FRANCE magazine, Britain�s best-selling monthly magazine about France, is delighted to announce the appointment of best-selling authors Stephen Clarke and Carol Drinkwater as regular columnists. The columns will run on alternate months, starting with Stephen�s column in the April issue, on sale on the 18 March 2009.

Paris-based Stephen Clarke is best known for his Merde series of books featuring the hapless Brit-in-France Paul West. His column �How to be French� will offer expert and humorous advice to those wanting to fit in better among their Gallic neighbours. �You might make you wonder why they didn�t ask a French person to do it,� he says. �But that�d be a bit like asking a truffle how to be a truffle. It has no idea, it just does it. Of course, most French people are more eloquent than truffles, but even so, I�m not entirely sure that the French can really explain how to be French. They�re too close to the subject, and don�t realise how lucky they are (in my view) to live here.� Famed for her turn as Helen in the televised adaptation of All Creatures Great and Small, the actress-turned-author Carol Drinkwater runs a successful olive farm in Provence, with her series of Olive books selling over 750,000 copies. She is �thrilled to be on board�, and �looking forward to sweeping France readers away to one of the loveliest places on the planet� for her column �Postcards from Provence�. It starts in the May issue, on sale 15 April 2009.

The new columns come as part of a range of exciting developments being rolled out at the magazine, with a revamped language section and other new sections coming in the June issue.

The April issue is also a �Walking special� with all its features dedicated the best places in France to explore on foot.

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Editor�s notes � France magazine is Britain�s best-selling monthly magazine about France � The magazine started in 1990 and currently sells 34,815 copies a month � It is currently distributed in the UK and the US. The US issue is bi-monthly, and American readers will receive both columns in their magazine.

For more information please contact editorial assistant Eve Middleton on 01242 216086 / eve.middleton@archant.co.uk