Festivals

Litquake – Atlas of Perfumed Botany: Jean-Claude Ellena

Oct 26, 2024|1:00pm

1:00-3:00 pm PT

San Francisco Botanical Gardens, Fragrance Garden | 1199 9th Ave | San Francisco, CA

This event has already taken place.

Event is free with SF Botanical Garden admission.

Iconic French perfumer Jean-Claude Ellena, known as the creative force and “nose” behind Les Jardins d’Hermès, joins writers (and botany enthusiasts) John McMurtrie and Jane Marchant in conversation. Like his book, Atlas of Perfumed Botany, this discussion is sure to trace the cartography of particular fragrances, examine historical connections, and contemplate cultural exchange. Scent connoisseurs won’t want to miss master perfumer Ellena for this intimate discussion as he looks back on his influential career and considers the innovative ways perfume can influence a better understanding of our natural environment, and positive outcomes for our ecological futures.

Part of Litquake’s Words Around the World
Co-presented with Villa Albertine and The Gardens of Golden Gate Park
Sponsored by Center for the Art of Translation/Two Lines Press

Speaker

Jean-Claude Ellena

Jean-Claude Ellena, the “nose” of the luxury brand Hermès for fourteen years, has been the Creative Director of Fragrance at the perfume house Le Couvent since 2019. Karin Doering-Froger, a faculty member at the Atelier de Sèvres, has illustrated many novels and travel guides, including Atlas de cités perdues and Atlas de contrées rêvées. Ellena’s newest book, Atlas of Perfumed Botany, was released in 2022.

Speaker

John McMurtrie

John McMurtrie is an independent book editor. He is senior editor of the literary journal Zyzzyva, a contributing editor of the quarterly literary travel magazine Stranger’s Guide, and an editor for McSweeney’s Publishing. His new book Literary Journeys: Mapping Fictional Travels Across the World of Literature was released in September. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, and Literary Hub. He served as the books editor of the San Francisco Chronicle for a decade. A native of Boston, he lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Speaker

Jane Marchant

Jane Marchant is an interdisciplinary storyteller working with writing, photography, plants, and collage. Her work has appeared in ZYZZYVA, Guernica, Apogee, Kweli, Catapult, Evergreen Review, and elsewhere. She’s at work on a memoir in the form of an Encyclopedia of Botany of the San Francisco Bay Area, which investigates motherhood, racial passing, and interconnected root systems. Jane is a 2024 National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellow, recipient of an Elizabeth George Foundation grant, and Lucas Artists Fellow at Montalvo Arts Center. She has received support from the Diamonstein-Spielvogel Foundation, Tin House’s First Book Residency, Headlands Center for the Arts, Ucross Foundation, and Oak Spring Garden Foundation, among others.