French Night 5

Our fifth French night took place on the 9th of February, at the Cornelia Street Cafe.

It was a star-studded night. We presented excerpts of three French novels published this last fall with a common theme : The American stars.

The first novel – Jayne Mansfield 1967 - by Simon Liberati, relates the days before the actress died on a car wreck in 1967. It’s Simon Liberati's 4th novel and has already been awarded the 2011 Femina Price

Beau Bothwell reads, in English, the opening pages of the book, describing the car wreck,

 with a beautiful yet horrific specificity.

 Here some people are reading the text almost as if by candlelight while others are riveted
by the spoken word itself.

  Muriel Resal reads the text in its orginal French

Isabelle Milkoff introduces the second novel, The rapture of Britney Spears / Le ravissement de Britney Spears by Jean Rolin.
The main character, directly inspired by Hollywood thrillers, is a French intelligence service agent who
was sent to LA to get in touch with Britney Spears in order to protect her from a possible rapture.
He lived the life of paparazzi, but without a car.

Tom Radigan begins the reading of
 the opening chapters which he translated for the occasion

Isabelle Milkoff follows by reading the text in French 

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Then back to the English translation, when it is uncovered that B. S. went dining with "no underwear ! " 

 

The last novel but not the least is dedicated to Jimi Hendrix. The author, Lydie Salvayre, who has been published since 1990, celebrates Jimi Hendrix’s appearance in Woodstock in August 1969 when he played his now famous Star Spangled Banner.
The title - Hymne – is, in French, a play on words both on the American national anthem and the book’s celebration of Jimi Hendrix's life, music and rebellion.

Nathalie Roussel begins the reading of a chapter that  tells the Hendrix "Legend" says.

Then she reads the beginning of the chapter about Hendrix's grandmother 

and their close relationship.

Adam Kahan reads the end of the same chapter, translated for the occasion by Anne-Marie Gassier. 

The French night is over. Time for chatting and doing some last minute errands 

in the neighborhood, as for example getting some French baguettes

The baguette is not a reward for the reading, but it could be !

because it makes people very happy !

The French nights are supported by the cultural services of the French Embassy

Fifth French Night 2/9/12

Our next French night will take place on the 9th of February 2012, at our usual place, 

the Cornelia street Cafe.

The novels we chose are linked by a theme : American stars in French fiction. These three novels about American "royalty" were all published this last fall.

The first star is Jayne Mansfield, in Jayne Mansfield 1967 by Simon Liberati.
It relates the last hours of the actress as its first pages retrace the accident in which she lost her life.

The second star is Britney Spears about whom Jean Rolin wrote a very satirical novel - Le ravissement de Britney Spears/The Rapture of Britney Spears.
His main character is supposed to keep her from being abducted. In order to do so, he lives the life of a paparrazzi who tracks the singer and other stars in LA. But, he has no car...

Last but not least, our French night focuses on Jimi Hendrix. In Hymne/Anthem, Lydie Salvayre emphasizes the moment when he played the Star Spangled Banner at Woodstock on the 18th of August 1969 and relates his life from his difficult childhood to his terrible death at the hotel Samarkand in London in 1970.

Join us for this star-studded new French night

The French nights at the Cornelia are supported by the cultural services of the French Embassy

Fourth French Night 12/7

On Wednesday the 7th of december, our fourth French night took place at the Cornelia Street Café.

Excerpts of three French novels were read.

A chapter of the first novel, Enquête sur la disparition d'Emilie Brunet, was translated into English  by Berangère Callens  and read by Jade Robertson-Fusco, 

and a second one was read in French by the author himself, Antoine Bello.

Antoine Bello is a French novelist, he was born in Boston and lives in New York. This last novel is his fifth one. The two former ones Les falsificateurs (2007) and Les Eclaireurs (2009) form a two-book series.

Two chapters of Deloger l'animal by Veronique Ovaldé, translated by Adriana Hunter and published as Kick the animal out, in 2007 by MacAdam/Cage, were read alternatively, in English by Christina Toth, and in French by Charlotte Foucaud. 

Deloger l'animal is Véronique Ovaldé's fourth novel and was originally published in French by Actes Sud in 2005.

The third novel to be read was Où j'ai laissé mon âme by Jerôme Ferrari, Actes Sud, 2010.  Part of a chapter was translated into English by Emmanuel Ertel's MA students at NYU and read by Tom Radigan. The second part of the chapter was read in French by Frédéric Yvelin.

Waiting for the reading to start

Emmanuelle Ertel introduces the first reading

Jade Robertson-Fusco is the first one to start.

She is a senior at NYU's Gallatin school

Then Antoine Bello starts his reading

 It's Christina Toth and Charlotte Foucaud's turn

  Christina Toth comes from Montreal and studies acting at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre in New York. She is reading at the Cornelia French nights for the second time.

Charlotte Foucaud comes from France

 She teaches French at the Lycee Français of New York

The last excerpt is read by Tom Radigan and Frédéric Yvelin

Tom Radigan lives in New York and teaches French at Friends Seminary.

He is also reading for the second time.

Frédéric Yvelin comes from France and teaches Science and Theater at the LFNY

Emmanuel Ertel's MA students

They did a great job translating an excerpt of Jerome Ferrari's novel.


The French nights at the Cornelia Street Café have the support of the cultural services of the French Embassy