UPCOMING EVENTS

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• LN221 Café Littéraire: Bonjour Tristesse ("Hello Sadness"), by Françoise Sagan

  • When
    22 Nov 2024
  •  
    3:00 PM - 4:30 PM
  • Location
    TBD
  • Spaces left
    0

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  This coming-of-age classic was a sensation when it came out in 1954 and Françoise Sagan was just 18 years old.

  The novel takes place over the course of a summer in the south of France. Cécile, its 17-year-old narrator, spends languorous days at a secluded seaside villa in the company of her father, a philandering widower whom she adores and whose hedonism she emulates, and his latest mistress. When her father begins a more serious romance with an old acquaintance, Cécile does everything she can to stop him from marrying, with tragic results.

  Cécile’s own heady romance—breezy sex with an earnest boy whom she later drops—and her existentialist musings shocked early readers. Questions of freedom, responsibility and how to lead a meaningful life were central to French philosophical thought of the 1950s. The novella’s opening lament is classic Sagan, and probably defined French ennui for a generation: “A strange melancholy pervades me to which I hesitate to give the grave and beautiful name of sorrow."

  
  

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  Ce classique du passage à l'âge adulte a fait sensation lors de sa sortie en 1954, alors que Françoise Sagan n'avait que 18 ans.

  Le roman se déroule au cours d'un été dans le sud de la France. Cécile, la narratrice âgée de 17 ans, passe des journées langoureuses dans une villa isolée au bord de la mer en compagnie de son père, un veuf volage qu'elle adore et dont elle imite l'hédonisme, et de sa dernière maîtresse. Lorsque son père entame une liaison plus sérieuse avec une vieille connaissance, Cécile fait tout ce qu'elle peut pour l'empêcher de se marier, avec des résultats tragiques.

  La propre romance enivrante de Cécile - des relations sexuelles sans lendemain avec un garçon sérieux qu'elle abandonnera par la suite - et ses réflexions existentialistes ont choqué les premières lectrices. Les questions de liberté, de responsabilité et de sens de la vie étaient au cœur de la pensée philosophique française des années 1950. La complainte qui ouvre la nouvelle est un classique de Sagan et a probablement défini l'ennui français pour une génération : « Une étrange mélancolie m'envahit, à laquelle j'hésite à donner le beau et grave nom de chagrin.

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• LD1910 Bookers: Women Talking, by Miriam Toews

  • When
    19 Dec 2024
  •  
    12:30 PM - 2:15 PM
  • Location
    TBD
  • Spaces left
    9

  "Women Talking," by Miriam Toews

  For several years, girls and women in the remote Mennonite colony of Molotschna have reported assaults in the night by what some in the community claim are ghosts or demons. Others blame “wild female imagination”—until several of the men behind the attacks are discovered and apprehended. While the men of the colony go into town to bail out the accused, the women meet secretly in a hayloft to determine how to respond. They have just two days to decide what to do before the men return. Acerbic, funny, tender and wise, acclaimed author Miriam Toews’s spellbinding seventh novel contains a universe of revelatory thinking about gender, justice, freedom and power.

  Registration opens on 22 November.
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

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• LD201 Café Littéraire Book Group

  • When
    20 Dec 2024
  •  
    3:00 PM - 4:30 PM
  • Location
    TBD
  • Spaces left
    8

  

  A book has not been chosen yet for the December meeting. It will, however,  be an award-winning book that was originally published in French and is available in English translation.

  The group discusses the book in English.

  The book group normally meets at the organizer's apartment in the 15th arrondissement, and the directions, door code, telephone number, etc., are sent following registration.

  Registration for the December meeting opens on 23 November.
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

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• LJ101 Play Reading: Arcadia, by Tom Stoppard

  • When
    10 Jan 2025
  •  
    10:00 AM - 1:00 PM
  • Location
    To Be Announced
  • Spaces left
    13

  "Arcadia" is a 1993 stage play by Tom Stoppard that intertwines two storylines set in the same English country house, Sidley Park, but separated by two centuries.

  In the early 19th century, the story follows the inhabitants of Sidley Park, including Thomasina Coverly, a young girl fascinated by mathematics, and her tutor, Septimus Hodge. Their intellectual pursuits intersect with romantic entanglements and the landscape architecture of the garden.

  In the present day, a group of academics and historians investigates the events of the past, attempting to uncover the truth behind a mysterious hermit who lived on the estate and the fate of Thomasina.

  As the play unfolds, themes of love, science, literature, and the elusive nature of truth emerge, with Stoppard blending humor, intellect, and emotion to explore the interconnectedness of past and present, and the eternal quest for knowledge and understanding.

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  This play is 48 pages and has 13 characters. The estimated reading time is 1 1/2 hours.

  The reading will take place at a member's apartment. The address, door code, and phone number will be sent in the two reminder emails.

  As always, two spots are reserved for new WICE members until a few days before the reading. If they have not been filled, we open them to members on the wait list.

  Registration opens on 09 September 2024.

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• LJ241 Café Littéraire Book Group

  • When
    24 Jan 2025
  •  
    3:00 PM - 4:30 PM
  • Location
    6 rue Saint Louis en Île, 75004
  • Spaces left
    7

  

  A book has not been chosen yet for the January meeting. It will, however,  be an award-winning book that was originally published in French and is available in English translation.

  The group discusses the book in English.

  The book group normally meets at the organizer's apartment in the 15th arrondissement, and the directions, door code, telephone number, etc., are sent following registration.

  Registration for the December meeting opens on 21 December.
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

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• LF071 Play Reading

  • When
    07 Feb 2025
  •  
    10:00 AM - 1:00 PM
  • Location
    To Be Announced
  • Spaces left
    12

  On the 1st Friday of the month, WICE has a cold play reading group that is open to all WICE members. This group looks for plays to read out loud that meet the following criteria (although that is not always possible):

      English language 

      Award winning (or nominated)
  

      One or two acts

      7 - 10 characters

      Able to be read out loud in 1 1/2 hours
  

  Plays are generally chosen on a month-to-month basis, primarily (but not exclusively) from the candidate list of plays located on our webpage, From Page to Stage: Readings of Award-Winning Plays. When the play for April has been chosen, this listing will be updated.

  Note: Because the Paris Writers Workshop is taking place the entire first week of June, we are doing the June play reading on the 2nd Friday of the month.
  

  Registration the February reading session opens on 11 January.
  

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• LF281 Café Littéraire Book Group

  • When
    28 Feb 2025
  •  
    3:00 PM - 4:30 PM
  • Location
    6 rue Saint Louis en Île, 75004
  • Spaces left
    8

  

  A book has not been chosen yet for the February meeting. It will, however,  be an award-winning book that was originally published in French and is available in English translation.

  The group discusses the book in English.

  The book group normally meets at the organizer's apartment in the 15th arrondissement, and the directions, door code, telephone number, etc., are sent following registration.

  Registration for the February meeting opens on 25 January 2025
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

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• LM281 Café Littéraire Book Group

  • When
    28 Mar 2025
  •  
    3:00 PM - 4:30 PM
  • Location
    6 rue Saint Louis en Île, 75004
  • Spaces left
    9

  

  A book has not been chosen yet for the March meeting. It will, however,  be an award-winning book that was originally published in French and is available in English translation.

  The group discusses the book in English.

  The book group normally meets at the organizer's apartment in the 15th arrondissement, and the directions, door code, telephone number, etc., are sent following registration.

  Registration for the March meeting opens on 28 February 2025.
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

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