Wednesday, March 13, 2019
4:30-5:30 @ The French House
French writer, politician, economist, sociologist, and France’s delegate minister for equal opportunities from 2005 to 2007, Azouz Begag will speak, in French about migration, identity and fear in today’s France and Europe.
“Le Gone du Chaâba” (Shantytown Kid), his first novel (1998), describes the childhood of its Algerian author in a poor neighborhood of Lyon, France (called “Chaâba” by its inhabitants). The 1997 film based on the book (“Le Gone du Chaâba” / “The Kid from Chaaba”) won 7 awards and 2 nominations for its portrayal of the daily life of immigrants, especially the young Omar, who live in the poverty and squalor of a suburb outside of France’s 3rd largest city.
His most recent book, “Mémoires au soleil” (2018), centers on his father’s “maladie d’Ali Zaïmeur” (Alzheimer’s disease) which leads Azouz’s stubborn father to stray from his home and imagine himself at the port of Marseille heading back to Algeria. Feeling responsible in part, Azouz describes the emotional toll on him and on his family that results from these repeated escapes from reality, all the while reminding us of the charm and simple pleasures of their daily lives.
This talk with be in French. If you are interested in staying for dinner (6pm), please see our menu here and register (spots are limited!).
