Tanguy Viel's work is like a calm and turbulent sea, vast and moving, at once imperious and tempestuous... The ocean, though often the setting for his stories, is also and above all a metaphor for consciousness and writing. Although he steers clear of theoretical thought as a model, the writer is the one who makes it possible to read, to ‘split the waves’ and to ‘tear the surface of thought so that the ink needed to inscribe it flows onto the page’.

In a body of work that combines novels and a number of essays, Tanguy Viel plunges into the shifting waters of consciousness and inner experience. He also offers a reflection on society, portraying characters who are often broken and whose emotions and complexity he portrays with brio. Often confronted with moral dilemmas and power struggles, his protagonists offer an opportunity to question morality, justice and social hierarchies - those of sex, money and social status. The narrator's voice is often heard, allowing the story to be seen from a metadiscursive and philosophical angle.Like Jean Echenoz - a guest at last year's Château Mercier - Tanguy Viel likes to borrow from the detective or crime novel genre. L'Absolue perfection du crime (2001), Insoupçonnable (2006), Paris-Brest (2009) and Article 353 du Code pénal (2017) all follow the codes of the genre, but twist the stereotypes with a certain irony. In La disparition de Jim Sullivan (2013), the writing itself becomes an investigation, and the reader plays a key role in reconstructing the facts, with the narrative blurred. If readers want to make the most of their reading experience, they can't just be pleasure sailors: they need strength and courage to face up to the abysses of the story and of themselves.

**Tanguy Viel's visit is organised jointly by Château Mercier in Sierre and the Lycée-Collège de la Planta in Sion.**

**A drink will be served at the end of the event.**