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Calling all comic books fans, drawing dilettantes and budding artists to celebrate #BD2020! Join us for an online Drink & Draw Live Session with graphic novel illustrator Sébastien Vassant and drown your lockdown sorrows with pens, paper and a drink on the side. Known primarily for his non-fiction comic books, Sébastien will give a brief presentation of his work then will ask participants to draw on three subjects of his choice, with the best drawings published on our social networks. All welcome.

£7, conc. £5 | 1h | In English
To get the link, send an e-mail to : library@institutfrancais.org.uk

Related / Latest Publications:

	Les heures passées à contempler la mère (Futuropolis, 2019)
	Mai 68: la veille du grand soir (Seuil Delcourt, 2018)
	Histoire dessinée de la Guerre d'Algérie (Seuil, 2016)

2020 is the Year or the French comics in France. Why not extend it to the UK? French and British do share a common love for comics. Let’s follow young Rachel Cohen who had to hide under the name of Catherine Colin during WWII in Julia Billet's heart-wrenching story or embark on an environmentalist ego-trip to the countryside with Henry David Thoreau and Cédric Taling – both journeys happening under the patronage of critic Paul Gravett, who will share his reviews of their books. 

Cédric Taling on Thoreau and Me:

Thoreau and Me: Video Review by Paul Gravett:

Catherine’s War Reviewed by Paul Gravett:

Related / Latest Publications:

	Catherine’s War translated by Ivanka Hahnenberger (Harper Collins, 2020)
	Thoreau and me (SelfMadeHero, 2020)

Roland Barthes was a central figure in the thought of his time, but he was also something of an outsider. Forty years after his death, Brian Dillon will explain why he, who « didn’t bother to be modern » can now and maybe more than ever speak to us, readers of the 21st century. 

Related / Latest Publication:

Essayism (Fitzcarraldo)

© Philippe Matsas

In his novel, Tram 83, Mujila shows a war-torn African city-state where tourists, students, ex-pats and locals have only one desire: to make a fortune by exploiting the wealth of the country. As soon as night falls, they go out to get drunk in Tram 83, the only club of the city. A gold rush as cynical as it is comical.

Fiston Mwanza Mujila Exclusive Interview:

Fiston Mwanza Mujila and Translator Roland Glasser read an excerpt of Tram 83:

Related / Latest Publication:

Tram 83, translated by Roland Glasser (Jacaranda, 2015)

Writer and poet Nii Ayikwei Parkes will talk about Alain Mabanckou’s latest novel to be published in English: The Death of Comrade President. Starting as a tender, wry portrait of an ordinary Congolese family, Alain Mabanckou quickly expands the scope of his story into a powerful examination of colonialism, decolonisation and dead ends of the African continent.

Reading in English by David Mildon:

Reading in French by David Mildon:

Related / Latest Publication:

The Death of Comrade President, translated by Helen Stevenson (Serpent’s Tail, 2020)

© Thibaut de Corday

In Our Lady of the Nile, Scholastique Mukasonga immerses us into an elite Catholic boarding school for young women perched on the ridge of the Nile. Fifteen years before the Rwandan genocide, we watch as these girls replicate their parents’ preconceptions, transforming the lycée into a microcosm of the country’s mounting racial violence.

Scholastique Mukasonga reveals the story behind the story in an exclusive interview:

Enjoy a reading of an excerpt of Our Lady of the Nile by the author herself and in English by David Mildon:

Related event:
• Our Lady of the Nile by Scholastique Mukasonga

Related / Latest Publication:

Our Lady of the Nile, Archipelago (2014)