A literary look at perfume

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A literary look at perfume

Exploring Fragrances in Literature is an exciting event this March at the British Library where perfumers will explore the link between scent and words.

Perfumer Tim Gage, a perfumer who has worked with British fragrance house CPL Aromas for over 15 years and specialises in candle and room fragrances, will be presenting a fragrance especially created in response to a piece of literature. He will be part of a panel discussion led by Pia Long, Director of Olfiction Ltd.

The discussion will explore how writers can use and convey the evocative power of scent through language. The speakers will describe how scent can enrich narrative and vice versa. 

From The Song of Songs to the novel Chocolat, writers have used smells to expand the palette of their expression, to evoke a memory, signal an encounter, describe seduction or deepen their description or characters or places. 

The evening will open with literary translator and scent enthusiast Marta Dziurosz describing how scents are featured in literature and how scent descriptions perform to enhance literature.
 
The perfumer and writer Pia Long will speak about the process of perfumery including how narrative is one of the building blocks for interpreting olfactory briefs. Gage will join Long and another perfumer, Achille Riviello from Synarome, to present special creations and to describe their process of translating words into scent. 

Says Tim Gage: "I was presented with a text from ‘Like Water for Chocolate' by Laura Esquivel as inspiration for a new fragrance and initially it read like a simple recipe. I quickly realised that what appeared to be an apparently simple rose base for the fragrance was in fact very complex as it involved gourmand fragrance notes such as quail and chestnut that we don't have in the perfumery palette. The creative process began. I was able to create this unusual fragrance using one of CPL Aromas' unique Aromafusion materials - Orris Fusion."

Aromafusion is a range of captive ingredients that are unique and available only to CPLAromas' perfumers who are able to craft completely original creations that cannot be replicated.

The scent that Gage will present is Rose Petal Sauce W (for Women) Eau de Toilette. Gage emphasises: "Due to its inclusion of an Aromafusion material, it is therefore a fragrance that cannot be replicated by others."

The event takes place at the British Library in London at 7pm on 27 March 2018.

Click here to book your place.

 

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