Month: April 2022

© Christy Ku / © Richard-Guesnier

Talk & Readings

Awarded the UNICEF Prize for her debut novella Les Demeurées, and the Grand Prix RTL-Lire for her novel Profanes, Jeanne Benameur is a prolific writer of fiction, non-fiction, poetry and plays. Her recently published UK debut The Child Who is a poetic exploration of grief, intergenerational silences, and nature's power to heal. She will discuss it with her translator Bill Johnston and critically acclaimed debut author of Keeping the House Tice Cin.

Live reading by Olivia Ross

Related / Latest Publications:

	Jeanne Benameur, The Child Who, translated by Bill Johnston (Les Fugitives, 2022)
	Tice Cin, Keeping the House (And other stories, 2022)

Workshop

In this very lively conference for the whole family, Award winning author Thomas Gerbeaux will explain the stages of the creation of books, from the initial idea to the publication.
He will unveil some behind the scenes tips and show how he wrote such books as The Incredible Story of the Sheep that Saved a School or The Unbelievable Tale of the Lobster that Saved its Shell along with illustrator Pauline Kerleroux.

Related / Latest Publication:

Thomas Gerbeaux & Pauline Kerleroux, L'incroyable histoire du coq qui ne voulait pas fermer son bec (La Joie de lire, 2021)

Talk

In a discussion led by Marianne Badrichani, director of the play Je t’aime moi non plus, Clare Finburgh Delijani, Professor of European Theatre at Goldsmiths University, will discuss the profound impact of "Sidi Molière" - (Sir Molière) as he's called in the Maghreb - on theatre in North Africa and the Middle East. She asks us to consider whether his theatre truly is of global appeal, or if we must reassess the limits of universality when it comes to art.

This talk will be preceded by a performance of Molière : Je t'aime moi non plus at 6pm
 
See also:

• Molière: Je t'aime moi non plus

Screening + Q&A

FRA | 2021 | 83 mins | dir. Jean-Gabriel Périot, narrated by Adèle Haenel | in French with EN subs

A fascinating reflection on working class life in France over the past 70 years, Jean-Gabriel Périot’s documentary is a loose adaptation of fragments from Didier Eribon’s 2009 memoir Returning to Reims, in which he evokes his return to the hometown he had abandoned 30 years earlier. Adèle Haenel narrates the story of a prodigal child returning home and a reconciliation that prompts discussion of a mother’s life, marriage, and the opportunities she and other women never had.

Followed by a Q&A with philosopher and author Didier Eribon

Related / Latest Publication:

Didier Eribon, Returning to Reims translated by Michael Lucey, (Penguin Books, 2019)

© Hélène Bamberger / © Sheila Burnett / © Marianne Katser

Talk & Readings

Acclaimed by critics and readers, British playwright, novelist and poet Deborah Levy and French writer Marie Darrieussecq are both considered to be amongst the leading voices of their generation. In a conversation chaired by author and translator Lauren Elkin, they will examine how they address contemporary world within creative and political spaces.

Live reading by Félicité du Jeu
 
Replay the talk:

Related / Latest Publications:

	Deborah Levy, Real Estate (Penguin, 2021)
	Marie Darrieussecq, Crossed Lines, translated by Penny Hueston (Text Publishing, 2001)
	Lauren Elkin, N.91/92. Notes on Parisian Commute (Les Fugitives, 2021)

© D.R. / © Hannah Starkey / © Mat Bray

Talk

On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of Algeria's independence and the 80th anniversary of Albert Camus's novel The Outsider, let's meet Algerian writer Kamel Daoud, author of The Meursault Investigation which won him the 2015 Prix Goncourt du premier roman, and Booker Prize winning Nigerian poet and playwright Ben Okri. Together they will share their respective views on Albert Camus's legacy in light of the post-colonial turn in a conversation chaired by journalist and author Agnès Poirier.

As part of Voices of Algeria
 
Replay the talk:

 
The talk was preceded by the screening of the short film :

The Insider
Directed by Mitra Tabrizian
Text by Ben Okri
Commissioned by Coronet Theatre, 2018.

See also:

• 143 Sahara Street + Elles
• Their Algeria introduced by Faïza Guène
• Out of Algeria: Faïza Guène & Sarah Ardizzone
• At War for Algeria

Related / Latest Publications:

	Kamel Daoud, The Meursault Investigation translated by John Cullen (Oneworld Publications, 2015)
	Ben Okri, A Fire in my Head (Head of Zeus, 2021)
	Agnès Poirier, Notre-Dame. The Soul of France (OneWorld, 2020)

© J-E Blanche

Talk

Antoine Compagnon, member of the Académie Française and Professor emeritus at Collège de France and Christopher Prendergast, Fellow of King’s College of Cambridge will meet for a discussion on their common passion : Marcel Proust and his oeuvre. Marking the 100th anniversary of Proust's death, they will explore how his monumental novel In Search of Lost Time can still shape our imaginations and influence our lives.

Chaired by Louise Ferris
 
Replay the talk:

 
See also:

• Musical Tribute to Marcel Proust
• Guermantes

Related / Latest Publications:

	Antoine Compagnon, Proust côté juif (Gallimard, 2022)
	Christopher Prendergast, Living and Dying with Marcel Proust (Europa Editions, 2022)

© Cathy Bistour

Talk

Literature meets science in this discussion with Oulipo president and 2020 Goncourt Prize Winner Hervé Le Tellier and popular science writer Brian Clegg. They will share their views on the supposedly unbridgeable gap between the arts and science, reason and intuition, and fact and fiction, in a conversation chaired by translator Adriana Hunter.

This event has been cancelled. Apologies for the inconvenience caused.

Related / Latest Publications:

	Hervé Le Tellier, The Anomaly translated by Adriana Hunter (Penguin Books, 2022)
	Brian Clegg, What Do You Think You Are?: The Science of What Makes You You (Icon Books, 2021)

Talk

In a Q&A session with Professor Patrick Baert, Dr. Damian Catani will present his biography of one of the most innovative novelists of the twentieth century, Louis-Ferdinand Céline. This book sheds light on Céline’s ground-breaking novels, which remain fresh and urgent today despite its author’s abhorrent political views. As the first English-language biography of Céline in over two decades, this book explores new material and reminds us why the author belongs in the pantheon of modern greats.

Related / Latest Publication:

Damian Catani, Louis-Ferdinand Céline: Journeys to the extreme (Reaktion Books, 2021)

Performance

An English actor and a French actress find themselves in a rehearsal room with Molière’s work. As they start rehearsing his greatest scenes (Tartuffe, Don Juan, Les Femmes savantes...) they discover he has a lot to say about the way we feel. This is an encounter with Molière. With ourselves. This is the latest production by the team that created the hit play Ionesco/Dinner at the Smiths – Marianne Badrichani and Edith Vernes - and features Anglo-French actor Philippe Spall (Downton Abbey) in his first French theatre piece in England. A play for the whole family, from 12+

Theatrical Performance by Marianne Badrichani
With Edith Vernes, Philippe Spall and Marianne Badrichani
In French with English surtitles

As part of Molière’s 400th anniversary celebrations.

The performance will be followed by a talk with Clare Finburgh Delijani at 7pm
 
See also:

• Sidi Molière