With its proximity to the cultural hub of New York City and its quieter suburban and rural landscapes, Connecticut was fertile ground for artists and writers in the period of Modernist movements between 1913 and 1979. Many of these cultural figures are well known through biographical and critical studies. Creative Places seeks to show how place played a significant role in creative work, and how in turn the artists and writers influenced communities in Connecticut.
Georges Simenon
1903 – 1989
Simenon found his “dream” home in Lakeville, Connecticut, at Shadow Rock Farm, and lived there from 1950 to 1955. Some say that his best writing occurred in the ten years he spent in North America.
- Biography/Description of Work
A prolific fiction writer in the detective/mystery genre who used his own name and numerous pseudonyms, Simenon was best known for a series centered on Inspector Jules Maigret, a character first created in 1930. Born in Belgium, Simenon began his career in journalism, and during those early years became acquainted with the range of human activity in an urban setting, learning firsthand about crime and policing. At 19, he moved to France where he remained until the end of World War II. Largely apolitical, he was variously thought to be a Nazi sympathizer and a suspected to be Jewish. He spent ten years in North America from 1945 to 1955 before returning to France and eventually settling in Switzerland.
- Associated Resource(s)
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