On 24 June, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned one of its own “landmark rulings”, a rare event. There had already been leaks that the Court would reverse the 1973 Roe v Wade ruling that limiting a woman’s right to an abortion was unconstitutional. There had been legal challenges to Roe v Wade for decades, but … Continue reading “A Landmark Ruling Overturned”
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”
Baz Luhrmann’s new film is a biopic of Elvis Presley, the founding father of rock ‘n’ roll. Australian writer-director Baz Luhrmann (Romeo + Juliet, The Great Gatsby, Moulin Rouge) has long been fascinated by Elvis Presley. But to tell his story on film, he decided to focus on the relationship between Elvis and his manager, … Continue reading “The King of Rock ‘n’ Roll”
France’s Fête de la Musique is 40 years old this year, and it has inspired other countries to celebrate music on the longest day of the year, 21 June. Make Music Day, as it’s dubbed in English, made it to New York 15 years ago and has spread across North America, helped by a non-profit, … Continue reading “World Music Day”
A new production of Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird as a play is now running in London as well as Broadway. Aaron Sorkin has dramatised the classic novel to put the focus on, and give a voice to, Tom Robinson, who is falsely accused of raping a white woman. To Kill a Mockingbird is … Continue reading “To Kill a Mockingbird: Changing the Point of View”
7 July will be the first edition of World Kiswahili Language Day. The United Nations designated the official day in recognition of a language that is spoken by 200 million people across Africa. It is gaining in popularity and could one day replace English and French as a lingua franca native to the continent. In … Continue reading “Spreading Swahili”
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”
It’s always lovely to see students’ work. Here are some posters 1re LLCER students created to persuade other students to read Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, which they had studied. These wonderful posters are by pupils at Lycée Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Sarcelles (95). Thank you Yasser, Lotan, Ilian, Elyes, Christelle, Wendy, Yasmine, Swéta, Camélia, Koudedji, … Continue reading “Your Students Have Talent: To Kill a Mockingbird”
In 1922, James Joyce’s landmark novel Ulysses was published in Paris, since it wouldn’t have passed censorship rules in his native Ireland. Every 16 June, Joyce fans pay homage to the book, which takes place over one day on 16 June, by dressing in period costume and acting out scenes from the novel. Ulysses was … Continue reading “Bloomsday 100”
If you teach in a European Section and your pupils have history as their DNL subject, your history teacher colleagues will want to know about our new digital text book for DNL History in première. It will be available for the new school year but they can find out all about it by watching the … Continue reading “Meet the Authors: History 1re DNL Webinar”