Bernard Pivot, the man who made books telegenic

A day after his 89th birthday, French television presenter and writer Bernard Pivot died: the man who proved that book programs on TV can be popular.

Bernard Pivot started his career as a journalist for, among others Le Figaro and LePointbut mainly made a name for himself as a presenter Apostrophes, a book program in which he talked to writers for 75 minutes each time. The program ran on Antenne 2 and sometimes reached up to 2 million viewers. Pivot hosted the program for fifteen years, between 1975 and 1990. The list of talk guests looks like a list of the greatest literary names of the 20th century: from Vladimir Nabokov to Simenon, Umberto Eco, Marguerite Yourcenar and Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. In 1975 he also founded the literary magazine Lira on.

After Apostrophes Pivot presented a broader cultural program: in Bouillon de culture other artistic disciplines were also discussed. In 2004 he became a member of the Académie Goncourt, which annually awards the prestigious Prix Goncourt. He was even chairman of that society from 2013 to 2019. Pivot was also the source of inspiration for The Great Dictation. He presented in the 1980s La dictée de Pivot and achieved great success with it. Journalist Philip Freriks, a correspondent in Paris for many years, imported the idea to the Low Countries. (vdbv)