Xavier Le Clerc
An interview
All welcome
Language: English
Thursday, 14th November 2024
Room QG27 (Business School)
D.C.U. Glasenevin Campus
11h00 - 12h00
On the occasion of the European Book Club promoted by The European Union National Institutes for Culture (EUNIC) in Ireland, The French Embassy and Alliance Française Dublin are delighted to welcome Xavier Le Clerc, a celebrated French-Algerian novelist and poet to discuss his third novel A Man With No Title (Un Homme sans titre).
D.C.U. and EROSS will welcome Xavier Le Clerc on Thursday Novembre 14th @ 11 in QG27 (Glasnevin Campus, Business School)
A second interview, in English as well, will take place on that evening @ 6 pm, in the Alliance Française, Kildare Street.
AN INTERVIEW
class struggles - memory - France/Algeria - exile - identity - families
sexuality
About the novelist:
Xavier Le Clerc is a celebrated French Algerian novelist and poet. His third novel Un homme sans titre was met with wide critical acclaim in France where it was awarded four literary prizes: the Prix de l’Académie des Belles Lettres et des Sciences Caen, the Prix de la Grande Mosquée de Paris, the Prix du live de La Tribune and the Grand Prix du Roman Métis. Le Clerc holds two Master’s degrees from the Sorbonne, in Human Sciences and in Comparative Literature. Born Hamid Aït-Taleb, he changed his name in his early thirties because of discrimination he faced. Born in Kabylia, Algeria, Xavier grew up in Normandy and now lives with his husband between Paris and Kent.
About the book:
Mohand-Saïd Aït-Taleb is an enigma. Living in France but ravaged by memories of the war in Algeria, he has withdrawn into his own world, away from his wife and children. When his son Xavier discovers articles by Albert Camus describing the appalling conditions his father grew up in, he starts to piece together the story of his life.
Xavier retraces the steps of this dignified, illiterate and strong-willed man: from Kabylia – where starving children, like Mohand-Saïd, fought with dogs for scraps – to the metal factory in Normandy, where his father would spend the rest of his days, consumed with providing for his family. It is there that Xavier discovers his love of books. When he breaks with conservative family traditions and confesses his attraction to men, Xavier will find which doors slam closed and which will open.
Contact = [email protected]
REVIEWS
A poignant hymn to an Algerian father … A Man With No Title is a powerful account of a marginalised community.’
The Observer
‘A beautiful and achingly tender tribute to a father'
Leila Slimani
‘Thank you for your story which does justice to your father, to his lifelong journey marked by violence, colonisation, war and work.’
Annie Ernaux
‘A beautifully rendered, deeply felt tribute. Le Clerc achieves reconciliation, love and respect for his long-suffering father.’
France Inter