Organised by the French Embassy and the Italian Institut Francais, Festival of French Narrative is on. The literary festival, organized by the French embassy and the Italian Institut Francais is bringing 23 authors writing in the French language to 14 Italian cities. Award-winning Pierre Lemaitre, Emmanuelle Pireyre and Didier Decoin are among the writers who will present their latest novels and discuss French literature. The festival will also feature children’s novelists, illustrators and female writers, celebrating the French contribution to literature.

The authors, including eight women, will be discussing their works in Milan, Bari, Turin, Venice, Rome, Palermo and other cities as part of the fifth edition of the festival. After past editions in which the most popular authors were focused on, this year strives more towards creativity and experimentation, with the spotlight on a generation of mostly authors under age 40 who are not very well known even in France.

Nevertheless, they have all found publishers in Italy willing to publish their works ''with courage, at a time of crisis, staking everything on the literary quality'', the Festival's director Julien Donadille underscored, noting that Italy is the country that translates the most French works worldwide. One of the authors is Jean-Noel Schifano, an expert on Italian and translator of Italian authors, who will be presenting 'E.M. o la Divina Barbara' (published by E/O), a long monologue-story-memories of his relationship with Elsa Morante, on February 12,13, and 14 in Turin, Rome, and Naples. There will also be the latest winner of the Goncourt prize, Pierre Lemaitre, with his much-talked-about novel 'Ci Vediamo Lassù' (published by Mondadori), which focuses on WWI and its veterans, on this year marking the 100th anniversary of its beginning. There will also be authors that are experimental to varying degrees, including Emmanuelle Pireyre, who won the Médicis prize for her 'Incantesimo Generale' (published by Gremese), a fantastic, paradoxical novel-collage on the modern world, with characters taken from online forums and social networks and an easy-to-read, modern writing style derived from the web and text messaging, on February 10-11 in Rome and Palermo. Then there will be Bernard Quiriny with his 'La Biblioteca di Gould' (published by L'Orma), a collection of bourgeois stories bearing some resemblance to Perec in their literary, fantasy-based mixing of libraries and cities, in Florence, Roma, Padua, Mantova, and Milan from February 16 to February 20. The festival aims to raise awareness about a generation of authors breathing new life into the French literary scene and includes authors originally from other countries - such as Scholastique Mukasonga from Rwanda, Nahal Tajadod from Iran, and the Belgians Jean-Philippe Toussaint and Quiriny.

The programme in Rome:

10/02/14 – 6pm

Emmanuelle Pireyre

Incantesimo generale, Gremese, 2013

La Feltrinelli Libri e Musica,

Piazza Colonna, 31-35 / lafeltrinelli.it

11/02/14 – 7pm

Nahal Tajadod

L’attrice di Teheran, E/O, 2013

Institut français – Centre Saint-Louis,

Largo Toniolo 22 / ifcsl.com

13/02/14 – 5.30pm

Jean Noel

Schifano e.m. la divina barbara, Elliot, 2014

Casa delle traduzioni,

Via degli Avignonesi, 32 /bliotechediroma.it

14/02/14 – 5.30pm

Yasmine Ghata

Concerto per mio padre, Del Vecchio Editore, 2013

Bibliocaffè Letterario,

via Ostiense, 95 / bibliotechediroma.it

17/02/14 – 7pm

Bernard Quiriny

la biblioteca di gould, L’Orma, 2013

Biblioteca Rispoli,

Piazza Grazioli, 4 / bibliotechediroma.it

18/02/14 – 7pm

Blexbolex

BALLATA, Orecchio Acerbo, 2013

Institut français – Centre Saint-Louis,

Largo Toniolo 22 / ifcsl.com

19/02/14 – 5.30pm

Joy Sorman

Come una bestia, Nottetempo, 2014

Biblioteca Appia,

Via La Spezia, 21 / bibliotechediroma.it

21/02/14 – 5.30pm

Michael Uras

Io e Proust, Voland, 2014

Biblioteca Flaminia,

via Cesare Fracassini, 9 / bibliotechediroma.it

25/02/14 – 7pm

Scholastique Mukasonga

Nostra signora del nilo, 66thand2nd, 2014

Institut français – Centre Saint-Louis,

Largo Toniolo 22 / ifcsl.com

26/02/14 – 7.30pm

Marie Desplechin

IL DENARO, Logos 2013

Accademia di Francia a Roma -

Villa Medici, viale della Trinità dei Monti, 1 / villamedici.it

More info:

http://institutfrancais-italia.com/it