Given the arrest of more than 100 Columbia and Barnard students on campus by the NYPD, the numerous student suspensions and expulsions from student housing, and the administration's increasing restrictions on access to campus, public events at the Maison Francaise are cancelled for the near future. Thank you for your understanding.
David Diop is a French novelist and academic, who specializes in 18th-century French and Francophone African literature. Laurence Marie will engage him in a conversation about his writing. Diop’s research, at the University of Pau in south-west France, focuses on representations of Africa in 18th-century accounts and images by travellers. Diop received the 2021 International Booker Prize for his novel At Night All Blood Is Black (Frères d’âme) (translated into English by Anna Moschovakis), about Senegalese soldiers (tirailleurs sénégalais) fighting for France during World War I. The novel was also shortlisted for ten French awards and won several awards in other countries. His most recent novel La Porte du voyage sans retour, has been recently translated into English under the title Beyond the Door of No Return. It recounts the story of a Frenchman fascinated by a Senegalese slave in 18th century Senegal, which was a French concession at that time.
Find more information here.
Laurence Marie is a Lecturer in the Department of French at Columbia. A specialist of 18th century literature, theater and the arts, and the history of emotions, she is the author of Inventer l’acteur. Emotions et spectacle dans l’Europe des Lumières and of two forthcoming books: a new Folio Classique (Gallimard) edition of Diderot's Paradox of Acting and Les paradoxes du comédien. Cinquante regards sur le métier d'acteur (Gallimard, Hors série littérature).
This event is organized by the Columbia Maison Française, and co-sponsored by the Institute of African Studies. It is part of Villa Albertine’s Authors on Tour program. David Diop’s 2024 US tour is made possible by Villa Albertine and New Directions.
