Ben Katchor, whose CARDBOARD VALISE will be released on March 15, is one of seven English-language authors taking part in French festival at NYU (artwork © 2011 by Ben Katchor)
NYU Hemmerdinger Hall, ground floor
Silver Center, 100 Washington Square East on Waverly Pl.
February 24-26, free
www.frenchwritingfestival.com
Earlier this month, Austrian, German, and Swiss authors came to town for Festival Neue Literatur; now it’s France’s turn to bring over some of its best young writers. The second annual Festival of French Writing, sponsored by the Center for French Civilization and Culture at NYU, the Cultural Services of the French Embassy, and Institut Français, will pair seven French-language authors with seven English-language authors in conversations about literature, each one moderated by a different cultural critic. Curated by Un livre un jour host Olivier Barrot and NYU professor Tom Bishop and held at NYU’s Hemmerdinger Hall, the free discussions begin on tonight at 7:15 with Geneviève Brisac (Une année avec mon père) and Rick Moody (The Four Fingers of Death), moderated by Open Letter Books director Chad W. Post, and will be followed at 8:30 by novelist Stéphane Audeguy (The Theory of Clouds) and New Yorker European correspondent Jane Kramer (The Politics of Memory: Looking for Germany in the New Germany). Friday kicks off at 2:30 with philosopher Pascal Bruckner (The Tyranny of Guilt) and essayist and humanities professor Mark Lilla (The Stillborn God: Religion, Politics, and the Modern West), moderated by Adam Gopnik; graphic novelists David B. (Nocturnal Conspiracies: Nineteen Dreams) and Ben Katchor (Julius Knipl, Real Estate Photographer) will get together at 4:00, moderated by New Yorker art director and RAW cofounder Françoise Mouly; and at 7:30, French-Afghan writer and filmmaker Atiq Rahimi (The Patience Stone) will team up with Russell Banks (The Sweet Hereafter), moderated by Le Monde journalist Lila Azam Zanganeh. Saturday’s duos start at 2:30 with Laurence Cossé (A Novel Bookstore) and Arthur Phillips (The Song Is You), moderated by NYU French professor Judith G. Miller, followed at 4:30 by writer-director Philipe Claudel (I’ve Loved You So Long) and A. M. Homes (This Book Will Save Your Life), moderated by Harper’s publisher John R. (Rick) MacArthur. It should all make for some interesting and enlightening examinations of form and style, method and methodology, and cross-cultural connectivity.