Estelle Benazet Heugenhauser (Coming soon)

Estelle Benazet Heugenhauser (1985) is a Franco-Austrian writer, researcher and performer. Her texts put bodies to the test. Desire, hunger and expenditure generate action and metabolize the exercise of power. Her writings blend theory and fiction. She has been published in books (“Le régime parfait”, Rotolux Press, 2022; “Bêcher son visage”, La Chambre verte, 2020), magazines (La Déferlante, Sève, Trou Noir, AOC.media), performances (Point Éphémère, Centre Pompidou) and conferences. Her current creative writing thesis at the Université Côte d’Azur is entitled Ecrire avec les Affamées, manières de (se) nourrir dans la littérature contemporaine.

Her project at the Villa Medici
Her residency will be devoted to writing the novel Taurine. Each week, the protagonist Christa, a sports and cultural guide from Salzburg, Austria, follows her own schedule. In the morning, she makes her tour group sweat with a series of gymnastic exercises. In the afternoon, she introduces them to the country’s history by visiting heritage monuments. Between protean appearances by Arnold Schwarzenegger and Empress Sissi on Redbull, Christa recalls her workouts in Rome on the main streets of the rationalist EUR district, the feeling of power due to the effects of her gastronationalist diet.

Portrait © C.C.