Éditions Charlie Crane, a meeting with Mathilde Toulot — the founder

1 - Mathilde, could you tell us about your journey: how did you come to poetry, and then to creating this collection?

My path is as winding as a river, but, like a river, it always flows in the direction of my inner current. I worked for 20 years as a journalist in fashion and had created a content studio for luxury brands. After the birth of my third child, I had had enough of that world, of the relentless commissions — I needed to express myself. For my work to feel meaningful to me.

2 - Where did the inspiration come from to publish a poetry collection for newborns, when your own children are already grown?

I was 45 when I had the idea. And in my mind, motherhood was over for me. I would no longer become pregnant — that number feels like a symbolic circle wrapping me in its certainty. I would have no more children of flesh, made from my blood. Nestled in the knowledge of my body, that certainty gave birth to "À toi qui es là ".
This collection is like writing in the guest book of a place one has loved beyond all else. You leave it and you leave the most beautiful of messages for those who come after. With "À toi qui es là", I pass on to my sisters, future mothers, and the fathers by their side, words to build the bond.

3 - As both an editor and an author, how do you juggle these two hats? What are the advantages — and perhaps the challenges — of wearing both roles?

These are different brain modes. The writer's mode is one where I walk at the edge of the world, in my inner garden — I write in the early morning at dawn. The editor's mode is turned toward others and happens in the full light of day. The two complement each other perfectly.


4 - How do you envision the role of a poetry book in today's world?

Poetry is having a moment. Numerous poetry clubs are springing up. No doubt because this condensed, effective language that speaks heart to heart, in an instinctive way, suits our era that lives at full speed. We have always needed to connect with one another through beauty.

5 - Why did you publish this collection by launching Éditions Charlie Crane, rather than with an already established publisher?

For more than ten years, my husband Thomas at Charlie Crane has been supporting young parents by designing beautiful, enveloping furniture adapted to little ones. Supporting families in my own way, but this time with words, felt like a natural next step. 

6 - How did the process of selecting the authors unfold?

I started reading poetry, going everywhere poets were reading, I met them, I told them about my idea, and from the very first conversations I felt that I hadn't entirely dreamed up this project, that it was going to exist, that bridges were being built between my idea and others. The desire to spread poetry for newborns began to consume me. I had the idea for the gift box at the same time as the collection. People had to want to give it as a gift.

 7 - What role did the book as an object (layout, illustration, choice of paper, etc.) play in your approach?

It may sound blunt, but a book is also a product. It has to find a market. If I wanted to spread poetry to as many people as possible, I needed the most irresistible of cases. It went without saying that it had to be beautiful. And besides, I love beautiful things — my wallet complains about it quite a lot, actually.

8 - You recently launched a poetry workshop in the neonatology unit of Hôpital Robert Debré, where you offer parents and newborns a moment of reading. Can you tell us about this experience?

I visit parents in their room, with their premature or sick baby. I explain the benefits of reading and poetry to them, we chat a little together. Then I read a poem and afterward, I invite them to read in turn. It sounds very simple on paper, and yet these are experiences beyond words. A neonatal unit is a very particular place. The moment the doors close behind you, you enter a world where tension rises tenfold. The stakes of life and death are ever-present. The parents' need to be supported and comforted is too. And I am glad to give them a few minutes of light. They give it back to me in kind.

9 - Is there a moment or an anecdote that particularly moved you?

When, in the middle of reading, mothers suddenly press their palm to their heart and cry out, "How good this makes me feel!" There is no better reward. Or that father who tells me he replaces the names in the texts with his daughter's name to feel even closer to her while reading.

10 - Does Éditions Charlie Crane have other projects in the works?

We have incredible projects coming up for newborns. And some delightful book-toys for little ones! 



To close: what would you like to say to all the people — readers, parents, babies, partners — who will be touched by this book?

I want to take their hand and say: I know, me too. Sharing joy together is the salt of life.