Olympia Press Trivia Quiz

Answer: Paris

Although Maurice Girodias, the founder of Olympia, grew up in the UK, his mother was French and he was familiar with the country. Publishing English-language books in France allowed him to evade both British and French censors who attempted to restrict certain publications.

Answer: Lolita

Published in 1955, "Lolita" by Vladimir Nabokov is about a man named Humbert Humbert and his infatuation with the 12-year-old girl Lolita. At the time, Olympia was the only publisher who would print Nabokov's controversial manuscript, but he was later able to secure a more lucrative contract with Putnam. "A Clockwork Orange" was turned into a film by Stanley Kubrick, but it is by Anthony Burgess. "My Life and Loves" was written by Frank Harris, and Ray Bradbury authored "Farenheit 451". All four books, however, have been banned or restricted at some point in their histories.

Answer: Samuel Beckett

Samuel Beckett was an Irish playwright, but his Olympia-published trilogy (in addition to "Waiting for Godot" and other works) was originally written in French. He himself translated "Malone Dies" and "The Unnamable" for their Olympia publication, and he collaborated on the translation of "Malloy" with Patrick Bowles.

Answer: Pauline Reage

Although the cover of "Story of O" bears the name "Pauline Reage", research by the Olympia "biographer" John de St. Jorre revealed that this is a pseudonym for Dominique Aury, a French translator who in turn had changed her name from Anne Desclos in order to not embarrass her family through the fact that she was a working woman. Anais Nin is of no relation to Reage, but she was heavily involved in Olympia as a writer of erotic fiction.

Answer: Graphic sexual content

"Story of O" is renowned for its graphic sadomasochistic content - it was the first novel of its type to be written by a woman. Although it won the prestigious Prix de Deux Magots in 1955, it was dismissed as filth and would only be published by Olympia - until 1965, when it was picked up by the American Grove Press. Today it is considered an exceptional example of the genre.

Answer: Naked Lunch

"Naked Lunch" was largely written in the Hotel el Muniria in Tangier in the 1950s. It was originally published by Olympia, but a 1962 American Grove Press edition changed the book substantially, removing an initial "The" from the title and likely bringing it closer to Burroughs' original manuscript. "Tropic of Cancer" by Henry Miller and "Lady Chatterley's Lover" by DH Lawrence are both famously controversial novels, and "Down and Out in Paris and London" is an autobiography by George Orwell.

Answer: Traveller's Companion

The "Traveller's Companion" series, consisting of run-of-the-mill pornographic stories written by pseudonymic staff writers, was marketed largely to sailors. Obelisk Press was the name of Olympia's predecessor, run by Maurice Girodias' father, Jack Kahane. Grove Press is an American successor to Olympia, to which was passed the torch of publishing controversial works of literature in the 1960s. "Lettres d'Amour", while meaning "love letters" in French, is a fabricated name.

Answer: James Joyce

Joyce is also famous for works such as "Dubliners", but "Ulysses" is famous for being difficult to finish. Its avant-garde, stream-of-consciousness nature, in addition to various sexual content, meant that it was widely banned and condemned, though it initially found publication with Obelisk Press, Olympia's predecessor.

Answer: Candy

In his recasting of Voltaire's 1759 story, Terry Southern changed the optimistic young title character into a sexually-attractive woman, with a similarly rosy-eyed view of human nature. Written to be titillating, the book, like most Olympia publications, is known for its graphic sexual content. It was turned into a 1968 film starring Ringo Starr and Ewa Aulin.

Answer: 1967

Olympia's popularity declined throughout the 1960s, as barriers concerning the publication of controversial works were broken and authors were offered better contracts by publishers like the American Grove Press. In 1967, Maurice Girodias, hounded by the French police for violating obscene publications laws, fled to the United States and tried to restart Olympia, but he was unsuccessful. Today, though, various companies with the name "Olympia Press" exist, publishing pornographic or controversial material.