Acclaimed French author visits Birmingham

Internationally acclaimed and award winning Caribbean author Maryse Condé, first president of the French national Committee for the Memory of Slavery (2004-2008), will be giving a special lecture on The Personal Journey of a Caribbean Author, at the University of Birmingham on 30th September 2010. The lecture, organised by Louise Hardwick, specialist in Francophone Caribbean culture in the Department of French Studies, forms part of the University's programme of events marking Black History Month, and highlights the role played by the University's language departments in uncovering the rich and diverse culture of other nations. Maryse Condé's talk (in French) will be followed by a translation workshop (in English) by Richard Philcox, her acclaimed literary translator, discussing practical and theoretical elements of translation. Richard Philcox will focus on extracts from Condé's Caribbean rewriting of Wuthering Heights and will also discuss his new translation of The Wretched of the Earth by Frantz Fanon. Jennifer Birkett, Professor of French Studies, says: "Many members of the Caribbean community in Birmingham will be familiar with the name of Maryse Condé, and her novels on the Caribbean heritage, slavery, and especially the role and perspective of women. For the University's Department of French Studies, and the School and College of which it is part, colonial and postcolonial questions are now a major theme for research and teaching.