NEW PICT BOOK: Fixers: Reporters Without Bylines 🎈
by Mortaza Behboudi & Oksana Leuta
edited and introduced by
Evrim Emir-Sayers & David Selim Sayers
How can a reporter from London or Lyon write a story about Kabul or Kyiv without knowing the city, the language, or the people? The answer is Fixers—local guerilla journalists who provide foreign reporters with everything from hotels to vegan meals, drivers to interviewees, protagonists to entire storylines. Many media companies don’t offer fixers any contracts, insurance, or bylines, while many fixers put up with it because the story just needs to be told. Fixers is the very first book in which they tell their own tales of war and occupation, oppression and exploitation, from France to Afghanistan, from Ukraine to Iran.
A remarkable collection of primary sources on the Ottoman Empire was recently uncovered at La Source, the library of École des Ponts ParisTech. The significance of this discovery brought together a team of researchers and students from Istanbul Technical University (İTÜ), Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, and École des Ponts ParisTech—members of the EELISA Alliance—who joined forces with the Paris Institute for Critical Thinking (PICT) to conduct an in-depth study of these materials. 🎈
28/09/2025
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03/09/2025
A new chapter begins at PICT — where ideas take shape, stories quietly unfold, and every page holds a promise. Stay tuned. 🎈 https://parisinstitute.org/
The Paris Institute for Critical Thinking (PICT) is thrilled to announce “May the World End Here,” an upcoming art exhibition curated by PICT contributor Salamis Ayşegül Şentuğ Tuğyan. Featuring the works of many prominent figures in Cypriot contemporary art, the exhibition will be open to the public at the Maison des Associations de Solidarité in Paris from 16 to 18 July 2025. 🎈
“May the World End Here” features works of video, painting, embroidery, photography, and mixed media works by artists Rahme Veziroğlu, Uygar Erdim, Kyriaki Costa, Danae Patsalou, Nurtane Karagil, İsmail Gökçe, Erdoğan Kavaz, and Sümer Erek. In an eco-poetic dialogue with Emel Kaya’s 2024 poetry collection of the same name, the artists offer a profound inquiry into humanity’s detachment from nature and the Anthropocene era. Invoking the “knowledge of butterflies exploding against windshields,” they invite the viewer to look at the world not only with a critical human eye, but also from the perspective of the non-human.
The exhibition’s curator, Salamis Ayşegül Şentuğ Tuğyan, is a writer, poet, and educator from Cyprus. She is the host and producer of the PICT podcast mini-series Let’s Get Bored and the Creative Director of the currently ongoing redesign of the PICT website.
Previously shown in Lefkoşa, Izmir, and Istanbul, “May the World End here” will travel to Berlin after its sojourn in Paris. Watch a short video of the exhibition here.
The exhibition is free and open to the public.
Date
Opening: Wednesday, 16 July 2025, 19:00
Exhibition: Thursday-Friday, 17-18 July 2025, 09:00-23:00
Venue
Maison des Associations de Solidarité
10/18 rue des terres au curé, 75013 Paris
The Paris Institute for Critical Thinking (PICT) is thrilled to announce the PICT Senlis Writers’ Retreat, a new and permanent establishment in the historic town of Senlis, located 40 minutes from downtown Paris and 20 minutes from Paris Charles de Gaulle airport. 🎈
Since the launch of PICT Books, our boutique publishing house, PICT has increasingly focused its efforts on the written word, publishing a small but distinguished selection of books that have gone on to receive national translation awards, be proclaimed books of the year, and even become international bestsellers. In the process, we have reached a more global audience than ever while staying true to our independent, non-profit, volunteer, and grassroots ethos. The feedback from our readers and supporters has been overwhelmingly positive and encouraged us in our determination to press on in this direction.
Enter the PICT Senlis Writers’ Retreat, an idyllic, stimulating venue for intellectual and artistic production in the heart of historical Senlis. Starting from Summer 2025, the PICT Senlis Writers’ Retreat will welcome writers, intellectuals, and artists from around the world for invited residencies of one to two weeks. Opening its doors to PICT Books writers as well as other acclaimed members of our global community, the PICT Senlis Writers’ Retreat will form an integral part of the intellectual and artistic production and dissemination that has been at the heart of PICT’s mission from the outset.
The town of Senlis has Roman origins, with many features from the era, including city walls and a major amphitheatre, still forming part of urban life. Becoming a royal city under the House of Capet, Senlis went on to acquire many more landmarks including a second set of city walls and a magnificent cathedral. Surrounded by orchards, fields, and beautiful forests, Senlis still offers its present-day inhabitants the ambiance and ecosystem of a medieval city preserved almost in its entirety. Over the years, a remarkable group of individuals, ranging from the painter Séraphine Louis to the musician Sting, have called Senlis their home.
We congratulate the entire PICT Team on this milestone in our institute’s history and express our heartfelt gratitude to our entire community, without whose contributions and support this achievement would not have been possible!
PICT co-founder and award-winning translator Maria Matalaev released her newest translated volume on 7 February 2025: Fille de la révolution by Vera Broido. Co-translated from the English original, Daughter of the Revolution, by Maria and Anne Foucault, the book was published by Éditions Allia. Fille de la révolution will be celebrated with a launch party at Librairie Libertalia in Montreuil on 7 March. 🎈
Vera Broido (1907-2004) was a Russian-born author who came of age as the Russian Empire gave way to the Soviet Union, and whose life and work were marked by experiences of exile, revolution, and war. Daughter of the Revolution: A Russian Girlhood Remembered is Broido’s autobiography, recounting her adventures as she made her way from St Petersburg to Siberia to Berlin and, finally, to the UK, where she spent most of her life from the 1940s onwards.
Maria Matalaev is a translator, literary scholar, and concert pianist whose translations have tackled a range of fields from history to politics to literature. Her 2015 book, Valentin Berlinsky : Le quatuor d’une vie (Aedam Musicae) was awarded the “Prix du Témoignage” at the 2016 Prix des Muses. The book’s 2019 English translation, Valentin Berlinsky: A Quartet for Life, was included by BBC Music Magazine in its 2019 list of Best Classical Music Book Releases.
A co-founder of PICT, Maria was recently awarded a translation grant by the French Ministry of Culture to translate PICT co-founder Evrim Emir-Sayers’ 2024 book, The Veil of Depiction: Painting in Sufism and Phenomenology, from English into French. Like Evrim’s original, Maria’s translation will appear from PICT Books.
The launch party for Fille de la révolution will feature presentations by Maria and Anne Foucault, a Q&A-session, and a book signing. The event is free and open to the public; details below!
Date & Time:
Friday, 7 March 2025, 19:30
Location:
Librairie Libertalia, 12 Rue Marcelin Berthelot, 93100 Montreuil, France
International journalist and PICT contributor Mortaza Behboudi will release his first book, Femme, Vie, Liberté : Un reporter infiltré au cœur de la révolte iranienne, on 6 February 2025. The book recounts the 2022-2023 Mahsa Amini protests in Iran, during which Mortaza was the only European journalist to cover the events from within the country. Published by Editions du Rocher, the book will be celebrated with a launch party at Point Ephémère in Paris on the day of its release. 🎈
The death in custody of Mahsa Amini in September 2022, following her arrest by the Iranian Guidance Patrol for allegedly wearing her hijab improperly, ignited a wave of protests across the country that has been described as the most widespread revolt in Iran since the Islamic Revolution of 1979. In this book, co-written with Journalist Marine Courtade, Mortaza offes a close-up view of this stunning social upheaval as well as of the young generations, mostly under thirty years of age, that risked imprisonment, torture, and death as they rallied around the motto of “Woman, Life, Freedom.”
Mortaza is a journalist and filmmaker whose work mainly focuses on mass migration and refugee issues. His past work been awarded the Bayeux Prize for War Correspondents (twice) and the French National Daily Varenne Prize. His 2024 film, Nous, jeunesse(s) d’Iran, was a finalist for the Albert Londres Prize. He is most widely known for his work on Afghanistan, where he was a Taliban prisoner for nine months in 2023, and on the Moria Refugee Camp on Le**os, Greece, from which he was the only journalist to report during the Covid-19 lockdowns of 2020.
Mortaza is currently working on a book recounting his continued coverage of refugee life on Le**os. The book, his first in the English language, will appear from PICT Books.
The launch party for Femme, Vie, Liberté will feature presentations by Mortaza and Marine Courtade, a Q&A-session, and a book signing. The event is free and open to the public; details below!
Date & Time:
Thursday, 6 February 2025, 19:00
Location:
Point Ephémère, 200 Quai de Valmy, 75010 Paris, France
Pinaki Bhattacharya’s Fulkumari: The Tale of a Refugee and a Rat in Pandemic Paris (PICT Books, 2025) will be published in Bengali translation as well as a local English edition in Bangladesh, the author’s home country. The two books will be published by Oitijjhya and its English-language subsidiary, Gripper Mark, in February 2025. The local English edition will be published in solidarity with Bangladeshi readers who may not be able to access the PICT Books original. 🎈
One of the leading Bangladeshi publishing houses, Oitijjhya has released over 1700 titles since its foundation in 2000. Oitijjhya also operates the Nirbachito chain of dedicated bookstores, occupies the largest pavilion at the Ekushey Book Fair, Bangladesh’s largest literary event, and represents Bengali literature at the Kolkata Book Fair in India. The publishing house has won numerous awards, in particular for its efforts to preserve the legacy of Bengali literature by publishing the collected works of iconic Bengali writers.
As part of its agreement with Oitijjhya, PICT Books will publish the international edition of Fulkumari’s Bengali translation later in 2025.
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HIGHER EDUCATION IN THE 21ST CENTURY is caught between democratization and corporatization. Initially designed to produce a select elite, the university has pivoted to embrace the goal of mass education. But the ensuing mass enrolment soon exposed the university’s potential to turn impressive profits—or incur serious losses. As a result, the university became straddled with the twin dilemmas we know all too well—the quality of education is dropping while its price is rising.
This trajectory has deeply affected teaching and learning alike. Throughout the 20th century, most university educators were on the tenure track—meaning their freedom of thought, research, and expression was safeguarded by stable employment and a comfortable middle-class existence. But rising enrolment and financial pressure have meant that in the 21st century, most university educators work as adjuncts—freelancers who get paid per course, have no job security, and must often piece together gigs on different campuses just to make ends meet.
Students are similarly affected. In-depth seminars with intensive participation are being replaced by undemanding survey courses. The pressure to pass more students is leading to grade inflation. Absent the stimulation and passion engendered by creative and critical thinking, it is little wonder that students increasingly view universities simply as gatekeepers to the job market or, even more crassly, as diploma factories. And learners with no need for a diploma—especially working adults—face a system that leaves them out in the cold.
PICT reimagines the academy as a venue of learning for its own sake rather than as a means to an end. We do not believe in standardized courses, grades, or diplomas: only self-motivated students with passionate interests should enrol in courses, and these courses should be tailor-made by equally passionate educators. We do not believe in education at the cost of exploitation: the majority of enrolment fees should be directly passed on to the instructor. We do not believe in a massive institutional infrastructure that mediates between teacher and student: after getting the two parties together, the institution should get out of the way. And we do not believe in mass courses: creative and critical thinking is only possible in a personal setting of intensive intellectual exchange.
PICT proudly boasts its location of Paris, France, as an exceptional setting of cultural, intellectual, and linguistic convergence. We take full advantage of this setting, combining our courses with the city’s best cultural offerings and locations. We also recognize that Paris has a deep need for more activities in the English language. We acknowledge that Paris is home to a large and growing Anglophone community, but equally importantly, we know that all Parisians with an advanced command of English lack sufficient opportunities to employ the language in contexts of sophisticated reading, intellectual reflection, and critical conversation. We aim to provide exactly this context: a space for English-speaking Parisians of all backgrounds to combine the best of the city with the best of critical thinking.
