February 13, 2017 | Alliance Française of Chicago
One thing is certain: you never get bored with Dany Laferrière. First Haitian and first Quebecer called to the prestigious Académie Française, he sits in chair no. 2, once occupied by Alexandre Dumas, another Caribbean-born author. His first novel, How to Make Love to a Negro Without Getting Tired, appeared in Quebec in 1985. Dany Laferrière won the Prix Médicis in 2009 with L'enigme du retour. With Laferrière, "the Academy opens to the whole Francophonie" says Hélène Carrère d'Encausse, perpetual secretary of the French Academy. A member like no other...let's listen!
The discussion is led by Joëlle Vitiello, associate professor and department chair in French Literature at Macalester College in Saint Paul, Minnesota. She teaches 20th century French Literature, Francophone Studies, Cultural Trends in Contemporary France, and French at all levels. Her specialization is in contemporary writing by women. She co-organized the first international Women In French Conference. She co-edited Elles écrivent des Antilles with Susanne Rinne (1997) on Haitian literature, as well as numerous publications on the representations of female friendship in francophone literature, Andrée Chedid, Colette Nys-Mazure, and North African Women writers.
Speech of Dany Laferrière at l'Académie française.
This program is possible thanks to the John Shedd Reed Memorial Fund, the Consulate General of Canada and the Québec Governement Office in Chicago, and part of Marianne Midwest Series organized by the Cultural Services at the Consulate General of France in Chicago, Alliance Française in Chicago, and France Chicago Center at the University of Chicago.
BROADCASTED LIVE IN 9 MIDWEST CITIES: Alliance Française of Milwaukee, Alliance Française of Minneapolis, Alliance Française of St. Louis and Centre Francophone at Webster University, Truman State University Kirksville, Wayne State University - Alliance Française Detroit, University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign, Alliance Française of Kansas City, University of St Francis-Fort Wayne.
