We had the good fortune of connecting with Baptiste Piriou and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Baptiste, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?
I decided to pursue my creative career because that’s the only way for me to be happy and to be able to express myself. As a French author, words are my only great freedom today. It can be hard sometimes but you have to know how to persevere and always believe in it. for the fashion and content designer part, it was my mom who gave me her love for clothes. She always explained to me that clothing was above all a way of expressing yourself and asserting your character

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
writing is an inborn thing for me. I’ve always needed to express myself through words. I started writing when I was 11 years old. The hardest part is to try to be published. It takes time and patience. I feel very grateful to have found a French publishing house who wanted to publish my saga ILIOT. After one year, my publisher has closed permanently. I was totally lost but I kept working on the third book and finally found a new publisher. Right now I’m working on a French poetry book mixing my poems but also my art (photographies and drawings) in collaboration with my great and talented friend Pranaya Soeraadiningrat.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I think we’ll start with breakfast at home, in my 1928 apartment in the Miracle Mile neighborhood. then we would go for a walk on sunset at SilverLake. It’s a neighborhood that I love above all. Cute little shops and restaurants. We would stop at Rick’s Drive In & Out. Best burger place in town, believe me! then we would take the direction of Echo Park to take a walk around the lake eating some fresh tacos. At the end of the afternoon, it would be lovely to stop by Los Feliz theater. They are cute and little vintage theater. the smell of popcorns is delicious! and to end this great day, we will go dancing at Oil Can Harry’s. This place was my favorite. A place of freedom! The place unfortunately closed because of the Covid.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
my grandfather was the key to my love for books. After his death, I needed to create a parallel universe for myself. This is how my fantasy French saga ILIOT were born. otherwise, I am eternally inspired by the women around me and my talented singer songwriter husband, of course!

Instagram: @baptistepiriou

Twitter: @baptistepiriou

Image Credits
The pics with the car and the one with the sky are taken by @pranayasorad and the other ones are by Corey Myers (@cmyers1105) The others ones are my books and my drawing 😉

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutLA is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.