READING IN FRENCH
WHEN
WHERE
Institut d’Études Françaises, Villa Europa
Kohlweg 7 | 66123 Saarbrücken
LANGUAGE
FRENCH
PROGRAMME
Annie Lulu (b. 1987) is a writer, criminologist, and philosopher. La mer Noire dans les Grands Lacs (2021), the debut novel by the daughter of a Congolese father and a Jewish-Romanian mother, is an extraordinary narrative set between Romania, France, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Caught in the violent legacies of her ancestral countries, the young narrator Nili tells her painful life story in the days before giving birth to her first child. Speaking directly to the unborn baby, the story becomes a powerful appeal: to confront the experiences suffered, overcome hatred, and imagine new futures. In her novel, Annie Lulu shows how dialogue with the child-to-come can momentarily interrupt the generational cycle of political, social and familial violence.
The book has received numerous literary prizes, including the Prix Senghor, the Prix Des Racines et des Mots, the Prix Alain-Fournier and the Prix Jean-Cocteau. Lulu was also a finalist for the Grand Prix du Roman Métis and the Prix Ahmadou-Kourouma.
Excerpts from the novel, which has not yet been translated into German, will be read in French. A conversation with the author will follow. Presentation and discussion: Prof. Dr Anne-Sophie Donnarieix and Prof. Dr Christiane Solte-Gresser.
In cooperation with the Käte Hamburger Centre for Cultural Practices of Reparation CURE and the Institut d’Études Françaises / Villa Europa.
