The Goldfinch is a stunning coming-of-age story set in New York, Las Vegas and Amsterdam. Donna Tartt’s 2013 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel has been adapted for the screen. The story centres on Theo Decker, 13 when the book opens. His reasonably settled teenage life living with his mother is torn apart in seconds. During a visit … Continue reading “Donna Tartt’s “The Goldfinch” on Screen”
This A2 activity is based on a short presentation of Washington Irving’s short story Rip Van Winkle, which was first published in 1819, two hundred years ago. Although it was inspired by a German traditional story, Irving gave it a clearly American context as the eponymous Van Winkle magically falls asleep for 20 years, completely … Continue reading “Rip van Winkle”
In 2019, for the first time, the U.S.A.’s poet laureate — the nation’s “official” poet — will be a Native American. Joy Harjo is a member of the Muscogee Creek Nation from Alabama. She aims to honour both the “Native” and the “American”, saying, “When you grow up as a person in your culture, you … Continue reading “Native Voice”
Adapting a scene from a book as a film scene, or a film scene as prose, is an excellent English-learning exercise. To see how the experts do it, a talk at the American Library in Paris analyses the adaptation of one of America’s classic books into one of its classic films. Judith Merians, Hollywood executive … Continue reading “To Kill a Mockingbird: Adapting to Film”
For 25 years, San-Francisco-based theatre company Word for Word has been putting on innovative productions of prose pieces performed as theatre. And each year, they do a small tour of France, giving audiences in Paris, Angers and Nancy the chance to experience their unique style of theatre. They’re back in April and May with two … Continue reading “Short Stories on Stage Paris, Angers, Nancy”
Cécile Sempere-Brun recommends: The Verdun Affair, by Nick Dybeck A novel about love and loss, forgetting and remembering. Reading A Verdun Affair is like travelling through space and time. The novel is set immediately after WWI, in France and Italy, as well as against the more glamorous background of 1950s Los Angeles. As the story … Continue reading “Festival America: Reading Ideas for Literature Classes”
We asked several teachers and authors who attended Festival America book festival in Vincennes in September to give us their favourite picks amongst the authors and books they encountered. Isabelle Brefort, who teaches at Lycée Jean-Baptiste Corot, Savigny-sur-Orge (91), recommends: The Mothers by Brit Bennett Can a secret ruin lives? Can our choices shape our … Continue reading ““The Mothers”, a Coming-of-Age Story”
We asked several teachers and authors who attended Festival America book festival in Vincennes in September to give us their favourite picks amongst the authors and books they encountered. Cécile Sempéré-Brun, who teaches at Lycée Raynouard, Brignoles (83), recommends: The Verdun Affair, by Nick Dybeck A novel about love and loss, forgetting and remembering. Reading … Continue reading ““The Verdun Affair”, Love and Loss in WWI”
We asked several teachers and authors who attended Festival America book festival in Vincennes in September to give us their favourite picks amongst the authors and books they encountered. Gerald Kenny, who teaches at Lycée Saint-Sernin, Toulouse (31), recommends: The Barrowfields by Phillip Lewis Nobody gets the parents they deserve, and Henry Aster is no … Continue reading ““The Barrowfields”, a Haunting Family Tale from North Carolina”
Festival America, the bi-annual event that celebrates the literature of North America, is back for its 9th edition in Vincennes from 20 to 23 September. It offers a weekend where booklovers will be hard-pushed to choose between all the delights on offer. This year, the focus is on Canada, both Anglophone and Francophone. The U.S.A. … Continue reading “Festival America”
