BTVF: Who is Meddy Ligner?
M.L: I was born in 1974 and live in Poitiers, where I teach history and geography at a high school. I’m passionate about sports, especially baseball. I started playing in 1989 at the Garocheurs de Bressuire club (79). I’ve never stopped since, playing occasionally overseas (Finland, Russia, China, Poland) and now for the Poitiers club.
BTVF: Writing is central to your life. How did your career as a short story writer and novelist begin?
M.L: Writing is another of my passions. I started writing in the 1990s, but from my earliest childhood, I used to tell myself stories.
My current work takes two forms.
First, fiction in the realm of the imagination (science fiction, fantasy, etc.): I began with short stories (around thirty published in France and abroad) and then novels (two so far).
Then, I write articles or essays on sports, comics, and cinema. In September, my new book, Rocky & the Myths of Boxing, will be released, analyzing the links between real boxing and the saga of the boxer created by Sylvester Stallone.
BTVF: Science fiction and sports seem to be the two most explored themes in your imagination. How do you explain that?
M.L: I’m a child of 1980s TV, raised on Japanese sci-fi anime (Goldorak, Albator, Cobra, Captain Flam…) and the major sporting events my father followed at the time: the World Cup, the Olympics, the Tour de France, Roland Garros… I was marked by these two domains, and it’s only natural that I’m interested in them. Sometimes I even try to mix them—I recommend issue #63 of the magazine Galaxies, where I published a sci-fi baseball short story… It’s a rare subject in French, though in the U.S., it’s almost a genre unto itself.
BTVF: Baseball is your favorite sport. You write about it in several of your works. Why do you think baseball inspires so much writing?
M.L: In 2018, I created the Prix Bulles de Sport, an annual award for the best sports comic published in French. And if you look closely, like in cinema, the sports that translate best into comics are boxing, baseball, and cycling.
Baseball is a team sport where there’s still a duel between two individuals (pitcher/batter). That’s its great strength.
Moreover, it’s a fascinating sport for its tactical aspect and its historical side. Since the mid-19th century, baseball has been full of legends, feats, and dramas…
BTVF: The Bressuire club disappeared from competitions in 2017. You recount the saga in a recent article. Is this a form of catharsis for you?
M.L: Indeed, I published an article about the Garocheurs in the American magazine Spitball Magazine last spring. My goal was simply to testify about this fantastic experience that went far beyond baseball: counter-current philosophy, a match against an African selection on their home turf, games on an Olympic stadium or all over Europe… But summarizing the thirty years of existence of this atypical club in five lines here would be impossible.
BTVF: What can we wish for you?
M.L: That it continues! First, on the diamonds, which I hope to frequent for several more years, maybe alongside my son, whom I coach with the youth team in Poitiers! And then, I have plenty of ideas in my head to bring to life, and I’d like to work on other media: comics, cinema, or TV… Projects are in the works, but it’s too early to talk about them, so cross your fingers for me!
Interview by DC
