Category: Uncategorised

Talk & Readings

1493: Colombus is captured in the Caribbean and never returns to Spain.
1531: The Incas land in Europe and invade a war-torn continent.

In Civilisations, bestselling author Laurent Binet puts us in the strange situation of having to imagine an inverted globalisation in which Europe would be the colonised and not the coloniser. Join him as he discusses with author and literary critic Alex Preston (This Bleeding City) how alternate history literature informs our understanding of the world. The discussion will be complemented by readings of excerpts of Civilisations by actor David Mildon.

Hybrid event
Onsite: David Mildon
Online: Alex Preston, Laurent Binet

photo: Laurent Binet © Jean-François Paga

Related / Latest Publications:

	Civilisations, Laurent Binet (translated by Sam Taylor, published by Vintage)
	As Kingfishers Catch Fire, Alex Preston (published by Corsair)
	Virtual Live Reading Group: Civilisations by Laurent Binet

Onsite

FRA | 1951 | 88 mins | dir. Jacqueline Audry, with Edwige Feuillère, Simone Simon and Marie-Claire Olivia | cert. tbc | in French with EN subs | 4K restoration

Based on a novel by Dorothy Bussy, Olivia is a fascinating study of love and repression by Jacqueline Audry, a director who has long been hiding in plain sight. Set in late-19th century France, Olivia depicts an all-girls boarding school run by two competitive headmistresses Miss Julie (Edwige Feuillère) and Miss Cara (Simone Simon). Tensions unravel when new student Olivia arrives... A powerfully complex film that resonates even today.

Screening will be preceded by a pre-recorded introduction by Professor Ginette Vincendeau (King’s College London).

Talk & Readings

It can often take years for authors to become acclaimed literary figures. And yet sometimes a newcomer’s first book hits the mark perfectly. One of the Observers’ Top 10 debut novelist and author of little scratch, Rebecca Watson and the multi-awarded author of A Respectable Occupation, Julia Kerninon discuss how young women authors can bring a different voice to the literary world. A conversation chaired by writer Lauren Elkin and interspersed with readings by Olivia Ross.

Hybrid event
Onsite: Lauren Elkin, Rebecca Watson, Olivia Ross
Online: Julia Kerninon

photos: Julia Kerninon © Julien Alcacer, Rebecca Watson © Sophie Davidson & Lauren Elkin © Francesca Mantovani

Related / Latest Publications:

	A Respectable Occupation, Julia Kerninon (translated by Ruth Diver, published by Les Fugitives)
	little scratch, Rebecca Watson (published by Faber)
	Sous la peau, Rebecca Watson (translated into French by Julia Kerninon, published by Grasset)
	Flâneuse, Lauren Elkin (published by Chatto & Windus)

Onsite

FRA | 1951 | 88 mins | dir. Jacqueline Audry, with Edwige Feuillère, Simone Simon and Marie-Claire Olivia | cert. tbc | in French with EN subs | 4K restoration

Based on a novel by Dorothy Bussy, Olivia is a fascinating study of love and repression by Jacqueline Audry, a director who has long been hiding in plain sight. Set in late-19th century France, Olivia depicts an all-girls boarding school run by two competitive headmistresses Miss Julie (Edwige Feuillère) and Miss Cara (Simone Simon). Tensions unravel when new student Olivia arrives... A powerfully complex film that resonates even today.

Both screenings will be preceded by a pre-recorded introduction by Professor Ginette Vincendeau (King’s College London).

See also the screening of Olivia on 23 May

Screening

ESP | 30 mins + 45 mins | dir. Pedro Almodóvar, with Tilda Swinton | cert. 15 | in English

Madness and melancholy intersect to thrilling effect as Almodóvar reimagines Jean Cocteau’s short play The Human Voice for an era in which isolation has become a way of life. Laws of desire become the rules of the game as Tilda Swinton’s unnamed woman paces and panics in a glorious Technicolor apartment where décor offers a window into her state of mind. A short, sharp shot of distilled Almodóvar: passion, emotion, heartbreak, wit, and melodrama exquisitely bound up in a tale for our times.

Shot over nine days in Madrid in July and recently premiered to critical acclaim at the Venice Film Festival, The Human Voice is Almodóvar’s first work in English.

Followed by an exclusive recorded Q&A with Tilda Swinton and Pedro Almodóvar hosted by Mark Kermode

See also other screenings of The Human Voice on:
22 & 26 May
29 May as part of the Spanish Spring Weekend

Talk

A veteran of the feminist cause and the author of many acclaimed books including Resolutely Black, Conversations with Aimé Césaire, Françoise Vergès publishes A Decolonial Feminism, a powerful manifesto for an intersectional feminism centered around anticolonialism and anti-racism. Join us as she shares the hopes and ambitions she has for decolonial feminism with Opinions Editor of gal-dem Diyora Shadijanova.

Hybrid event
Onsite: Diyora Shadijanova
Online: Françoise Vergès

This discussion is organised in partnership with English PEN, the human rights organisation championing the freedom to write and the freedom to read since 1921, as part of part of their Common Currency centenary programme, which brings together writers, readers and activists for events, residencies, campaigns and conversations across the UK and Ireland.

For more information on Common Currency, please visit: www.englishpen.org/common-currency

Related / Latest Publication:

A Decolonial Feminism (Translated by Ashley J. Bohrer with the author, published by Pluto Press). Buy A Decolonial Feminism on Pluto Press website with a discount. Discount code: BEYOND30.

Screening

USA | 2020 | dir. Chloé Zhao, with Frances McDormand and David Strathairn | in English cert 15A

Winning the Oscar for best picture and best directing, Chloé Zhao’s engrossing and humane film Nomadland also won its lead Frances McDormand the award for best actress at this years Academy Awards.

Fern (Frances McDormand) is a woman in her sixties who has lost everything – her money to the recession and her beloved husband to an early death. Kitting out a van as a home and following temporary work from place to place, she embarks on a journey through the American West, living as a modern-day nomad. This elegiac drama depicting the subcultures in the US’ western wildlands is an adaptation of the non-fiction book by Jessica Bruder, Nomadland: Surviving America in the 21st Century.

Talk & Readings

Translation occupies a strange place in literature. It never quite has the prestige of authoring, and yet it has been the occupation of many great literary figures, from Baudelaire translating Edgar Allan Poe to Jorge Luis Borges translating André Gide. The French writer of Bosnian and Montenegrin origins Jakuta Alikavazovic, author of Night as it Falls, joins editor Daniel Medin and literary agent Laurence Laluyaux to discuss the joys and pains of literary translation.

Hybrid event
Onsite: Laurence Laluyaux, Olivia Ross
Online: Jakuta Alikavazovic, Daniel Medin

photo: Jakuta Alikavazovic © Maia Flore

Related / Latest Publication:

Night as it falls, Jakuta Alikavazovic (translated by Jeffrey Zuckerman, published by Faber)