The Leaves
Writing to decrypt the world
"This is an era of shock images, TikTok videos, flashy slogans... I belong to the old guard. I love writing. The kind that takes its time."
I write in four distinct forms: academic research, project coordination reports, song lyrics, and literary and creative writing. Each serves a different need, but all share the same desire to decrypt the world, to understand the other, to tell what deserves to be told.
Novel
Que la terre nous soit légère
584 pages spanning African forest, diplomatic corridors, Marseille recording studios and the food industry.
Research
Academic publications
Doctoral thesis, articles in peer-reviewed journals, conference presentations.
Chronicles
The chronicles of the Baobab Man
Notes, reflections and field journals - the blog of a man who can't stay still. See below.
Songs
Lyrics and compositions
Words that are sung, chanted, whispered.
Video notebooks
Filmed notes on my writing process - the behind-the-scenes, the doubts, the digressions.
How I write a book
Where does inspiration come from, how to find the time...
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Go With the Flow
Writing about what you love, letting go...
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On the difficulty of being constant
And other thoughts of the day...
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Zoom in, zoom out
The pen as a camera. Taking readers by the hand...
Late wake-up
Stylistic innovation. Letting yourself be surprised.
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The Baobab Man Chronicles
Posts published on LinkedIn - reflections on aid, writing, research and the roads less travelled.
Conformity vs authenticity
"We celebrate transformation... yet only reward predictability and conformity." On hiring systems that value stamps over substance.
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System transformation?
Critique of "the Projectorate" - endless pilots, rotating consultants and evaluation frameworks that prevent real change. Reform or abolish the aid system?
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#NoExcuses - Writing against all odds
"I claimed the time I didn't have. I wrote in airports, on buses, during missions." A novel written between a PhD, a full-time job and four children.
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PhD: finally a real-world use
"My PhD thesis - the product of nearly a decade of research - is now proudly stabilizing furniture." Academic self-deprecation at its finest.
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Go With the Flow
Starting from Steve Jobs: a brilliant idea is worth nothing without execution. Rigid logframes and budgets don't reflect field reality. A case for adaptive project management.
21 likes · 5 comments