22][27] In this novel, she takes her inspiration from Eulalie Papavoine, a dressmaker and ambulance driver during the Paris Commune, for the book's main character and narrator named Fi. Fi is a seamstress from Belleville whose brother, a Disney employee, set himself on fire during the inauguration of Disneyland in 1992, and who joins a self-managed commune in Belleville to organise the revolt against the militia. The book's title is a reference to Balzac's short story Melmoth réconcilié and Charles Robert Maturin's novel Melmoth ou l'Homme errant.[28][29]

Analysis of her works

[edit]

Her novels, often classified as science fiction, explore the geographical worlds of cities such as Marseille, Paris and Montreal, in a dystopian, dreamlike universe inspired by maps of places and revolutionary historical events from an anti-capitalist, anarchist and transfeminist perspective, at the crossroads between the genres of cyber punk and urban fantasy.[23][30][31] She is cited as one of the emblematic authors of lesbian literature.[32]

Sabrina Calvo's novels and productions have won awards. Her novel Wonderful won the 2002 Prix Julia-Verlanger [fr].[33] Sous la Colline won the 2016 Prix Bob-Morane [fr], and Toxoplasma won the 2018 Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire[26] and the Prix Rosny aîné the same year.[2]

Awards

[edit]

Publications

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  • Délius, une chanson d'été. J'ai lu (Éd. rev. par l'auteur ed.). Paris: J'ai lu. 2003. ISBN 978-2-290-32563-6.
  • La nuit des labyrinthes. J'ai lu. Paris: J'ai lu. 2004. ISBN 978-2-290-33356-3.
  • Wonderful. Bragelonne. 2001. ISBN 9782914370042.
  • Atomic Bomb, avec Fabrice Colin (2002, Ed. du Bélial)
  • Calvo, Sabrina; Colin, Fabrice; Cremet, Arnaud (2005). Sunk. Lyon: les Moutons électriques. ISBN 978-2-915793-02-4.
  • Minuscules flocons de neige depuis dix minutes. Lyon: les Moutons électriques. 2006. ISBN 978-2-915793-19-2.
  • Elliot du néant. Clamart: la Volte. 2012. ISBN 978-2-917157-17-6.
  • Sous la colline. Clamart: la Volte. 2015. ISBN 978-2-37049-012-4.
  • Toxoplasma. 2017. ISBN 9782370490544.

Games

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Cloutier, Mario (19 July 2018). "Sabrina Calvo: l'envie du Québec" (in French) – via Cyberpresse.
  2. ^ a b "Sabrina Calvo et Loïc Henry, Prix Rosny aîné 2018". ActuaLitté.com (in French). Retrieved 2024-07-20.
  3. ^ Paris 8, Université (2021-02-08). "Rencontre avec Sabrina Calvo". France Culture (in French). Retrieved 2024-07-20.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  4. ^ Cloutier, Mario (2018-07-19). "Sabrina Calvo: l'envie du Québec". La Presse (in Canadian French). Retrieved 2024-07-20.
  5. ^ a b "Rencontre avec Sabrina Calvo". octaviana.fr (in French). Archived from the original on 20 July 2024. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
  6. ^ "The Last Storyteller : Jeff Mills et David Calvo @Auditorium du Louvre". www.sortiraparis.com (in French). Retrieved 2024-07-20.
  7. ^ "Biennial of Digital Imaginaries 2020 – Chroniques". chroniques.org (in French). Archived from the original on 20 July 2024. Retrieved 2024-07-20.
  8. ^ "Sabrina Calvo". MUTEK Montréal (in French). Archived from the original on 20 July 2024. Retrieved 2024-07-20.
  9. ^ "Agoras à Saint-Ouen le 25-26 mars 2022 [Festival Sonic Protest]". commedesfous.com (in French). Archived from the original on 20 July 2024. Retrieved 2024-07-20.
  10. ^ Voyageurs, Etonnants (2024-07-20). "Quand le jeu vidéo rencontre la littérature". Etonnants Voyageurs (in French). Archived from the original on 20 July 2024. Retrieved 2024-07-20.
  11. ^ "« Se réinventer en communautés, deux visages de la science-fiction queer » avec Sabrina Calvo & Phoebe Hadjimarkos Clarke". Maison de la poésie (in French). 2021. Archived from the original on 2024-04-27. Retrieved 2024-04-27.
  12. ^ Dupont-Besnard, Marcus (2021-05-05). "« Le niveau d'exigence est plus élevé que pour les hommes » : comment lutter contre le sexisme dans la SF/fantasy ?". Numerama (in French). Retrieved 2024-07-20.
  13. ^ Addictic. "Huit autrices de Bragelonne écrivent une lettre ouverte à leur éditeur". ActuSF - Site sur l'actualité de l'imaginaire (in French). Archived from the original on 20 July 2024. Retrieved 2024-07-20.
  14. ^ "7 Lives | 2019 Tribeca Festival". Tribeca. Retrieved 2024-07-20.
  15. ^ Landoyer, Laurence (26 November 2019). "7 lives : oeuvre en VR de Jan Kounen aux multiples récompenses" (in French).
  16. ^ Addictic. "La Nuit des labyrinthes - Les secrets d'écriture de Sabrina Calvo". ActuSF - Site sur l'actualité de l'imaginaire (in French). Retrieved 2024-07-20.
  17. ^ Farasse, Gérard (2010-06-10). Envois & Dédicaces (in French). Presses Univ. Septentrion. ISBN 978-2-7574-0160-6.
  18. ^ "Rock'n'write : David Calvo - Le blog Bifrost | Le Bélial". blog.belial.fr (in French). Archived from the original on 20 July 2024. Retrieved 2024-07-20.
  19. ^ "Télémaque". ActuaBD (in French). Archived from the original on 20 July 2024. Retrieved 2024-07-20.
  20. ^ Taugis, David. "Akhénaton - par Azuélos et Calvo - Carabas". ActuaBD (in French). Archived from the original on 2024-04-27. Retrieved 2024-07-20.
  21. ^ Allan (2017-12-12). "Rencontre avec Sabrina Calvo". Fantastinet (in French). Archived from the original on 20 July 2024. Retrieved 2024-07-20.
  22. ^ a b Moulin, Louis. "« Envisager les bâtiments comme des mystères": discussion sur la ville avec Sabrina Calvo". pop-up urbain, cabinet de conseil en prospective urbaine (in French). Archived from the original on 20 July 2024. Retrieved 2024-07-20.
  23. ^ a b Lavergne, Sophie (2021-12-09). "La science-fiction « intime et anarchiste » de Sabrina Calvo". Friction Magazine (in French). Archived from the original on 20 July 2024. Retrieved 2024-07-20.
  24. ^ Guy, Chantal (2019-06-05). "SF et fantasy féministe: il existe d'autres mondes". La Presse (in Canadian French). Archived from the original on 20 July 2024. Retrieved 2024-07-20.
  25. ^ "Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire 2018 – Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire" (in French). Retrieved 2024-07-20.
  26. ^ a b "Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire : Toxoplasma de Calvo consacré". ActuaLitté.com (in French). Retrieved 2024-07-20.
  27. ^ Dupont-Besnard, Marcus (2021-09-19). "Sabrina Calvo : dans Melmoth Furieux, la solidarité « pose les bases d'une société future »". Numerama (in French). Retrieved 2024-07-20.
  28. ^ Roussel, Frédérique. "«Melmoth Furieux», tornade à la communarde". Libération (in French). Retrieved 2024-07-20.
  29. ^ Nadeau), Sébastien Omont (En attendant (2021-09-05). "Pour la rentrée littéraire, trois romans souples et fraternels". Mediapart (in French). Retrieved 2024-07-20.
  30. ^ "Melmoth furieux de sabrina Calvo". lundi.am (in French). 28 September 2024. Archived from the original on 20 July 2024. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
  31. ^ De Sepausy, Victor (27 August 2021). "Sabrina Calvo, aux avant-postes de la révolution avec Melmoth furieux". ActuaLitté.com (in French). Archived from the original on 20 July 2024. Retrieved 2024-07-20.
  32. ^ Turbiau, Aurore (2022-04-24). "Quels sont les noms qui rayonnent dans la littérature lesbienne ?". The Conversation. Retrieved 2024-07-20.
  33. ^ a b "Julia Verlanger - Prix littéraire - nooSFere". www.noosfere.org (in French). Retrieved 2024-07-20.
  34. ^ "Lauréats 2016 | Prix Bob Morane".
  35. ^ "Les Grands Prix de l'Imaginaire 2018 dévoilés". Livres Hebdo.
  36. ^ "Oniri Islands»: a successful quest". December 12, 2018.
  37. ^ "The Inner Friend - A video game by PLAYMIND". theinnerfriend.com.
  38. ^ "THE INNER FRIEND Dialogue-Free Jungian-themed Horror Game Releasing this Summer". March 27, 2019.


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