UPCOMING EVENTS

Switch to Calendar View

• BO112 French Lit for Fun

  • Start
    11 Oct 2023
  •  
  • End
    13 Dec 2023
  •  
  • Schedule
    3 sessions
  • Location
    Zoom online
  • Spaces left
    5

  Register

  Course Description

  Discover and discuss contemporary classics in this lively class for high-intermediate and advanced French speakers. You’ll read a book at home, either a short novel or play, then participate in a class discussion. The instructor will supply context and cultural elements, as well as discussion questions intended to spark reflection and debate. In the spirit of literary cafés, the class will help you gain a deeper knowledge of French societal issues and controversies.

  For the fall term, we will read Annie Ernaux’s La Place,  a short novel written after her father's death; Incendies, a play by Canadian-Lebanese author Wajdi Mouawad which was later made into a film by Canadian director Denis Villeneuve; and Le consentement by Vanessa Springora, a powerful look at her complicated involvement with the writer Gabriel Matzneff who pursued her when she was 14 and he was 50. A film based on the book is due in October.

  About the instructor

  Bleuenn Simon has taught French literature and French as a second language for over 18 years in France and in the United States. She is also a theater teacher, amateur actress, and author.

   

  Show details
• LD011 Play Reading: Butter in a Lordly Dish - Agatha Christie

  • When
    01 Dec 2023
  •  
    10:00 AM - 11:30 AM
  • Location
    To Be Determined
  • Spaces left
    0

  Join waitlist

  This month's play is Agatha Christie's "Butter in a Lordly Dish," a 30-minute radio play that is a tale of revenge and deceit. The story revolves around Sir Luke Enderby KC, a prominent barrister and known womanizer, despite being married. He arranges a rendezvous with a mysterious woman, Lavinia, at a secluded cottage.

  
  Unbeknownst to Enderby, Lavinia has a hidden agenda. She is the daughter of a man whom Enderby had once prosecuted, leading to the man's execution and his wife's subsequent suicide. Lavinia seeks retribution for her parents' deaths.
  
  During a dinner at the cottage, Lavinia reveals her true identity and her tragic story. She serves Enderby a drugged meal, and as he succumbs to its effects, she discloses her plan to kill him in revenge. The play's title, derived from a biblical story, symbolizes the deceptive comfort that leads to Enderby's downfall, intertwining themes of justice, betrayal, and the consequences of one's past actions.
  

  Show details
• LD141 Booker Book Club: Treacle Walker

  • When
    14 Dec 2023
  •  
    2:00 PM - 3:30 PM
  • Location
    120 rue la Boétie, Ground floor, Paris 75008
  • Spaces left
    12

  Register

  

  Joe Coppock squints at the world with his lazy eye. He reads his comics, collects birds’ eggs and treasures his marbles, particularly his prized dobbers. When Treacle Walker appears off the moor one day - a wanderer, a healer - an unlikely friendship is forged and the young boy is introduced to a world he could never have imagined.

  In this playful, moving and evocative fable the masterly Alan Garner delivers both a stunning fusion of myth and folklore and a profound exploration of the fluidity of time.

  – The Booker Prizes

  
  

  Show details
• LD151 Café Littéraire: Personne (No One), by Gwenaëlle Aubry

  • When
    15 Dec 2023
  •  
    2:00 PM - 3:30 PM
  • Location
    120 rue la Boétie, 75008 (ground floor), 75008
  • Spaces left
    7

  Register

  Winner of the 2009 Prix Femina, this semi-autobiographical book delves into the complexities of mental illness and the relationship between a daughter and her father, who suffers from bipolar disorder.

  The novel is structured uniquely, with each chapter titled after an alphabetical letter, each representing a different aspect or identity of her father. This stylistic choice reflects the fragmented and multifaceted nature of both her father's personality and the impact of his illness on their lives. The narrative blends reality with fiction, philosophy with personal narrative, creating a poignant and introspective exploration of identity, memory, and the struggle to understand a loved one's mental illness.

  Lauréat du prix Femina 2009, ce livre semi-autobiographique aborde les complexités de la maladie mentale et la relation entre une fille et son père, qui souffre de troubles bipolaires.
  
  Le roman est structuré de manière unique, chaque chapitre étant intitulé d'après une lettre alphabétique, chacune représentant un aspect ou une identité différente de son père. Ce choix stylistique reflète la nature fragmentée et multiforme de la personnalité de son père et l'impact de sa maladie sur leur vie. Le récit mêle réalité et fiction, philosophie et récit personnel, créant une exploration poignante et introspective de l'identité, de la mémoire et de la lutte pour comprendre la maladie mentale d'un être cher.
  
  Gwenaëlle Aubry's work is known for its deep philosophical undertones, influenced by her background in philosophy. "Personne" has been recognized for its literary merit and has received critical acclaim for its insightful and empathetic portrayal of mental illness and its effects on family dynamics.

  L'œuvre de Gwenaëlle Aubry est connue pour ses nuances philosophiques profondes, influencées par sa formation en philosophie. "Personne" a été reconnu pour ses qualités littéraires et a été salué par la critique pour sa description empathique de la maladie mentale et de ses effets sur la dynamique familiale.
  

  The door code and telephone number will be sent with the 1-day reminder email.
  

  About the Organizer
  

  Victoria Wilhelm, who will be leading the discussion, is a graduate student in French Literature and Culture at the Sorbonne, in Paris.
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  Show details
• LJ191 Play Reading

  • When
    19 Jan 2024
  •  
    2:30 PM - 5:00 PM
  • Location
    To Be Determined
  • Spaces left
    12

  On the 3rd Friday of the month, WICE has a cold play reading group that is open to all WICE members. This group gathers and reads out loud various plays that meet the following criteria:

  • English language 
  • Award winning
  • One or two acts
  • 6 - 9 characters

  Plays are chosen on a month-to-month basis primarily (but not exclusively) from the candidate list of plays located on our webpage, From Page to Stage: Readings of Award-Winning Plays.

  Registration the January session opens on 02 December.
  

  Show details
• LJ261 L'Art de Perdre (The Art of Losing), by Alice Ziniter

  • When
    26 Jan 2024
  •  
    3:00 PM - 4:30 PM
  • Location
    120 rue la Boétie, 75008 (ground floor)
  • Spaces left
    9

  Naïma is a young French woman working in a Parisian art gallery. She represents the third generation of her family, whose roots trace back to Algeria.
  
  Throughout the novel, Naïma grapples with questions of identity, belonging, and the complex history of her family. Her grandfather, who immigrated to France from Algeria, carries with him the memories and traumas of the Algerian War of Independence, a subject that has always been taboo in their family.
  
  Driven by a need to understand her family's past and her place within it, Naïma embarks on a journey to explore her Algerian heritage. This takes her to Algeria, where she learns about her family's history and the broader context of Franco-Algerian relations.

  Deriving its title from the first line of Elizabeth Bishop's seminal poem "One Art," Alice Zeniter's "The Art of Losing" also won the Dublin Literary Award,  the 2017 Prix Goncourt des Lycéens, the Porte Dorée Literary Prize, and Le Monde's Literary Prize.

  Naïma est une jeune femme française qui travaille dans une galerie d'art parisienne. Elle représente la troisième génération de sa famille, dont les racines remontent à l'Algérie.
  
  Tout au long du roman, Naïma est confrontée à des questions d'identité, d'appartenance et à l'histoire complexe de sa famille. Son grand-père, qui a immigré d'Algérie en France, porte en lui les souvenirs et les traumatismes de la guerre d'indépendance algérienne, un sujet qui a toujours été tabou dans la famille.
  
  Poussée par le besoin de comprendre le passé de sa famille et la place qu'elle y occupe, Naïma entreprend un voyage à la découverte de son héritage algérien. Elle se rend en Algérie, où elle découvre l'histoire de sa famille et le contexte plus large des relations franco-algériennes.
  
  Tirant son titre du premier vers du poème fondateur d'Elizabeth Bishop "One Art", "The Art of Losing" d'Alice Zeniter a également remporté le Dublin Literary Award, le prix Goncourt des lycéens 2017, le prix littéraire de la Porte Dorée et le prix littéraire du Monde.

  Registration opens on 16 December 2023.

  The door code and telephone number will be sent with the 1-day reminder email.

  
  

  
  

  
  

  Show details
• LF021 Storyscapes: The Passion - Jeanette Winterson

  • When
    02 Feb 2024
  •  
    2:00 PM - 5:00 PM
  • Location
    The Louvre
  • Spaces left
    8

  Event Description

  In this novel (pardon the pun) offering, WICE attendees will read Jeanette Winterson’s 1987 novel “The Passion,” and then tour the Louvre examining and discussing different paintings that relate to the novel’s plot, themes, characters, events, and locations.

  “The Passion” is described on Amazon as “Set during the tumultuous years of the Napoleonic Wars, The Passion intertwines the destinies of two remarkable people: Henri, a simple French soldier, who follows Napoleon from glory to Russian ruin; and Villanelle, the red-haired, web-footed daughter of a Venetian boatman, whose husband has gambled away her heart. In Venice's compound of carnival, chance, and darkness, the pair meet their singular destiny.”

  The exact meeting place will be emailed the day before the event. The event is expected to last approximately three hours, including time for coffee or drinks afterwards to socialize.
  

  About the Instructor
  

  Robin Price is a long-time Paris habitué, beginning with having run away from home at age 17 to attend her senior year in high school here.

  She majored in French and Art History as an undergraduate at the University of Delaware, and routinely participates in similar book/museum tours in her home town of Minneapolis, MN

  
  

  
  

  
  

  Show details
• LF161 Play Reading

  • When
    16 Feb 2024
  •  
    2:30 PM - 5:00 PM
  • Location
    To Be Announced
  • Spaces left
    12

  On the 3rd Friday of the month, WICE has a cold play reading group that is open to all WICE members. This group gathers and reads out loud various plays that meet the following criteria:

  • English language 
  • Award winning
  • One or two acts
  • 6 - 9 characters

  Plays are chosen on a month-to-month basis primarily (but not exclusively) from the candidate list of plays located on our webpage, From Page to Stage: Readings of Award-Winning Plays.

  Registration the February session opens on 20 January.
  

  Show details
• L'Ordre du Jour (The Order of the Day), by Éric Vuillard

  • When
    23 Feb 2024
  •  
    3:00 PM - 4:30 PM
  • Location
    To Be Announced
  • Spaces left
    8

  

  In this 2018 Goncourt Prize winner, author Éric Vuillard follows the actions of European politicians and business leaders in the run up to World War II.

  The novel tells the fascinating account of the failed diplomacy, broken relationships, and the catastrophic momentum that led to the war.
  
  The leaders of German industry—believing they will prosper under the Nazi regime—agree to lend their support to Adolph Hitler. Of course, things don't go entirely as planned, and as on thing leads to another, the world slides inexorably towards the abyss.
  

  Not quite fiction, but not quite fact, the French describe it as a récit, while the English newspaper The Guardian calls it "an historical essay with literary flourishes."

  The Guardian said: "However you decide to categorise it, this is a thoroughly gripping and mesmerising work of black comedy and political disaster. It seems designed single-mindedly to remind us that, as it says, “Great catastrophes often creep up on us in tiny steps.”

  

  Show details
• LM151 Play Reading

  • When
    15 Mar 2024
  •  
    2:30 PM - 5:00 PM
  • Location
    To Be Announced
  • Spaces left
    12

  On the 3rd Friday of the month, WICE has a cold play reading group that is open to all WICE members. This group gathers and reads out loud various plays that meet the following criteria:

  • English language 
  • Award winning
  • One or two acts
  • 6 - 9 characters

  Plays are chosen on a month-to-month basis primarily (but not exclusively) from the candidate list of plays located on our webpage, From Page to Stage: Readings of Award-Winning Plays.

  Registration the March session opens on 17 February.
  

  Show details
• L'Œuvre au Noir (The Abyss), by Marguerite Yourcenar

  • When
    22 Mar 2024
  •  
    3:00 PM - 4:30 PM
  • Location
    To Be Announced
  • Spaces left
    9

  

  "L'Œuvre au Noir" is a historical novel chronicling the life of the fictional character Zeno, a 16th-century physician, alchemist, and philosopher.

  Set during the Renaissance, a time of great scientific and philosophical upheaval, the novel delves into Zeno's quest for knowledge in various fields such as medicine, alchemy, and humanism. His intellectual pursuits, often in conflict with religious orthodoxy, lead him to face persecution and personal struggles.

  Yourcenar's novel explores themes of intellectual freedom, existential quest, and the tension between science and religion. Her prose weaves historical accuracy with profound character insight, capturing the zeitgeist of the Renaissance.

  "L'Œuvre au Noir" is a complex and richly layered novel that portrays the life of an intellectual pioneer in an era teetering between medieval superstition and the dawn of modernity.

  Registration opens on Friday, 24 November.

  
  

  
  

  Show details