The 2021 UK Women’s Prize for Fiction has been won by Susanna Clarke for Piranesi, only her second novel, published 16 years after her immensely popular Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell. Like its predecessor, Piranesi is an experimental novel in the realm of fantasy. Piranesi lives alone in an immense labyrinthine house surrounded by sea. … Continue reading “2021 Women’s Prize for Fiction Winner”
The Institut-Franco-Américain in Rennes is marking the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks with an exhibition and a talk. On 21 September, Florian Treguer from University Rennes 2 will look back on the 9/11 attacks through the prism of Don DeLillo’s 2007 novel Falling Man. And an exhibition, 20 Ans Après Never Forget, by … Continue reading “9/11 Commemorated in Rennes”
Prizewinning Irish novelist Colum McCann will discuss freedom and resistance in his work at the Irish Cultural Centre in Paris on 4 September, with musical accompaniment from fiddler Colm Mac Con Iomaire, who shares his commitment to dialogue and peace. McCann’s most recent novel Apeirogon has received recognition from around the world including in France le prix … Continue reading “Colum McCann: Literature and Music”
Just ahead of the COP26 summit in Glasgow at the end of October, a cinema release for the documentary I am Greta. The young environmental activist who started School Strike for the Climate in 2018 is still only 18, but has had a profound effect on environmentalists young and old. The documentary was made almost … Continue reading “She is Greta”
Fingers crossed, the two major Anglophone film festivals in France are set to go ahead. The Deauville American Film Festival on 3-12 September and the Dinard British Film Festival from 29 September to 3 October. The chances are that there will be fewer Hollywood stars on the boardwalks than usual at Deauville but there will … Continue reading “Deauville and Dinard Film Festivals”
African-American author Colson Whitehead and film director Barry Jenkins both made the same mistake when they were children and first heard about the Underground Railroad. The historical Underground Railroad was a network of people who helped slaves escape from the American South to freedom in the northern states or Canada. Both Whitehead and Jenkins pictured … Continue reading “Bringing the Underground Railroad to the Screen”
Marseilles is an appropriate setting for an exhibition on surrealism in American Art: it was from its port that many members of the Surrealist movement fled Nazi occupied France for New York. Find out more at the centre de la Vieille Charité until 26 September. The exhibition examines the cross-fertilisation between European and American Surrealists … Continue reading “Surrealism in American Art”
Yes, that is legendary American director Spike Lee peering out of the poster for the 2021 Cannes Film Festival. He is the president of the jury for the 74th festival. Two months later than usual, and with cinema releases having been largely suspended for a year, it will be an unusual edition. Filmlovers everywhere will … Continue reading “Cannes is Back!”
If you find yourself close to Belgium this summer, it’s worth heading to Brussels for the Aboriginalités exhibition: more than 250 paintings by First Australian artists who innovate using traditional techniques and subject matter and modern materials. Art is a very important part of Aboriginal spiritual and cultural life, part of a vast system of … Continue reading “Aboriginalities”
Calling all detective fiction fans: Lyon’s Quais du Polar festival is back from 2-4 July with the cream of crime-fiction authors from around the globe in genres from adult to kids’ fiction, comic books and more. A couple of Anglophone authors who caught our eye are David Vann from the U.S.A. and R.J. Ellory from the … Continue reading “Quais du Polar Lyon 2021”
