Philippe Claudel projects tranquil, thoughtful power. The award-winning French writer of Grey Souls chatted with Zócalo backstage at the Harmony Gold Theatre on October 14th, after screening his directorial debut, “I’ve Loved You So Long.” It’s no surprise he took his family to Lapland to craft the script under (almost) perpetually dark skies, the tension between isolation and intimacy strikes at the core of his creative spirit.

Q. What do you wake up to?
A. When I wake up, my first activity is to kiss my wife. Unfortunately at this moment, I’m alone at the hotel. I kiss my pillow!

Q. What’s your favorite word?
A. My favorite word is Dad. When I hear [it] in the voice of my daughter, it’s magic.

Q. What inspires you?
A. [My wife is] like a muse for me and at the same time she builds peaceful conditions for my work. She is a great balance for me because if I am totally alone, I am a little crazy. I’m not sure I’d be alive.

Q. What comforts you?
A. It depends on the moment. After a very long day, like today, it would be a glass of red wine. Sometimes it’s music. Sometimes it’s just silence. But there is one thing I prefer – contemplating a mountain landscape. Maybe it’s the best place for me in the world, to be in the middle of mountains, without people. It’s a paradox because I am truly alone but at the same time full of others, of impressions, of feelings. It’s important for my creativity.

Q. How would you describe yourself in five words or less?
A. Unfortunately, forever young in my mind. When I see myself in the mirror in the morning, I see I am not 17!

Q. Who is the one person, living or dead, that you’d love to have a beer (or wine) with?
A. My wife.

*Photo by Aaron Salcido.