Zenith keeps time for personalities who take the time to try to understand the world today – writers, artists, journalists and all other great witnesses. In this regard, the Manufacture has decided to support the Norman Mailer Center and partner the institute's annual Gala. This year's ceremony included presenting the Norman Mailer Prize to four prestigious personalities: Arundhati Roy, Elie Wiesel, Guy Talese and Keith Richards. In addition to their prizes, the three latter laureates accepted a Zenith El Primero Chronomaster Open chronograph.
2011 Norman Mailer Center Gala
On November 8, the third annual Gala organised by the Norman Mailer Center & Writers Colony was held in New York. Founded in honour of the memory of American writer, Norman Mailer, through its various initiatives (writing workshops, seminars, lectures, readings and conferences), the organisation aims to encourage writers imbued with the same passions as Norman Mailer: dialogue, debate, and above all, an insatiable curiosity for the times in which they live. The Norman Mailer Center therefore strives to preserve the role of brave literature as not only a legitimate but an indispensable voice in contemporary discourse. The annual Gala brings together some 500 personalities from the world of arts and literature. Amongst these are Nobel, Pulitzer and Booker prize winners. In 2011, the laureates are personalities as prestigious and diverse as Elie Wiesel, Arundhati Roy, Gay Telese and Keith Richards. As of this year, the Norman Mailer Center Gala will be supported by the Manufacture Zenith, which will also partner the initiatives launched by the Center throughout the year. To mark this partnership, 2011 laureates Elie Wiesel, Gay Telese and Keith Richards accepted one of Zenith's most iconic chronographs – the El Primero Chronomaster Open. Three of the four figures who presented the awards, former president Bill Clinton, Mortimer Zuckerman and Tina Brown, also received prestigious Zenith timepieces.
Zenith, arts and literature
“Since its inception, Zenith has distinguished itself through the inventiveness and creativity of the timepieces it develops,” says Jean-Frédéric Dufour, CEO and President of the Manufacture Zenith. “It is precisely this mind-set that has appealed to many people around the world who have forged new paths in many domains, and particularly in literature.” Zenith timepieces have provided impetus for the pens of many writers – Edmond Rostand, author of Cyrano de Bergerac, Anatole France (Nobel Prize for literature in 1921), Pierre Loti, and even the Countess Anna de Noailles (first woman to achieve the rank of Commander in the Legion of Honour).
Norman Mailer Center & Writers Colony
Founded in honour of the memory of american writer, Norman Mailer, through its various initiatives (writing workshops, seminars, lectures, readings and conferences) the organisation aims to encourage writers imbued with the same passions as Norman Mailer – dialogue, debate, and above all, an insatiable curiosity for the times in which they live. The Norman Mailer Center therefore strives to preserve the role of brave literature as not only a legitimate but an indispensable voice in contemporary discourse.
Four prestigious laureates
On the occasion of its third event, the annual Gala (henceforth sponsored by Zenith), the Norman Mailer Center had selected four exceptional personalities to receive a 2011 Mailer Prize.These laureates are:
Elie Wiesel – honoured with the Norman Mailer Lifetime Achievement Prize presented by editor and real-estate developer, Mort Zuckerman. A Holocaust survivor, he has described and reflected on his experiences in a concentration camp through some 50 works in French and english. His activities on behalf of the memory of the Holocaust and human rights, against intolerance and injustice, earned him a nobel Peace Prize in 1986. He founded the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity in conjunction with his wife.
Arundhati Roy – honoured with the Mailer Prize for Distinguished Writing presented by producer, Jonathan Demme. The indian novelist won fame with The God of Small Things, a worldwide best-seller for which she won the 1997 Booker Prize. She is also the author of many essays and film scripts, and equally well known for her courageous commitment to promoting peace and social justice in her country.
Gay Telese – honoured with the Mailer Prize for Distinguished Journalism, presented by well-known journalist Tina Brown. Through his many articles published in a number of prestigious titles of the american press – including the New York Times, Esquire, The New Yorker and Harper's Magazine, Gay Telese has contributed to defining a form of literary journalism that has been named new Journalism in the United States.
Keith Richards – honoured with the Mailer Prize for Distinguished Biography, presented by former president, Bill Clinton. The autobiography of the Rolling Stones' guitarist, published in 2010, rapidly became an international success. He evokes scenes from his child- hood in England, his love for music, the founding of the legendary group and his often stormy relations with Mick Jagger.
Zenith, contemporary pioneering spirit
The Manufacture Zenith has always demonstrated an unfailing spirit of discovery, focusing on surpassing the limits that others deem unsurpassable. Jean-Frédéric Dufour conveys the passion that drives him and his team as follows, “The expression ‘Pioneering Spirit' is that which best defines the Zenith brand. This ability to conceive of new ideas and then go for it – before anyone else – when pursuing new technical developments: that is what is so fascinating at Zenith. ”This inventive strength reaches its full potential because it is based on an uncompromising tradition of watchmaking. It is this know-how, passed on for more than a century and a half in the workshops in Le Locle, that enabled the Manufacture Zenith to design and assemble the El Primero calibre, the most precise automatic movement in the world, and the first to beat at ten vibrations per second; or more recently, to develop the Christophe Colomb “Grande Complication” model, the first wristwatch to be equipped with a gyroscopic cage that maintains the regulating organ in a horizontal position. This combination of tradition and contemporary vision makes Zenith the artisan of modern times.
