Category: Live Events

Talk

February 1980. Roland Barthes is knocked down in a Paris street by a laundry van. History tells us it was an accident. But what if it were an assassination? What if Barthes was carrying a document of global importance? A document explaining the seventh function of language – which gives whoever masters it the ability to convince anyone, in any situation, to do anything. Who can you trust when the idea of truth itself is at stake? Laurent Binet, author of the bestselling HHhH and winner of the Goncourt first novel prize, will be presenting this brilliantly erudite comedy, published by Harvill Secker, in discussion with British author and journalist Alex Preston.

Related / Latest Publication(s)

The 7^th Function of Language (Harvill Secker, 2017)
Translated by Sam Taylor

Talk

Based on a True Story (D'après une histoire vraie) by Delphine de Vigan is a prize-winning, sophisticated and chilling novel of suspense which continually blurs the line between fact and fiction. Just published by Bloomsbury in a translation by George Miller, this unputdownable book takes the reader into a nightmarish story of master manipulation. Rarely seen in London, Delphine de Vigan will tell us more about the boundaries between reality and fantasy, friendship and fascination, and a little too about her previous bestselling books No and Me and Nothing Holds back the Night (No et moi, Rien ne s'oppose à la nuit). The discussion will be chaired by journalist and writer Celia Walden (The Telegraph).

Related / Latest Publication(s)

Based on a True Story (Bloomsbury, 2017)
Translated by George Miller

Talk and Readings

Goncourt Prize-winning Cry, Mother Spain (Pas pleurer) takes us to the heart of the Spanish Civil War, as seen through the delicate transcription of a politically, emotionally and linguistically charged conversation between mother and daughter. Montse is fifteen as Franco’s forces begin their murderous purges and cities across Spain rise up against the old order. Those troubled times, both the happiest and most miserable years of Montse’s life, are set against darker extracts taken from the contemporary account Les Grands Cimetières sous la lune by Georges Bernanos. Lydie Salvayre will be in conversation with her translator Ben Faccini.

Related / Latest Publication(s)

Cry, Mother Spain (MacLehose Press, 2016)
Translated by Ben Faccini

Readings and Music

Now on the shortlist for the 2017 Man Booker International Prize, Mathias Enard’s nocturnal and musical Goncourt-winning novel Compass (Fitzcarraldo Editions) spans the restless night of an insomniac musicologist drifting between dreams and memories of the Middle East, of Aleppo, Damascus and Tehran, as well as of various writers, artists, musicians and orientalists. Also longlisted for the Man Booker International Prize, Alain Mabanckou’s Black Moses (Serpent’s Tail), a larger than life comic tale set in 1970s Congo, shows the struggle of a young man obsessed with helping the helpless in an unjust world. Storytellers Alia Alzougbi and David Mildon, accompanied by oud player Rihab Azar, invite you to celebrate this year's two French language Man Booker novels.

Related / Latest publication(s)

Unfortunately, Mathias Malzieu is no longer able to travel to London, and his publisher and agent have had to cancel this event.

To have had my life saved has been the most extraordinary adventure I have ever had says Mathias Malzieu. Best known as the lead singer of the French band Dionysos, Mathias is now also an acclaimed writer. He will join us – possibly with some music – on the occasion of the UK launch of his latest book, Diary of a Vampire in Pyjamas by Quercus. Insightful, tragic and funny, it is the memoir of one who lives to tell the tale of his close encounter with death, and of his addictive wonder at the triumph of the human spirit. Mathias will be in conversation with his publisher, Katy Follain.

Related / Latest publication(s)

Diary of a Vampire in Pyjamas (Quercus, 2017)
Translated by Sam Alexander

Talk

Join Emmanuelle Pagano, Ananda Devi and the brand new Librairie Caravansérail for an afternoon of readings, dance, and other pleasures. In Trysting (Nouons-nous, published by And Other Stories), Emmanuelle Pagano presents a myriad of minutely choreographed vignettes on love and desire. Ananda Devi sets Eve out of her Ruins (Eve de ses décombres, published by Les Fugitives) in her native island Mauritius, telling the loss of innocence of four teenagers against the backdrop of postcolonial fin-de-siècle. Pagano and Devi will talk about their work and the influences of other voices and art forms, accompanied by dancers from Tangolicious. The discussion will welcome Trysting's co-translators Sophie Lewis as chair and Jennifer Higgins as interpreter. The talk will be followed by a festive "goûter" to celebrate the launch of Caravanserail.

Check out www.tangolicious.org

Related / Latest publication(s)

Trysting (And Other Stories, 2016)
Translated by Jennifer Higgins and Sophie Lewis

Eve out of her Ruins (Les Fugitives/CB éditions, 2016)
Translated by Jeffrey Zuckerman

Café Philo

For this special festival edition of our Café Philo, come and discuss the question of truth and fiction. In times of Post-Truth and alternative realities, what do we hope for when we read fictional stories? To what extent do fragments of reality impact the imaginary quality of the narrative? What narratives and fictions seem most relevant to today’s concerns?

Talk

To celebrate the UK launch of The French Art of War (Atlantic Books) and the French publication of The Return (Penguin/Gallimard), we welcome Goncourt prize winner Alexis Jenni and Pulitzer Prize winner, PEN America 2017 laureate Hisham Matar. Jenni’s novel spans essential decades of recent French history, from the aftermath of the Second World War in the 1950s, to the decolonisation and Algerian war of the 1970s. Meanwhile, Matar tells his illuminating journey to find his father, kidnapped and handed over to the Libyan regime in 1990, and retraces his steps to rediscover his country after years of exile. Both authors will be joined by their translators, French writer Agnès Desarthe and Frank Wynne, for a discussion on writing, generations, history and violence.

Related / Latest publication(s)

The French Art of War (Atlantic Books, 2017)
Translated by Frank Wynne

The Return: Fathers, Sons and the Land In Between (Viking, 2016)

La terre qui les sépare (Gallimard, 2017)
Translated by Agnès Desarthe

Shared Reading

Poems are to be shared, embodied, whispered and spoken out loud, and our poetry libraries are full of fragments of wisdom and beauty waiting to be re-read. Come and bring to life an exciting selection of French poetry from the National Poetry Library's collection, by Baudelaire, Cendrars, Apollinaire, Vénus Khoury-Ghata and more. A collective performance led by Erica Jarnes - no preparation necessary, just bring your voice and ears.

www.poetrylibrary.org.uk

Talk

Discover the incredible story of Emile Zola’s escape to London in the aftermath of the scandalous Dreyfus Affair. Michael Rosen, Children’s Laureate and author of more than 140 books enjoyed by children and adults alike, offers an intriguing and personal insight into the mind, the love, and the politics of Zola in a book published this year by Faber & Faber. He will take you behind the scenes of the famous J’accuse that forced Zola to leave Paris in disgrace. Michael will be in conversation with Sarah Ardizzone, with whom he worked on the programme Zola in Norwood (BBC Radio 3).

Related / Latest publication(s)

The Disappearance of Emile Zola (Faber, 2017)