American Library in Paris

(Hybrid) Changing our Approach to Change with Adam Phillips
2023-04-26 19:30 - 20:30 (Europe/Paris) | The American Library in Paris
Please note that in-person reservations for this event are now closed. We invite you to sign up to attend online by clicking the RSVP button.
Can people truly change? When one is unhappy or unwell, is it possible to get better? Adam Phillips, the UK’s foremost literary psychoanalyst, thinks that these may not be the right questions to ask. Rather, we should consider what we mean by the terms ‘change’ and ‘get better’, and how transformation and self-betterment have been mythologized. In bestselling works On Wanting to Change and On Getting Better, Phillips encourages us to rethink the ways we talk about mental health and the lives we lead. By redefining the terms of the conversation surrounding change, we may learn to think more clearly about ourselves. At the Library, Phillips will discuss the human mind and the tools we have to understand it.
About the speaker:
Adam Phillips, formerly Principal Child Psychotherapist at Charing Cross Hospital, London, is a practicing psychoanalyst and a visiting professor in the English department at the University of York. He is the author of various works of psychoanalysis and literary criticism, including most recently The Cure For Psychoanalysis, On Getting Better, On Wanting to Change, Attention Seeking, and In Writing. He is General Editor of the Penguin Modern Classics Freud translations, a Fellow of The Royal Society of Literature, and a contributor to the London Review of Books.
Important information: The discussion will be available both online and in person. While the conversation will happen in person (Phillips will appear in the Reading Room), the Library will stream the conversation on Zoom for a live viewing experience. Both in-person and online attendees will be able to pose questions.
This event requires advance registration.
Attendance at this event constitutes permission for your photograph or video to be taken at the event and used by the American Library in Paris for marketing, promotional, pedagogical, or other purposes.
Evenings with an Author are free and open to the public (with a 10€ suggested donation)
thanks to the generous support of Gregory Annenberg Weingarten of GRoW @ Annenberg.

George Monbiot, Sébastien Treyer, and Emma Heiling on Feeding the World
2023-04-27 19:00 - 20:30 | The American Library in Paris
While half of the world’s habitable land is used to produce our food, fertilizers, sewage, and pesticides contaminate large swathes of the rest. How to feed the world, we might ask, without destroying the planet?
The Library’s contribution to this joint program is supported by the Florence Gould Foundation and the American Center for Arts and Culture.
Please note the special start time of this event.
About the speakers:
George Monbiot, author of Regenesis:Feeding the World without Devouring the Planet, is a columnist, filmmaker, and essayist.
Sébastien Treyer is Executive Director of IDDRI, a think tank which facilitates the transition towards sustainable development.
Emma Heiling is the Founder & CEO of ClimaTalk, a youth-led non-profit organisation demystifying climate policy and empowering young people in the fight for climate action.
Important information: The 2023 series will unfold over six sessions, from 26 January to 29 June. Conversations will begin at 19h00 CET and run for ninety minutes. Conversations will be hybrid, taking place both in person at the American Library in Paris and online. Though participants are encouraged to join all six sessions for a holistic overview, the discrete and diverse nature of topics will allow audience members to attend based on interest. Alice McCrum, head of cultural programming at the American Library in Paris, will begin each conversation with brief opening remarks, before guiding an in-depth group discussion.

This event requires advance registration.
Attendance at this event constitutes permission for your photograph or video to be taken at the event and used by the American Library in Paris for marketing, promotional, pedagogical, or other purposes.

Bookworms Book Club: "The Crossover" (ages 8–12)
2023-04-29 11:00 - 12:00 | The American Library in Paris
Discuss the Newbery Medal-winning novel-in-verse The Crossover by Kwame Alexander and then try your hand at your own piece of poetry.

Each participant should read the book The Crossover before attending this book club activity. Copies are available in the Library’s collections.

Children between the ages 8–12 may participate in Library programs on their own, while their chaperone remains inside the Library.
Important information: This event is for Library members, and advance registration is required. Caregivers are expected to familiarize themselves with the Library Policy for Children and the Rules and Code of Conduct so that we can provide a pleasant library environment for all patrons. Questions about collections and programs for children and teens can be sent to the Library’s Children’s and Teens’ Services Manager, Celeste Rhoads: celeste@americanlibraryinparis.org.

(Hybrid) Writing to the Moon with Fatoumata Kébé
2023-05-02 19:30 - 20:30 | The American Library in Paris
The moon has been the subject of human fascination since the dawn of recorded history. Celebrated in epic poetry and sacred texts, spanning ancient mythology and modern physics, it has been the object of awe, worship, investigation, and analysis across every era of civilization. In La lune est un roman, astronomer Fatoumata Kebe tells us the story of the moon. The moon’s story, we learn, is also the story of the humans looking at, studying, rhapsodizing, and loving it. We have always looked at the same moon. Kebe demonstrates that our ways of looking at it, and writing about it, have not changed all that drastically, either.
About the speaker:
Fatoumata Kébé is a doctor of astronomy at Sorbonne Université. She researches the impact of space activities on astronomical observations, and how such activities contribute to pollution around the Earth. She is also working on “Connected Eco,” an entrepreneurial project for water preservation in the farming sector, and is the founder of the Éphémérides organization, which promotes the practice and teaching of astronomy among the public.
Important information: The discussion will be available both online and in person. While the conversation will happen in person (Kébé will appear in the Reading Room), the Library will stream the conversation on Zoom for a live viewing experience. Both in-person and online attendees will be able to pose questions.
This event requires advance registration.
Attendance at this event constitutes permission for your photograph or video to be taken at the event and used by the American Library in Paris for marketing, promotional, pedagogical, or other purposes.
Evenings with an Author are free and open to the public (with a 10€ suggested donation)
thanks to the generous support of Gregory Annenberg Weingarten of GRoW @ Annenberg.

Story Hour: Our Community (ages 3–5)
2023-05-03 14:30 - 15:30 | The American Library in Paris
For this Story Hour, we’ll read stories about the communities we live in and the people who keep them functioning every day—from firefighters to teachers. Each Story Hour program features short picture books such as Last Stop on Market Street by Newbery Medal-winner Matt de la Peña and illustrated by Christian Robinson, as well as songs and rhymes.
This Story Hour will be hosted by Children’s and Teens’ Services Manager Celeste Rhoads and Library volunteer Mary Wessels. They will read books and lead you and your little one in songs and hand-rhymes during a live, interactive session. This participatory program is intended to encourage children to actively engage with stories. Plan to join in, sing along, and move around, and model movement and listening for your little one. We ask that all caregivers put away their phones and other electronic devices for the duration of this program. Important information: This event is for Library members, and advance registration is required. Caregivers are expected to familiarize themselves with the Library Policy for Children and the Rules and Code of Conduct so that we can provide a pleasant library environment for all patrons. Questions about collections and programs for children and teens can be sent to the Library’s Children’s and Teens’ Services Manager, Celeste Rhoads: celeste@americanlibraryinparis.org.

(Hybrid) High Hopes and Harlem’s Hidden Histories with Jake Lamar
2023-05-03 19:30 - 20:30 | The American Library in Paris
Join author Jake Lamar, in conversation with professor Marcus Bruce, to discuss Lamar’s celebrated noir novel, Viper’s Dream. The story of an aspiring jazz musician’s descent into the Harlem drug trade, Viper’s Dream redefines the crime genre, infusing it with tension and depth. Readers are swept into a hero’s journey, motivated by the central question: how much can one sacrifice to achieve one’s dreams? Hailed by Deborah Levy as “moody, poetic, and immersing,” the novel is a rich and atmospheric portrait of mid-century Manhattan’s dark underbelly. Lamar navigates murder, betrayal, romance, and jazz with skill, masterfully crafting a book both politically charged and poetically written.
About the speakers:
Jake Lamar is the award-winning author of a memoir, seven novels and a play. His most recent work, Viper’s Dream, is a crime novel set in the jazz world of Harlem between 1936 and 1961. Born and raised in the Bronx, New York, Jake Lamar has lived in Paris since 1993. He is a professor of creative writing at one of France’s top universities, Sciences Po.
Marcus Bruce is the Charles A. Dana Professor of Religious Studies in the Religious Studies Department at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine. He is also a founding member of the American Studies and Africana Programs at the college. He has published Henry Ossawa Tanner: A Spiritual Biography, a study of the first African American painter to achieve international recognition at the Paris Salon. He is currently writing a book entitled The Ambassadors: African Americans, Paris and A New Birth of Freedom, a study of African Americans at the Paris Exposition of 1900.
Important information: The discussion will be available both online and in person. While the conversation will happen in person (Lamar and Bruce will appear in the Reading Room), the Library will stream the conversation on Zoom for a live viewing experience. Both in-person and online attendees will be able to pose questions.
This event requires advance registration.
Attendance at this event constitutes permission for your photograph or video to be taken at the event and used by the American Library in Paris for marketing, promotional, pedagogical, or other purposes.
Evenings with an Author are free and open to the public (with a 10€ suggested donation)
thanks to the generous support of Gregory Annenberg Weingarten of GRoW @ Annenberg.

Toddler Time (ages 1–3)
2023-05-04 11:00 - 11:30 | The American Library in Paris
Stories featured during our Toddler Time programs include short picture books and board books, such as Hey, Water by Antoinette Portis, which will be included in this 4 May event.
Our Toddler Time is for children ages 1–3 and their caregivers, and lasts 30 minutes. This session will be hosted by Children’s and Teens’ Services Manager Celeste Rhoads and Assistant Children’s and Teens’ Services Librarian Jason Hazard. Each child must be accompanied by an adult chaperone, and chaperones are required to remain with their children for the duration of the program. Parents and caregivers are expected to sit with their children beside them, or in their laps, and participate in the program. Important information: This event is for Library members, and advance registration is required. Caregivers are expected to familiarize themselves with the Library Policy for Children and the Rules and Code of Conduct so that we can provide a pleasant library environment for all patrons. Questions about collections and programs for children and teens can be sent to the Library’s Children’s and Teens’ Services Manager, Celeste Rhoads: celeste@americanlibraryinparis.org.

History Tour at the Library
2023-05-05 11:00 - 12:00, 2023-05-12 11:00 - 12:00 | The American Library in Paris
The American Library in Paris invites you to register for a History Tour. Come visit us in person at 10 rue du Général Camou and discover:

Our origin story, when our Library warehoused a collection of books donated to the Doughboys fighting alongside Allied troupes in WWI
The establishment of the American Library in Paris as a private library
The famous writers of the Lost Generation (Gertrude Stein, Ernest Hemingway, Henry Miller, and more) who explored our stacks during their time in Paris
Our Paris Library School, which brought American innovations to French libraries in the 1920s
The true stories of the brave Librarians who kept the Library open during the Occupation of WWII
How the Library has evolved over its 103-year history into the largest English-language lending library on the European continent

All tours are on Fridays at 11h00, last one hour, and take place in person at the American Library in Paris.
Tours are free of charge and open to the public. Pre-registration is required.
This initiative is made possible through the generous support of the Florence Gould Foundation and the American Center for Art and Culture.
Please email tours@americanlibraryinparis.org with any questions.
Attendance at this event constitutes permission for your photograph or video to be taken at the event and used by the American Library in Paris for marketing, promotional, pedagogical, or other purposes.

Saturday Series: Game Day (ages 6–12)
2023-05-06 11:00 - 12:00 | The American Library in Paris
Learn how to play Candyland, Boogle, or Clue, or bring in a board game from home to share and play. Volunteers will be on hand to help walk you through the rules of the games. Important information: This event is for Library members, and advance registration is required. Caregivers are expected to familiarize themselves with the Library Policy for Children and the Rules and Code of Conduct so that we can provide a pleasant library environment for all patrons. Questions about collections and programs for children and teens can be sent to the Library’s Children’s and Teens’ Services Manager, Celeste Rhoads: celeste@americanlibraryinparis.org.

Blackout Poetry (ages 8–12)
2023-05-07 14:00 - 15:00 | The American Library in Paris
Join Assistant Children’s and Teens’ Services Librarian Jason Hazard for a workshop dedicated to creating original poetry using found words. Blackout poetry is a type of “found poetry.” Participants will take pages from worn, broken, and damaged books and scan for words that inspire them, then, they’ll construct a new poem of their own!

Children between the ages 8–12 may participate in Library programs on their own, while their chaperone remains inside the Library. Children ages 6–8, and children who cannot yet write on their own must have a chaperone with them to assist with writing. Important information: This event is for Library members, and advance registration is required. Caregivers are expected to familiarize themselves with the Library Policy for Children and the Rules and Code of Conduct so that we can provide a pleasant library environment for all patrons. Questions about collections and programs for children and teens can be sent to the Library’s Children’s and Teens’ Services Manager, Celeste Rhoads: celeste@americanlibraryinparis.org.

(Hybrid) Behind the Scenes of the Opéra Comique
2023-05-09 19:30 - 20:30 | The American Library in Paris
We are delighted to welcome Missy Mazzoli, composer, and Royce Vavrek, librettist, alongside performer Sydney Mancasola, to discuss their highly-anticipated staging of Breaking the Waves at the Opéra Comique. Based on Lars Von Trier’s award-winning 1996 film, Mazzoli and Vavrek’s fresh take on the trials of a devout young woman from a strict Calvinist enclave in Northern Scotland was awarded the International Opera Award for Best World Premiere in 2017. Join them at the Library as they discuss the immense task of adapting age-old problems, from faith and morality to love and community, to the contemporary operatic stage.
The Opéra Comique is offering the Library community a generous 40% discount for tickets to Breaking the Waves.
To purchase your discounted tickets, click here.
About the speakers:
Missy Mazzoli’s music has been performed by the New York Philharmonic, Atlanta Symphony, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the BBC Symphony, the Cincinnati Orchestra, the National Symphony, LA Opera, Scottish Opera, eighth blackbird, Kronos Quartet and many others. She is one of the first two women to receive a main stage commission from the Metropolitan Opera, and was nominated for a Grammy award for Best Classical Composition. From 2018-2021 she was Composer-in-Residence at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and from 2012-2015 was Composer-in-Residence with Opera Philadelphia.
Royce Vavrek is a Canada-born, Brooklyn-based librettist and lyricist who has been called “the indie Hofmannsthal” (The New Yorker) a “Metastasio of the downtown opera scene” (The Washington Post), “an exemplary creator of operatic prose” (The New York Times), and “one of the most celebrated and sought after librettists in the world” (CBC Radio). His opera “Angel’s Bone” with composer Du Yun was awarded the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Music.
Sydney Mancasola studied voice at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, and later went on join Oper Frankfurt as a member of the ensemble. Sydney’s notable debuts have included her house debut at the Metropolitan Opera as Pamina in the Julie Taymor production of The Magic Flute, her company and role debut as Adina L’elisir d’amore at the Opéra de Paris, and Melisande Pelléas et Mélisande with LA Opera, and her debut as Bess in a new production of Breaking the Waves at the Adelaide Festival Centre in Australia and Edinburgh International Festival, where she was awarded a Herald Angel for her performance.
Nicolas Chesneau is a French pianist, vocal coach and conductor. He studied in Paris with Anne le Bozec. He worked in many opera houses in France (Bastille, Lille, Dijon, Strasbourg, Marseille) and as assistant in international festivals (Aix-en-Provence, Ruthrtriennale, Wienerfestwochen).
Important information: The discussion will be available both online and in person. While the conversation will happen in person (Mazzoli, Vavrek, Mancasola, and Chesneau will appear in the Reading Room), the Library will stream the conversation on Zoom for a live viewing experience. Both in-person and online attendees will be able to pose questions.
This event is presented in partnership with the Opéra Comique, with the support of The Florence Gould Foundation and the American Center for Art and Culture.
This event requires advance registration.
Attendance at this event constitutes permission for your photograph or video to be taken at the event and used by the American Library in Paris for marketing, promotional, pedagogical, or other purposes.
Evenings with an Author are free and open to the public (with a 10€ suggested donation)
thanks to the generous support of Gregory Annenberg Weingarten of GRoW @ Annenberg.

Story Hour: At the Zoo (ages 3–5)
2023-05-10 14:30 - 15:30 | The American Library in Paris
For this Story Hour, we’ll read stories about the zoo and zoo animals. Each Story Hour program features short picture books such as Dear Zoo by Rod Cambell, as well as songs and rhymes.
This Story Hour will be hosted by Assistant Children’s and Teens’ Services Librarian Jason Hazard and Children and Teens’ Services Manager Celeste Rhoads. They will read books and lead you and your little one in songs and hand-rhymes during a live, interactive session. This participatory program is intended to encourage children to actively engage with stories. Plan to join in, sing along, and move around, and model movement and listening for your little one. We ask that all caregivers put away their phones and other electronic devices for the duration of this program. Important information:
Important information: This event is for Library members, and advance registration is required. Caregivers are expected to familiarize themselves with the Library Policy for Children and the Rules and Code of Conduct so that we can provide a pleasant library environment for all patrons. Questions about collections and programs for children and teens can be sent to the Library’s Children’s and Teens’ Services Manager, Celeste Rhoads: celeste@americanlibraryinparis.org.

(Hybrid) A Hidden Figure of Wartime Paris with Livia Manera Sambuy and Tash Aw
2023-05-10 19:30 - 20:30 | The American Library in Paris
When journalist Livia Manera Sambuy discovered a striking portrait of princess Amrit Kaur in a Mumbai museum, she had no idea who the luminous figure was, much less the journey that lay ahead of her in excavating Kaur’s history. Fascination with Kaur led to a search across the globe for information on her past, which in turn uncovered Kaur’s participation in the resistance effort against the Nazis, her commitment to the fight for women’s rights, a complicated family life, and a tragic death following imprisonment in a concentration camp. Equal parts moving and riveting, Sambuy’s tale of Kaur’s inspiring life and living legacy is infused with remarkable, improbable stories of figures across history and the reminder that every individual is part of a cause bigger than themselves. Sambuy will appear in conversation with author Tash Aw.
About the speaker:
Livia Manera Sambuy is an Italian writer whose book of profiles of American writers, Don’t Write About Me, was published in 2015. She has been a staff writer at the literary pages of the Italian national daily Corriere della Sera for more than twenty years and is the author and co-director of two documentary films on Philip Roth. She divides her time between Paris and Tuscany.
Tash Aw is an award-winning author. His first novel, The Harmony Silk Factory (2005) was longlisted for the 2005 Man Booker Prize and won the 2005 Whitbread Book Awards First Novel Award. His 2013 novel Five Star Billionaire was longlisted for the 2013 Man Booker Prize. In 2016, he published The Face: Strangers on a Pier, , which was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. His 2019 novel, We, The Survivors, was also a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. His novels have been translated into 23 languages.
Important information: The discussion will be available both online and in person. While the conversation will happen in person (Sambuy and Aw will appear in the Reading Room), the Library will stream the conversation on Zoom for a live viewing experience. Both in-person and online attendees will be able to pose questions.
This event requires advance registration.
Attendance at this event constitutes permission for your photograph or video to be taken at the event and used by the American Library in Paris for marketing, promotional, pedagogical, or other purposes.
Evenings with an Author are free and open to the public (with a 10€ suggested donation)
thanks to the generous support of Gregory Annenberg Weingarten of GRoW @ Annenberg.

Critical Conversations Meeting Seven: Art in Dark Times
2023-05-11 19:00 - 21:00 | The American Library in Paris
In 1955, Theodor Adorno declared that “to write a poem after Auschwitz is barbaric.” He questioned the value of metaphor after a tragedy as unfathomable as the Holocaust. Past and present, some dismiss the arts as bourgeois pastimes, out of touch with the struggles of ordinary people. Given the climate emergency and our many other global problems, many today ask what value there is in pretty pictures and fictional stories.
In this seminar, we will discuss the purpose of art during dark times—ecological and political crises, war, genocide. Before the Romantic revolution, music and art helped to organize society and structure meaning. In contrast, is art today only about pleasure? Or might the arts and letters play an integral role in nourishing civil society and democracy? What is the role of the writer and artist under authoritarianism, under tyranny? Even if they eschew conventional activism, can artists nonetheless help maintain not only healthy minds but healthy societies too?
In partnership with Analog Sea, an offline publisher of printed books, we’re delighted to announce the fourth season of Critical Conversations, an expert-led discussion series that allows Library members to ponder the most important issues of our time. This season, we will reflect on how to lead a contemplative, vital, and unmediated life in an ever-faster digital world. We will discuss questions such as: What do we gain from disconnecting, and how can we do it? How can we sharpen our senses and redirect our attention in order to change our thoughts and actions? And most of all, how can we live in contemporary society with nuance and intention?
Some details: The 2022–23 series will unfold over nine sessions, from November 2022 to July 2023. Conversations will begin at 19h00 CET and run for two hours, in person, at the Library; technology of all description is happily forbidden. Each participant will receive copies of all four Analog Sea Review volumes published so far. Course reading and discussion will, for the most part, be based on work published in The Analog Sea Review. Jonathan Simons, founding editor of Analog Sea, will begin each meeting with some opening remarks, before guiding a group discussion.
About Critical Conversations: Whether in France or America, debate is central to healthy democracy. Critical Conversations encourages both disagreement and agreement through thinking, talking, reading, and actively participating in community. Since the series’ inception in 2020, we have tackled race in America, the climate crisis, and migration. Across seasons, participants have challenged themselves, their peers, and the world in which we live. Please write to Emilie Biggs at biggs@americanlibraryinparis.org with any questions.
About the Critical Conversations 2022-23 leader:
Jonathan Simons is the founding editor of offline publishing house Analog Sea and its literary journal, The Analog Sea Review. As a poet and essayist, he has written for publications including The London Magazine, PN Review, El País, subTerrain Magazine, and The Analog Sea Review. His work has been covered by, among others, the Guardian, the Times Literary Supplement, the Washington Post and La Vanguardia. He researched Buddhist poetics at Naropa University and McGill University and was formerly a visiting scholar at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Center for Humans and Machines, in Berlin.
Attendance at this event constitutes permission for your photograph or video to be taken at the event and used by the American Library in Paris for marketing, promotional, pedagogical, or other purposes.

Silly Songs with Matt Black (all ages)
2023-05-13 11:00 - 12:00 | The American Library in Paris
Join musician and educator Matt Black for an hour of silly songs—including childhood classics, Library favorites, and surprises.

About Matt Black: Matt Black has worked as an educator for more than 30 years, and gets big thrills as a guitarist and vocalist with beloved Paris party band The Doodads. In 2012, he searched Paris for a rock band program for his daughter—and when he couldn’t find one, he created Rock U.!

Children between the ages 6–12 may participate in Library programs on their own, while their chaperone remains inside the Library. Children under the age of 6 must be accompanied by an adult chaperone for the duration of the program.

Important information: This event is for Library members, and advance registration is required. Caregivers are expected to familiarize themselves with the Library Policy for Children and the Rules and Code of Conduct so that we can provide a pleasant library environment for all patrons. Questions about collections and programs for children and teens can be sent to the Library’s Children’s and Teens’ Services Manager, Celeste Rhoads: celeste@americanlibraryinparis.org.

Wordle Spades (ages 12–18)
2023-05-13 14:00 - 15:00 | The American Library in Paris
Get to know other teen Library members, and learn a mash-up word game with the help of Front of House Assistant Sinamen McGee. Important information:
This event is free for Library members, and and 15 euros per teen for non-members. Advance registration is required. All visitors are expected to familiarize themselves with the Library Policy for Children and the Rules and Code of Conduct so that we can provide a pleasant library environment for all patrons.
Questions about collections and programs for children and teens can be sent to the Library’s Children’s and Teens’ Services Manager, Celeste Rhoads: celeste@americanlibraryinparis.org.

The Vocabulary of U.S. College Admissions with College Goals (ages 12–adult)
2023-05-14 14:00 - 15:30 | The American Library in Paris
Given the demands of the American university application process, students interested in pursuing higher education in the U.S. are well advised to begin preparing early in their high school career for its demands, perhaps even before they embark on their final two years of study toward the French bac or IB. In this presentation with guests from College Goals, teens and their parents will explore the application and admissions process for US colleges and universities and how best to prepare. What do families need to know for their students to be successful and satisfied by the university search and application process? How can students produce a strong and interesting U.S. university application? In the first of a series of presentations on aspects of the American college application process, College Goals’ counselor, Andrea van Niekerk will discuss the concepts, language, and protocols students need to be aware of if they hope to apply to US institutions.

About Andrea van Niekerk: Andrea served for a decade as Associate Director of Admission, with a focus on international applicants, and as Freshman Academic Adviser at Brown University, and as Residential Fellow in a dorm at Stanford. Still based in Silicon Valley, she now works with both American and international families as part of College Goals. Andrea has over 20 years of experience in college admission and academic advising. She is a member of NACAC, HECA and WACAC.
About College Goals: College Goals is a university admission consulting practice specializing in counseling families interested in higher education opportunities in the US and in English-medium universities around the world. The team of counselors collectively offers decades of professional experience in higher education. College Goals provides expert counsel and support throughout the college search and application process, including choice of appropriate institutions, test requirements, recommendations and interviews, essay writing, and the preparation of distinguished applications. Find out more at www.collegegoals.com
Important information:
This event is for Library members, and advance registration is required. All visitors are expected to familiarize themselves with the Library Policy for Children and the Rules and Code of Conduct so that we can provide a pleasant library environment for all patrons. After-hours events for teens, such as Teen Nights, require a signed permission slip, which can be downloaded here. One permission slip is needed per academic year (September–July).
Questions about collections and programs for children and teens can be sent to the Library’s Children’s and Teens’ Services Manager, Celeste Rhoads: celeste@americanlibraryinparis.org.

(Hybrid) Jami Attenberg and Lauren Collins on Writing Through Life
2023-05-16 19:30 - 20:30 | The American Library in Paris
Celebrated novelist Jami Attenberg’s new memoir I Came All This Way to Meet You details a life on the road and the many ways one can create a home. An invigorating race through the varied places and spaces temporarily inhabited by Attenberg before moving on, the book celebrates the rejection of a conventional life in favor of spontaneity and creativity. Throughout it all, we learn, Attenberg found solace in writing: in lieu of a static life, she sought stability in the practice of her craft. Though her subjects and techniques have changed across time, the very activity of putting the pen to paper has remained constant. Attenberg, in conversation with author Lauren Collins, will discuss the meandering trajectory of life and the many roads taken to arrive back at herself.
About the speakers:
Jami Attenberg is a New York Times bestselling author of seven books of fiction, including The Middlesteins and All Grown Up, and, most recently, a memoir, I Came All This Way to Meet You: Writing Myself Home. She has written for the New York Times Magazine, the New Yorker, the Wall Street Journal, the Sunday Times, and the Guardian. Her work has been published in sixteen languages. She is also the creator of the annual online group writing accountability project #1000wordsofsummer. She lives in New Orleans.
Lauren Collins began contributing to the New Yorker in 2003 and became a staff writer in 2008. She is the author of When in French: Love in a Second Language, which the Times named as one of its 100 Notable Books of 2016. She is working on a second book, about a coup d’état perpetrated by white supremacists in Wilmington, North Carolina in 1898, and its effects on the city during the past 120 years.
Important information: The discussion will be available both online and in person. While the conversation will happen in person (Attenberg and Collins will appear in the Reading Room), the Library will stream the conversation on Zoom for a live viewing experience. Both in-person and online attendees will be able to pose questions.
This event requires advance registration.
Attendance at this event constitutes permission for your photograph or video to be taken at the event and used by the American Library in Paris for marketing, promotional, pedagogical, or other purposes.
Evenings with an Author are free and open to the public (with a 10€ suggested donation)
thanks to the generous support of Gregory Annenberg Weingarten of GRoW @ Annenberg.

Word for Word 2023 at Théâtre Le Ranelagh (Paris 16)
2023-05-16 19:30 - 21:30 | Théâtre le Ranelagh, 5 rue des Vignes, Paris, 75016, France
Word for Word presents
Home by George Saunders
Directed by Sheila Balter
THIS EVENT IS OFF-SITE, AT THÉÂTRE LE RANELAGH (5 Rue des Vignes, 75016 Paris)
Home is the story of Mikey, a war veteran returning to a home that is increasingly cruel and absurd—and his quest for understanding and compassion. Saunders’ subtle yet absurdist humor brings a unique slant to otherwise dark topics. Home is directed by Word for Word core company member Sheila Balter.
This event requires advance registration. Please reserve your tickets below and bring your printed ticket to the show. This event is sponsored by the American Library in Paris, the Fondation Jeannine Manuel, and Word for Word Performing Arts Company.
WORD FOR WORD Performing Arts Company performs short works of fiction in their entirety, preserving the author’s voice and honoring her/his intent with exciting visuals and inventive staging. Founded in 1993 by Susan Harloe and JoAnne Winter, Word for Word believes in the power of the short story to provide solace, compassion, and insight into our daily lives. In its vibrant history, Word for Word has performed over 70 stories by some of the world’s best writers. Many of these stories have been performed in front of the authors themselves.
George Saunders is the author of twelve books, including Lincoln in the Bardo, which won the 2017 Man Booker Prize for best work of fiction in English, and was a finalist for the Golden Man Booker. His stories have appeared regularly in the New Yorker since 1992. He has received MacArthur and Guggenheim Fellowships, the PEN/Malamud Prize for excellence in the short story, and is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 2013, he was named one of the world’s 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine.
Attendance at this event constitutes permission for your photograph or video to be taken at the event and used by the American Library in Paris for marketing, promotional, pedagogical, or other purposes.

Story Hour: Birthdays (ages 3–5)
2023-05-17 14:30 - 15:30 | The American Library in Paris
For this Story Hour, we’ll read stories about birthdays and birthday celebrations. Each Story Hour program features short picture books such as I Got a Chicken for My Birthday by Laura Gehl and illustrated by Sarah Horne, as well as songs and rhymes.
This Story Hour will be hosted by Children’s and Teens’ Services Manager Celeste Rhoads. They will read books and lead you and your little one in songs and hand-rhymes during a live, interactive session. This participatory program is intended to encourage children to actively engage with stories. Plan to join in, sing along, and move around, and model movement and listening for your little one. We ask that all caregivers put away their phones and other electronic devices for the duration of this program. Important information:
Important information: This event is for Library members, and advance registration is required. Caregivers are expected to familiarize themselves with the Library Policy for Children and the Rules and Code of Conduct so that we can provide a pleasant library environment for all patrons. Questions about collections and programs for children and teens can be sent to the Library’s Children’s and Teens’ Services Manager, Celeste Rhoads: celeste@americanlibraryinparis.org.

(Hybrid) The Humanities in Crisis? with Merve Emre
2023-05-17 19:30 - 20:30 | The American Library in Paris
In anticipation of Merve Emre’s forthcoming monograph, Post-Discipline: Literature, Professionalism, and the Crisis of the Humanities, join Emre for a discussion about two curious and much-discussed phenomena. On the one hand, veritable crisis within the academy: against a backdrop of program closures, decreasing student enrollments, and budget cuts, the study of English and history at the collegiate level in America has fallen by a third over the last decade. On the other hand, flourishing outside the classroom walls: professional schools in medicine, law, and business have emerged as new sites for literary study and teaching, drawing productive links between reading literature and in-the-world practice. How did this happen? And what will happen next?
Merve Emre is Professor of Criticism at Wesleyan University and Director of the Shapiro Center for Creative Writing and Criticism. She is the author and editor of several books, including Paraliterary, The Ferrante Letters, The Personality Brokers, and The Annotated Mrs. Dalloway, and a contributing writer at the New Yorker. She is working on two books: one on love; the other on the discipline of literary studies.
Important information: The discussion will be available both online and in person. While the conversation will happen in person (Emre will appear in the Reading Room), the Library will stream the conversation on Zoom for a live viewing experience. Both in-person and online attendees will be able to pose questions.
This event requires advance registration.
Attendance at this event constitutes permission for your photograph or video to be taken at the event and used by the American Library in Paris for marketing, promotional, pedagogical, or other purposes.
Evenings with an Author are free and open to the public (with a 10€ suggested donation)
thanks to the generous support of Gregory Annenberg Weingarten of GRoW @ Annenberg.

Library is closed
2023-05-18

(In Person at the Center for Fiction) The International Library Part I: Notes on Sugar
2023-05-18 19:30 - 20:30 | The Center for Fiction, 15 Lafayette Ave, Brooklyn, NY, 11217, United States
In person at the Center for Fiction (Brooklyn, NY) and over Zoom, join celebrated Swiss author Dorothee Elmiger and American writer Kate Zambreno for a conversation about Megan Ewing’s new English translation of Elmiger’s Out of the Sugar Factory (Aus der Zuckerfabrik).
In an era of greed and lust, power and excess, Out of the Sugar Factory plumbs the impact of the sugar manufacturing industry through a kaleidoscope of memories, dreams, literary references, narrative threads, and historical fragments. From the Haitian Revolution and Chantal Akerman, to Karl Marx, James Joyce and D.H. Lawrence, Elmiger compiles a journal of reflections on global systems of capital through the medium of her personal patterns of experience. At a time when this critical historical lens is under attack across the U.S., we can look to Elmiger’s work as inspiration to keep revising old stories we have told until now.
About the speakers:
Dorothee Elmiger was born in 1985 in Switzerland. She is the author of Out of the Sugar Factory, Shift Sleepers, and Invitation to the Bold of Heart. She lives in New York City.
Kate Zambreno is the author most recently To Write As If Already Dead, a study of Hervé Guibert (Columbia University Press), and the novel Drifts (Riverhead). The Light Room, a meditation on art and care, is forthcoming from Riverhead in July 2023. A collaborative meditation on tone in literature with Sofia Samatar is forthcoming from Columbia University Press in fall 2023. A 2021 Guggenheim Fellow in Nonfiction, she teaches in the MFA nonfiction program at Columbia University and is the Strachan Donnelley Chair in Environmental Writing at Sarah Lawrence College.
Important information: The discussion will take place at the Center for Fiction in Brooklyn, New York. The conversation will be streamed on Zoom for a live viewing experience. Both in-person and online attendees will be able to pose questions.
Access to this event requires registration through the Center for Fiction. Click on the button below to RSVP.
About The International Library
Conversations across time, place, and language
Join the American Library in Paris, the Center for the Art of Translation, and The Center for Fiction for conversations across time, place, culture, and literary tradition, with live audiences in San Francisco, Brooklyn, and Paris.
At the intersection of theory and practice, past and present, as well as story and history, The International Library celebrates the live diffusion of in-person conversations in the hope of conjuring new possibilities and connecting new audiences across land and sea for a collective, intercultural experience.
Over the course of these conversations, we hope to broach the following questions about writing and translation: Who gets to translate? To be translated? How to translate? And for whom to translate? More broadly, the series will guide readers to think critically about how stories are told, investigating the points of view, the timing of the translations, and the intended or assumed audiences as well as inspiration, philosophy, and craft.
All meetings will be hybrid, taking place in person at The Center for Fiction in Brooklyn (1:30pm ET) with audiences at the American Library in Paris (in Paris; 19h30 CEST) and the Center for the Art of Translation in San Francisco (10:30am PT) for a live streaming experience. Events will run for about an hour.
Please write to Alice McCrum (mccrum@americanlibraryinparis.org), Melanie McNair (melanie@centerforfiction.org), or Leslie-Ann Woofter (leslie-ann@catranslation.org) with any questions or thoughts.

Teen Night: Movies Based on Books (ages 12–18)
2023-05-19 19:00 - 21:30 | The American Library in Paris
Join us for a movie night! Vote on the film you’d like to watch when you register for this event. Participate in trivia based on movies at the start of the evening, then settle in with popcorn and enjoy a screening of a film in the Library’s comfortable reading room. We’ll discuss the film as a group at the end of the night.
This event will be hosted by Children’s and Teens’ Services Manager Celeste Rhoads, with the help of Library volunteers.
Drinks and light snacks will be provided. Important information:
This event is free for Library members, and 15€ per teen for non-members. Advance registration is required. All visitors are expected to familiarize themselves with the Library Policy for Children and the Rules and Code of Conduct so that we can provide a pleasant library environment for all patrons. After-hours events for teens, such as Teen Nights, require a signed permission slip, which can be downloaded here. One permission slip is needed per academic year (September–July).
Questions about collections and programs for children and teens can be sent to the Library’s Children’s and Teens’ Services Manager, Celeste Rhoads: celeste@americanlibraryinparis.org.

Saturday Series: Humans vs. Zombies (ages 6–12)
2023-05-20 11:00 - 12:00 | The American Library in Paris
Learn about zombies from literature with Front of House Assistant Sinamen McGee, and then try out our original book-inspired game to see if you can beat the zombies!

Children between the ages 6–12 may participate in Library programs on their own, while their chaperone remains inside the Library.
Important information: This event is for Library members, and advance registration is required. Caregivers are expected to familiarize themselves with the Library Policy for Children and the Rules and Code of Conduct so that we can provide a pleasant library environment for all patrons. Questions about collections and programs for children and teens can be sent to the Library’s Children’s and Teens’ Services Manager, Celeste Rhoads: celeste@americanlibraryinparis.org.

(Hybrid) The Task of Translation with Cécile Wajsbrot, Tess Lewis, and Anne Weber
2023-05-23 19:30 - 20:30 | The American Library in Paris
In Cecile Wajsbrot’s Nevermore, a translator haunted by her past moves to a town with its own dark history in order to begin a translation of Virginia Woolf’s To The Lighthouse. Working on Woolf’s chapter “Time Passes,” she undertakes her own meditation upon the passage of time and the movement of history. Confronting the violent scars of World War II in Woolf’s writing and in Dresden, her new home, our narrator experiences a fusion of the space of the novel with the space around her. As a translator, she is trained to navigate different worlds. Yet with this project, she risks losing herself entirely in this new realm where time, space, and language–much like waves at sea–overlap. Wajsbrot will speak with translators Anne Weber and Tess Miller about the task of the translator, finding the language to recreate destroyed epochs, and the fragile boundaries between literature and life.
About the speakers:
Cécile Wajsbrot was born in Paris in 1954. She writes mostly novels, sometimes essays and radio fictions. She is also a translator, from the English (for instance Virginia Woolf) and from the German. Her latest novel, Nevermore, published in 2021, deals with the process of translation. For more than twenty years she has been living in Paris and Berlin.
Tess Lewis is a writer and translator from French and German. Lewis is a recipient of the John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship, and was awarded the ACFNY Translation Prize and the 2017 PEN Translation Prize for her translation of the novel Angel of Oblivion by Maja Haderlap.
Anne Weber is a German-French author and translator based in Paris. She has received the 3Sat award at the Festival of German-Language Literature as well as a European translation award for her translation of Pierre Michon. Her most recent novel, Epic Annette, won the 2020 German Book Prize. She was awarded the 2022 Leipzig Book Fair Prize in Translation for her German version of NEVERMORE.
Important information: The discussion will be available both online and in person. While the conversation will happen in person (Wajsbrot, Lewis, and Weber will appear in the Reading Room), the Library will stream the conversation on Zoom for a live viewing experience. Both in-person and online attendees will be able to pose questions.
This event requires advance registration.
Attendance at this event constitutes permission for your photograph or video to be taken at the event and used by the American Library in Paris for marketing, promotional, pedagogical, or other purposes.
Evenings with an Author are free and open to the public (with a 10€ suggested donation)
thanks to the generous support of Gregory Annenberg Weingarten of GRoW @ Annenberg.

Story Hour: Share a Smile (ages 3–5)
2023-05-24 14:30 - 15:30 | The American Library in Paris
For this Story Hour, we’ll read stories about kindness, and caring for each other. Each Story Hour program features short picture books such as Because Amelia Smiled by David Ezra Stein, as well as songs and rhymes.
This Story Hour will be hosted by Children’s and Teens’ Services Manager Celeste Rhoads and the Children’s and Teens’ Services Intern. They will read books and lead you and your little one in songs and hand-rhymes during a live, interactive session. This participatory program is intended to encourage children to actively engage with stories. Plan to join in, sing along, and move around, and model movement and listening for your little one. We ask that all caregivers put away their phones and other electronic devices for the duration of this program. Important information:
Important information: This event is for Library members, and advance registration is required. Caregivers are expected to familiarize themselves with the Library Policy for Children and the Rules and Code of Conduct so that we can provide a pleasant library environment for all patrons. Questions about collections and programs for children and teens can be sent to the Library’s Children’s and Teens’ Services Manager, Celeste Rhoads: celeste@americanlibraryinparis.org.

(Hybrid) Breaking the Silence on Menopause with Dr. Mary Claire Haver and Kate Muir
2023-05-24 19:30 - 20:30 | The American Library in Paris
Menopause occurs in every menstruating body. Yet few know what to expect when they begin experiencing it, and even fewer understand the science behind the process. Lack of research and cultural taboos around discussions of menstruation have contributed to a general cultural ignorance surrounding the subject, which translates into ill-preparedness and inadequate treatment when it happens. Dr. Mary Claire Haver, MD, has devoted her life to developing nutrition strategies aimed at combating the adverse effects of menopause-induced hormonal changes. Kate Muir has written books and produced documentaries on the subject, aiming to promote awareness and challenge the Together, the two women will discuss the reality of menopause, the stigmas associated with talking about it, and the importance of breaking the silence.
About the speakers:
Dr. Mary Claire Haver is a wife, mom, Board Certified OBGYN, entrepreneur and best- selling author of The Galveston Diet, who has devoted her adult life to women’s health and the treatment of perimenopause and menopause. Dr. Haver believes in the power of nutrition and anti- inflammatory foods to combat midlife inflammation and highly recommends the unique benefits of intermittent fasting. She is a leading voice on social media in the realm of menopause education.
Kate Muir is a menopause expert, writer and filmmaker. She is the author of Everything You Need to Know About the Menopause (but were too afraid to ask) and the producer of three groundbreaking Davina McCall women’s health documentaries, including Sex, Myths and the Menopause for Channel 4 in the UK. Her next book is on the contraceptive pill.
Important information: The discussion will be available both online and in person. While the conversation will happen in person (Haver will appear in the Reading Room and Muir will appear over Zoom), the Library will stream the conversation on Zoom for a live viewing experience. Both in-person and online attendees will be able to pose questions.
This event requires advance registration.
Attendance at this event constitutes permission for your photograph or video to be taken at the event and used by the American Library in Paris for marketing, promotional, pedagogical, or other purposes.
Evenings with an Author are free and open to the public (with a 10€ suggested donation)
thanks to the generous support of Gregory Annenberg Weingarten of GRoW @ Annenberg.

Toddler Time (ages 1–3)
2023-05-25 11:00 - 11:30 | The American Library in Paris
Stories featured during our Toddler Time programs include short picture books and board books, such as Puppy Truck by Caldecott Honor recipient Brian Pinkney, which will be included in this 18 May event.
Our Toddler Time is for children ages 1–3 and their caregivers, and lasts 30 minutes. This session will be hosted by Children’s and Teens’ Services Manager Celeste Rhoads. Each child must be accompanied by an adult chaperone, and chaperones are required to remain with their children for the duration of the program. Parents and caregivers are expected to sit with their children beside them, or in their laps, and participate in the program. Important information: This event is for Library members, and advance registration is required. Caregivers are expected to familiarize themselves with the Library Policy for Children and the Rules and Code of Conduct so that we can provide a pleasant library environment for all patrons. Questions about collections and programs for children and teens can be sent to the Library’s Children’s and Teens’ Services Manager, Celeste Rhoads: celeste@americanlibraryinparis.org.
