Benediction: Siegfried Sassoon Biopic

Posted by Speakeasy News > Tuesday 05 March 2024 > Shine Bright Lycée What's On

Siegfried Sassoon was one of the most famous of the British World War I poets but unlike Wilfred Owen, Rupert Brooke or Edward Thomas, Sassoon survived the war he had despised while serving brilliantly. Terence Davies’ final film traces both the war service and the long life looking for meaning which followed, with Jack Lowden … Continue reading “Benediction: Siegfried Sassoon Biopic”

Benjamin Zephaniah Interview

Posted by Speakeasy News > Friday 08 December 2023 > Celebrate

After the sudden death of Benjamin Zephaniah, we decided to share the interview we had the great privilege of doing with one of Britain’s most popular poets in 2012. He had just been appointed Professor of Creative Writing at Brunel University. He shared some of his very eclectic thoughts with us. Do you think of … Continue reading “Benjamin Zephaniah Interview”

What the Dickens? 2023 Women’s Prize Winner

Posted by Speakeasy News > Friday 16 June 2023 > What's On

The UK’s 2023 Women’s Prize has been awarded to Barbara Kingsolver for Demon Copperhead, her retelling of Dickens’ David Copperfield set in modern-day Appalachia. She is the first author to win the prize twice, after winning in 2010 for The Lacuna. Kingsolver also received the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for fiction for Demon Copperhead. She was … Continue reading “What the Dickens? 2023 Women’s Prize Winner”

Emily Brontë Biopic

Posted by Speakeasy News > Friday 10 March 2023 > What's On

Emily Brontë was one of the most extraordinary group of siblings in British literature. Although she wrote just one novel, Wuthering Heights, it has resonated across the world since 1847. A new biopic tries to imagine how Emily got inspiration for her Romantic classic. Emma Mackey (Eiffel, Death on the Nile) embodies the fierce, shy … Continue reading “Emily Brontë Biopic”

Gothic Nightmares: Fuseli

Posted by Speakeasy News > Monday 05 September 2022 > Shine Bright Lycée What's On

Under the pseudonym Henry Fuseli, Swiss artist Johan Heinrich Füssli, became one of the leading lights of the 19th-century British art world and a popular proponent of Romanticism and the Gothic. His many depictions of Shakespearean scenes, the supernatural, dreams and nightmares are rich food for the imagination. A new exhibition at the Musée Jacquemart … Continue reading “Gothic Nightmares: Fuseli”

Back to Middle Earth

Posted by Speakeasy News > Tuesday 09 August 2022 > Shine Bright Lycée What's On

It’s a very overused phrase to say that a series is eagerly awaited, but with The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, it’s completely justified. There were more than 250 million views of the teaser trailer in 24 hours after it aired during the Superbowl in February. The 8-part lavish first season of … Continue reading “Back to Middle Earth”

Paperback Festival in St Maur

Posted by Speakeasy News > Wednesday 22 June 2022 > What's On

Saint-Maur-des-Fossés (94) is delighted to once again welcome dozens of authors from around the world to its festival St Maur en Poche from 24 to 26 June.  There will be lots of Anglophone authors present, including the inimitable Maggie O’Farrell, winner of the 2020 Women’s Prize for Fiction for Hamnet, her imagining of the life … Continue reading “Paperback Festival in St Maur”

Women’s Prize for Fiction Winner 2022

Posted by Speakeasy News > Friday 17 June 2022 > What's On

Britain’s Women’s Prize for Fiction has been awarded to a book narrated by a book. American-Canadian author Ruth Ozeki’s fourth novel has the philosophical title The Book of Form and Emptiness, perhaps no surprise from an author who combines writing, teaching and being a Zen Buddhist priest. The teenage protagonist Benny finds the Book when … Continue reading “Women’s Prize for Fiction Winner 2022”