...Ira Glass, Rick Moody, Lydia Davis, Dominique Ansel, and Dozens of Proust Fans to Participate in Citywide Weeklong Live Reading of Iconic Work
Presented by Cultural Services of the French Embassy, celebration will also feature discussions on Proust with French and American authors, including Jennifer Egan and Charles Danztig
What: Swann’s Way: A Nomadic Reading: A citywide, weeklong live reading of the Proust classic as part of its centennial celebrationWhen: November 8-14Where: Venues across the cityCost: FREEWeb: http://frenchculture.org/books/events/nomadic-reading
What: Proust Inspires Fiction: A roundtable discussion on the impact of Proust with French and American authorsWhen: November 17-18Where: Venues across the cityCost: $20-$35Web: http://frenchculture.org/books/events/proust-inspires-fiction
New York, NY (October 23, 2013)—As part of a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Marcel Proust’s Swann’s Way, dozens of French and American writers, artists, scholars, and Proust fans, including Ira Glass, Rick Moody, Dominique Ansel, Lydia Davis, Lorin Stein, and Deborah Treisman, will participate in a weeklong live reading of the classic at venues across city beginning November 8th. The fête will also feature roundtable discussions with French and American authors, including Charles Dantzig, Jennifer Egan, and Laurent Mauvignier, exploring the lasting impact of Proust on contemporary fiction.
Presented by the Cultural Services of the French Embassy, 2013: A Year with Proust Centennial Celebration has showcased festivities throughout New York City, including exhibition of manuscripts, notes, letters and other materials at the Morgan Library and Museum, a screening of The Captive by Chantal Akerman, based on the fifth volume of La Recherche, and a concert and reading devoted to the composers and works that inspired the famous Vinteuil Sonata.From November 8-14, Swann’s Way: A Nomadic Reading will feature the entirety of the iconic work read in three hour increments in locations from the Bronx to Brooklyn.
In a traveling tribute, each location will echo a major theme of the reading: a hotel bedroom, for the famous opening pages; the forest of the Botanical Gardens for Proust’s childhood in the countryside; a theater, to evoke the writer’s fascination with actors; a nightclub, to recall Swann’s late-night searches for the unfaithful Odette. (See full schedule of readings below.)
To further illuminate Proust’s world, Moleskine will curate live drawing events for each reading featuring students and alumni from the MFA Illustration as Visual Essay department at the School of Visual Arts. A selection of the illustrations will be exhibited at the French Embassy on Thursday, November 14 for the closing event. “When Proust published Swann’s Way on November 14, 1913, he believed it would be forgotten ten years after his death,” said Antonin Baudry, Cultural Counselor of the French Embassy.
“He could not have been more wrong. We are thrilled to join with French and American Proust fans from across New York City to commemorate this major international cultural turning point.”
TIMES & LOCATIONS Swann’s Way: A Nomadic Reading
Friday, November 8, 2013 | 7 – 10 pm*Wythe Hotel, 80 Wythe Avenue, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY
Saturday, November 9 | 10 am – 1 pmSoho Rep., 46 Walker Street, New York, NY
Sunday, November 10 | 11 am – 2 pmNew York Botanical Gardens, Bronx, NY
Monday, November 11 | 7 – 10 pmThe Oracle Club, 10-41 47th Ave, Queens, NY
Tuesday, November 12 | 7 – 10 pmSimone Subal Gallery, 131 Bowery, New York, NY
Wednesday, November 13 | 10 pm – 1 am Le Baron Club, 32 Mulberry Street, New York, NY
Thursday, November 14 | 6:30 pm – 9 pm**French Embassy, 972 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY*Guests without invitation will be admitted as space allows**Invitation only
TIMES & LOCATIONS: Proust Inspires Fiction!Time Lost & RegainedSunday, November 17 | 11 am92Y, Buttenwieser Hall, 1395 Lexington Ave, New York, NYWith Jennifer Egan, Laurent Mauvignier, Olivier Rolin.Moderation by William Carter.Rewriting ProustTuesday, November 19 | 7 pmCenter for Fiction, 17 E 47th St, New York, NYWith Charles Dantzig, Elyane Dezon-Jones & Daniel Levin-Becker.Moderation by Alexander Aciman.Proust, Love & JealousyMonday, October 28 | 7 pmThe Greene Space, 44 Charlton St, New York, NYWith Catherine Miller, Edmund White, & Jean-Christophe Valtat.Moderation by Lila Azam Zanganeh.
PARTNERSMoleskine® is a brand that encompasses a family of nomadic objects: notebooks, diaries, journals, bags, writing instruments and reading accessories, dedicated to our mobile identity. They offer flexible and brilliantly simple tools for use both in everyday and extraordinary circumstances, ultimately becoming an integral part of our personality.
Moleskine America, Inc. is an affiliate of Milan based Moleskine SpA.www.moleskine.com
School of Visual Arts has been a leader in the education of artists, designers and creative professionals for more than six decades. With a faculty of approximately 1,100 working professionals, more than 6,000 students at its Manhattan campus and 35,000 alumni in 100 countries, SVA also represents one of the most influential artistic communities in the world. Among SVA’s 32 degree programs, the MFA in Illustration as Visual Essay maximizes students’ opportunities as figurative artists, from the gallery wall to the full range of digital, print and online media. sva.edu
2013: A Year with Proust is supported by Air France and the Institut français.
About
The Cultural Services of the French Embassy provides a platform and resources for cultural exchange between French and American artists, intellectuals, curators, and arts professionals. Based in New York City, Washington D.C., and eight other cities across the US, the Cultural Services’ principal fields of action are the arts, literature, cinema, French language programs and higher education.
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Press Contact
For information or for press RSVP to events, contact:
Emily Katz, Director of Developmen & CommunicationsCultural Services of the French Embassyemily.katz@diplomatie.gouv.fr212.439.1405