With the backstage crew of Notre Dame de Paris. It was like a Victor Hugo novel. I had left my favorite hat at the theater a week before - I called but could not reach a lost & found. I called again to ask if anyone had the hat. The office? The security department? The Information desk? Frustrated, I decided…

It was an incident,

Marked by a moment’s passing,

Soon to be forgotten,

Mentioned briefly,

About a stranger,

About all the strangers,

A happenstance,

Pedestrian and commonplace,

Like leaves falling from a tree,

Or the Autumn winds turning colder,

Or the broken shutter on Mr. Cropsey’s barn,

They said his brother just died in the war.

Early morning calls,

On an empty Paris street,

Or the ticking of a solitary clock,

The hushed buzz from the corners,

Dim light playing on the bric-a-brac,

Whispering, get your own,

Come get your own,

Asking the shadow of a former self,

What shall I become today?

Water drips off roofs onto cold stones, morphs into rambling streams in search of thirsty riverbeds, the route for wayward trout…

There was no vocabulary to capture the size of the Queen Elizabeth as I entered her cavernous movie theater. I remember simply thinking, this is a theater… this is a full-sized theater, on a ship… a theater on a ship that sails to Europe. The incongruity blew me away.

Embark on a poetic journey through the enchanting streets of Paris with the debut of my new series. Each verse is a brushstroke, painting the City of Lights in the hues of love, history, and timeless elegance. Join me as I unveil the soul-stirring tales inspired by the romance that echoes through every cobblestone, café, and landmark of this iconic city. Stay tuned for the next chapters in this Parisian odyssey, where each poem is a love letter to the heart of France. 🇫🇷💫 #ParisPoetrySeries #EleganceUnveiled

In an homage to Marcel Proust, Alessandra Fra founded Le Temps Retrouvé Prize in 2020. The organization, Le Paris Littéraire, is sponsored by the Daniel Iagolnitzer Foundation, and it celebrates new novels that depict, with style and finesse, the complexity of human relationships and developments in society. The Ritz Paris is where Marcel Proust was a regular. I was honored to be invited to this extraordinary event.

Amazing visit to the Faculty of Language and Literature at Ho Chi Minh City University. I'm with my host Mrs. Phan Thu Van. This is a teacher training university. Lots of interesting questions about the characters in Mission in Paris 1990.

A warm welcome by Dr. Thai Kim Lan, owner of the Huong River Antique Pottery Museum in Hue. She's a poet, novelist and philosopher. Her latest book read? Mission in Paris 1990! So cool!

I was honored to meet with the Director and staff of the Vietnamese Women’s Museum. We exchanged ideas, shared books, and spoke about the role of the museum to enhance public knowledge and understanding of the history and cultural heritage of Vietnamese women, and to promote gender equality and the progress of women.

I had the honor of presenting my new novel, Mission in Paris 1990 at Librairie L'Esperluete, Chartres, France on November 26, 2021.

Hearts on Fire Paris 1968 Published in Vietnam

Pour diffusion immédiate: L'Harmatton signe l'auteur américain Bill Pearl: