Story Hour: Classics & Favorites (ages 3–5)
2023-08-23 14:30 - 15:30 (Europe/Paris) | The American Library in Paris
For this Story Hour, we’ll read contemporary classics and favorite stories. Each Story Hour program features short picture books such as Sometimes It’s Nice to be Alone written by Amy Hest and illustrated by Philip Stead, as well as songs and rhymes.
This Story Hour will be hosted by Children and Teens Services Manager Celeste Rhoads, and Children and Teens Services Intern Kelly Cummings. 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 and Teens Services Manager, Celeste Rhoads: celeste@americanlibraryinparis.org.

History Tour at the Library
2023-08-25 11:00 - 12:00, 2023-09-08 11:00 - 12:00, 2023-09-22 11:00 - 12:00
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. Please email us if you are reserving for 4 or more people. (Do not reserve through the site.)
Please email tours@americanlibraryinparis.org with any questions.
This initiative is made possible through the generous support of the Florence Gould Foundation and the American Center for Art and Culture.
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.

Bookworm Mix-Up (all ages)
2023-08-26 11:00 - 12:00
Join us for an event dedicated to readers of all ages. Meet our Children and Teens Services staff and other bookworms as you participate in games of all sorts—all inspired by books!
This event will be hosted by Children and Teens Services staff members with the help of Library volunteers.

Caregivers are encouraged to participate in this event with their children.
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 and Teens Services Manager, Celeste Rhoads: celeste@americanlibraryinparis.org.

Tiny Paintings (ages 12–18)
2023-08-26 13:30 - 14:30
Experiment with different techniques as you decorate your own mini-masterpieces using the tips, tricks, and tools provided.
This event will be hosted by Children and Teens Services Intern Kelly Cummings with the help of Library volunteers.

All supplies will be provided by the Library.
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.
Questions about collections and programs for children and teens can be sent to the Library’s Children and Teens Services Manager, Celeste Rhoads: celeste@americanlibraryinparis.org.

Story Hour: We Love the Library (ages 3–5)
2023-08-30 14:30 - 15:30
For this Story Hour, we’ll read stories all about libraries. Each Story Hour program features short picture books such as Library Lion written by Michelle Knudson and illustrated by Kevin Hawkes, as well as songs and rhymes.
This Story Hour will be hosted by Children and Teens Services Manager Celeste Rhoads, and Children and Teens Services Intern Kelly Cummings. 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 and Teens Services Manager, Celeste Rhoads: celeste@americanlibraryinparis.org.

Saturday Series: LEGO Creations (ages 6–12)
2023-09-02 11:00 - 12:00
Compete building challenges with LEGOs provided by the Library. See what you can create!
This event will be hosted by Children and Teens Services Intern Kelly Cummings with the help of Library volunteers. This activity is entirely in English, and no translation will be provided. All participants must be able to understand and speak English in order to participate in the program.

Children between the ages 6–12 may participate in Library programs on their own, while their chaperone remains inside the Library. OR: Caregivers are encouraged to participate in this event with their children.
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 and Teens Services Manager, Celeste Rhoads: celeste@americanlibraryinparis.org.

(Hybrid) Poetic Confluence: Marilyn Hacker and Karthika Naïr in Conversation
2023-09-05 19:30 - 20:30
Join Marilyn Hacker, one of the most celebrated figures in American poetry, and Karthika Naïr, known for her dynamic work at the borders of dance, poetry, and the visual arts, as they discuss the many migrations of the poetic voice. When confinement forced artists into their homes, Hacker and Naïr adopted an ancient poetic technique, the renga, in order to co-author A Different Distance: a poetic exploration of distance, written at a distance, as a way of understanding and overcoming it. Hacker, an award-winning translator of French into English, and Nair, known for adapting narrative into dance performance, are masters of movement. They will consider the poetic act as that of bridging distance between disparate and linked images, sounds, languages, cultures, and forms. Learn more:
A renga is a special kind of poem that’s created by multiple poets working together. It’s like a poetic conversation where each poet adds lines to build a poem that flows from one part to another. Read excerpts of Hacker and Naïr’s renga, A Different Distance.
Marilyn Hacker won the National Book Award for her first book, Presentation Piece. She is known for writing about identity, womanhood, sexuality, illness, power, and social issues such as the AIDS crisis. A.M Juster has claimed that “there is no poet writing in English with a better claim for the Nobel Prize in Literature than Marilyn Hacker. Discover her incredible career.
Naïr works with choreographers to script dances, taking into consideration the different ways environment, soundscape, and movement can combine to tell a story. See examples of this: a performance of her book Until the Lions, and a queer reimagining of Madame Butterfly.
About the speakers:
Marilyn Hacker is the author of nineteen books of poems, most recently, Calligraphies (2023), and translator of twenty-three books of poetry and essays. She has received the Lenore Marshall Prize and the Voelcker Award from the Poetry Society of America, the PEN Award in Translation, the Audre Lorde Prize and the National Book Award. She was editor of the Kenyon Review for five years, and on the editorial collective of the French journal Siècle 21 for eight.
Poet, librettist, and fabulist, Karthika Naïr is the coauthor of A Different Distance, renga written with Marilyn Hacker. Until the Lions: Echoes from the Mahabharata, her reimagining of the foundational South Asian epic in multiple voices, won the 2015 Tata Literature Live Award for Book of the Year, and was highly commended in the 2016 Forward Prizes. The dance performances Naïr has scripted and co-scripted have been staged at venues across the world. These include Akram Khan’s multiple-award-winning DESH and Until the Lions, and Carlos Pons Guerra’s Mariposa, a queer reimagining of Puccini’s opera Madame Butterfly. Important information: The discussion will be available both online and in person. While the conversation will happen in person (Hacker and Naïr 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.
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: Back to School (ages 3–5)
2023-09-06 14:30 - 15:30
For this Story Hour, we’ll read stories about school and the classroom. Each Story Hour program features short picture books such as The Day You Begin by Jacqueline Woodson, and illustrated by Rafael Lopez, as well as songs and rhymes.
This Story Hour will be hosted by Children and Teens Services Manager Celeste Rhoads, and Children and Teens Services Intern Kelly Cummings. 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. This activity is entirely in English, and no translation will be provided. 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 and Teens Services Manager, Celeste Rhoads: celeste@americanlibraryinparis.org.

(Hybrid) Meditations on Life, Politics, and Journalism with Roger Cohen
2023-09-06 19:30 - 20:30
In-person registration for this event is now closed. Please register to attend online using the link above. From China and Kyiv, to Afghanistan and Israel, to elections in Iran and the debacle of Brexit, for over forty years New York Times Paris bureau chief Roger Cohen has journeyed to all corners of the world to cover everything from truth and dissent, to dictatorship, revolution, and displacement.
Now, in An Affirming Flame: Meditations on Life and Politics, Cohen’s finest columns, dispatched from Tehran, China, Cairo, Libya, Vietnam, Gaza, Ukraine, Munich, Hungary, and Poland, and more, have been compiled together for the first time, accompanied by a never-before-seen essay on the state of the world. In these writings, offering an assessment of politics and journalism in the twenty-first century, Cohen traces out a path for the future of democracy. He will appear in conversation with European history expert Jacques Rupnik.
This event will be followed by a cocktail reception. Learn more:
Roger Cohen was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for his coverage of the invasion of Ukraine. Reporting for the New York Times, he recently traveled from Moscow to Siberia to the Ukrainian border, seeking to understand the “nationalist lurch into an unprovoked war and its mood more than 17 months into a conflict conceived as a lightning strike, only to become a lingering nightmare.” Discover what he found.
Watch Cohen’s appearance on CNN to discuss An Affirming Flame. When asked why he describes himself as a “stubborn optimist,” Cohen responded: “We have to believe in our capacity to improve the world.”
The title of Cohen’s book, An Affirming Flame, is the last line of a poem written by W.H. Auden on the eve of World War II. In the poem, Auden writes, “We must love one another or die.” Read it here.
About the speakers:
In 2023, Roger Cohen and a team of New York Times reporters were awarded a Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting and a George Polk Award in Foreign Reporting for their coverage of the war in Ukraine. Cohen is the Paris bureau chief for the New York Times, where he began working in 1990. He has also worked for the Times as bureau chief in Berlin and in the Balkans, where he covered the Bosnian war and received the Eric and Amy Burger Award from the Overseas Press Club of America. In 2021, he received the Légion d’Honneur from the French Republic for his work over four decades.
Jacques Rupnik was educated at the University of Paris-Sorbonne and at Harvard, is currently Research Professor at CERI-Sciences Po in Paris as well as visiting professor at the College of Europe in Bruges. Executive director of the International Commission for the Balkans he was previously advisor to president Vaclav Havel. Important information: The discussion will be available both online and in person. While the conversation will happen in person (Cohen and Rupnik 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.
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. In-person registration for this event is now closed. Please register to attend online using the link above. Copies of An Affirming Flame will be available for purchase at the Library in the week leading up to this event and while the event takes place, generously provided by Smith&Son. All sales support this local independent bookstore.
Attendees will have the opportunity to have their copy signed following the conversation.
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)
2023-09-07 11:00 - 11:30
Stories featured during our Toddler Time programs include short picture books and board books, such as The World and Everything In It by Kevin Henkes, which will be included in this 7 September event.
Our Toddler Time is for children ages 1–3 and their caregivers, and lasts 30 minutes. This session will be hosted by Children and Teens Services Manager Celeste Rhoads, with the help of visiting Librarian Arielle McCune. 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:
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 and Teens Services Manager, Celeste Rhoads: celeste@americanlibraryinparis.org.

Teen Night: Capture the Flag (ages 12–18)
2023-09-08 19:00 - 21:00
Join us for a game of capture the flag on the Champ de Mars (weather permitting). We’ll meet at the Library to divide into teams and go over the rules of the game, then we’ll set out as a group to the Champ de Mars to play the game outdoors. We’ll be playing in two teams. Children’s and Teens’ Services Manager Celeste Rhoads, and Master Shot Film Club host Clarence Tokley will each lead a team.
In the case of light rain, we’ll go ahead and play. In the event of heavy rain or storms, we’ll move the event inside to play board games. You are welcome to call the Children’s and Teens’ Services Desk directly for an update before the event. Parents/guardians can pick up participating teens at the Library at 21h00. 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. A permission slip is required for this event.
Questions about collections and programs for children and teens can be sent to the Library’s Children and Teens Services Manager, Celeste Rhoads: celeste@americanlibraryinparis.org.

Music Together with Stacey Pavesi Debré (ages 0–5)
2023-09-09 11:00 - 12:00
Today, it’s common for us to simply listen to music rather than create it ourselves. But actively making music—with our voices and our bodies—is important to children’s overall development. Since 1987, Music Together, has introduced millions of children, parents, and teachers to the joys of music-making and the powerful benefits of having music in their lives. In our family workshops children and parents learn together through active exploration and live, meaningful interaction. So, take out the earbuds and pick up the instruments we were all given at birth—ourselves! Each child (aged 0–5) should accompany one of their favorite grownups.
About Stacey Pavesi Debré: An American in Paris since 2014, Stacey has been passionate about music and learning her whole life. She studied piano and string bass, joined choirs, orchestras, a capella groups and musical theaters, and worked as a vocalist in Japan and a singing bartender in NYC. In 2017, Stacey founded Bébé Music Box to bring Music Together’s award-winning music and movement classes to families and schools in Paris. Our weekly mixed-age family classes are a fun, dynamic, and inspiring way for families to connect through music. Plus, because music learning supports all learning, the benefits for our young music-makers extend well beyond class. For more information about Bébé Music Box family classes or to contact Stacey, visit www.bbmusicbox.com. To read more about music’s magical effects on children, visit www.musictogether.com. 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) Journalism under Siege with The Dial and Forbidden Stories
2023-09-12 19:30 - 20:30
We live in a dangerous time for journalists. Killings of reporters are on the rise, while countless journalists have been forced to work in exile. Why are journalists such targets? How does this affect how they report? What can readers do to support the free press? Faced with danger, what can journalism do? We are delighted to welcome Madeleine Schwartz, editor-in-chief of global magazine of culture and politics the Dial, in conversation with Laurent Richard and Sandrine Rigaud of Forbidden Stories, an organization whose mission is to protect, pursue and publish the work of other journalists facing threats, prison, or murder. They will discuss their work bringing the work of endangered journalists to readers, share recent projects, and consider why journalism matters.
This event is organized in partnership with the Dial. Learn more:
Forbidden Stories enables journalists under threat to share dangerous information through secure channels, and carry on the work of reporters imprisoned or murdered for their work.
In their words: “We send a powerful signal to enemies of the free press: even if you succeed in stopping a single messenger, you will not stop the message. What is the point of killing a journalist if 10, 20 or 30 others are waiting in the wings to carry on their work? Collaboration is the best form of protection.” Learn more about the history of Forbidden Stories and discover the reporting they have brought to light.
“The world’s little magazine,” The Dial is a new online magazine of culture, politics, and ideas with a focus on locally sourced writing from around the world. A space where daring writers stage global conversations unconstrained by geography, the publication spotlights writers who write the world as they see it—from wherever they might be. Check out their recent issue, with contributors from Sudan, Ukraine, Sweden, Chile, South Korea, and more.
About the speakers:
Laurent Richard is a journalist, executive producer of investigative documentaries, founder and executive director of Forbidden Stories. A French award-winning investigative reporter for Premieres Lignes Television and 2017 Knight-Wallace Fellow at the University of Michigan, he was named “European Journalist of the Year” at the Prix Europa in Berlin in 2018.
Sandrine Rigaud is a French investigative journalist. As editor of Forbidden Stories since 2019, she coordinated the “Pegasus Project” published in July 2021 and the “Cartel Project,” a massive cross-border collaboration to finish the investigations of a murdered Mexican journalist that won a George Polk Award and the Maria Moors Cabot Prize.
Madeleine Schwartz lives in Paris, where she writes about the rise of the far right, urban politics and art fraud. Her work appears in the London Review of Books, the New Yorker and the New York Review of Books, where she previously worked as an editor. In 2019, her article “The End of Atlanticism: Has Trump killed the ideology that won the cold war?” won the European Press Prize. She teaches journalism at Sciences Po. Important information: The discussion will be available both online and in person. While the conversation will happen in person (Schwartz, Richard, and Rigaud 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.
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: Big Bad Wolves (ages 3–5)
2023-09-13 14:30 - 15:30
For this Story Hour, we’ll read stories about wolves—some big, some bad, and some very gentle. Each Story Hour program features short picture books such as The Girl and the Wolf by Katherena Vermette, illustrated by Julie Flett, as well as songs and rhymes.
This Story Hour will be hosted by Children and Teens Services Manager Celeste Rhoads, Visiting Librarian Arielle McCune, and Children and Teens Services Intern Kelly Cummings. 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. This activity is entirely in English, and no translation will be provided. 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 and Teens Services Manager, Celeste Rhoads: celeste@americanlibraryinparis.org.

(Hybrid) Picking Evil Flowers with Gunnhild Øyehaug and Daniel Medin
2023-09-13 19:30 - 20:30
In partnership with the Center for Writers and Translators, Shakespeare and Company, and NORLA, we are delighted to present Norway’s most celebrated contemporary writer, Gunnhild Øyehaug, in conversation on her latest collection of short fiction Evil Flowers.
Across its 25 stories, Øyehaug renovates the form again and again, confirming Lydia Davis’s observation that each of her fictions is “a formal surprise, smart and droll.” Inspired by Charles Baudelaire, the groundbreaking book features an ornithologist whose brain slips into the toilet bowl, medicinal leeches that ingest information from fiberoptic cables, and an elderly woman who is trapped with a ravenous lion. Join us as we step inside Øyehaug’s wonderfully imaginative mind and explore the marvelous new directions she has paved for short fiction. Learn more:
Gunnhild Øyehaug was described in a 2017 New Yorker review as a “master of the short story.” Find out why.
Want to discover her innovative style first-hand? Read an excerpt from Evil Flowers.
About the speakers:
Gunnhild Øyehaug is an award-winning Norwegian poet, essayist, and fiction writer whose work has been translated into many languages. She teaches creative writing in Bergen.
Daniel Medin is an editor and professor of comparative literature at the American University of Paris. Important information: The discussion will be available both online and in person. While the conversation will happen in person (Øyehaug and Medin 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.
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. Copies of Evil Flowers will be available for purchase at the Library in the week leading up to this event and while the event takes place, generously provided by Smith&Son. All sales support this local independent bookstore.
Attendees will have the opportunity to have their copy signed following the conversation.
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.

(Hybrid) “a place that lives in me”: Writing Caribbean Identity
2023-09-14 19:30 - 20:30
What does it mean to be Caribbean in the 21st century? Is it imprinted in the landscape, the language, or is it perhaps, in the words of Mireille Jean-Gilles (tr. Eric Fishman), “a place that lives in me, and that I unfurl, like a nomad his tent, in each place where I live”? In Elektrik: Caribbean Writing, eight female writers from Haiti, Martinique, and Guadeloupe explore the beauty, pain, and complexity wrapped up in their identity. Writers Marie-Célie Agnant and Gaël Octavia join poet and translator Danielle Legros Georges to read from the collection and discuss language as defiance.
This event will be hybrid. While Gaël Octavia will appear in-person at the Library, Marie-Célie Agnant and Danielle Legros Georges will remotely join from Quebec and Boston, respectively. A live remote viewing will be held at the Brooklyn Center for Fiction and the San Francisco Center for the Art of Translation. About the speakers:
Gaël Octavia writes novels, poetry, theater, and short stories. She also paints and makes short films. Inspired by Martinican society, her texts explore themes of family, identity, and the female condition. Her plays have been read and performed in France, the United States, the Caribbean, Reunion Island, and Africa. Her first novel, La fin de Mame Baby, received the Wepler Jury Special Mention Award in 2017.
Danielle Legros Georges is the author of The Dear Remote Nearness of You and translator of Island Heart, a collection of poems written by Haitian-French writer Ida Faubert, among other titles. Her poems have been widely published, anthologized, and included in international artistic commissions and collaborations. In 2014, Legros Georges was named Boston’s poet laureate. She is a professor of creative writing at Lesley University.
Marie-Célie Agnant was born in 1953 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and has lived in Canada since 1970. Her writings include four novels, two short story collections, and three volumes of poetry. She has also worked as a storyteller, an interpreter, a teacher, and an environmental activist. She received the Prix Alain- Grandbois of the Academie des Lettres du Quebec in 2017 for her most recent collection of poetry, Femmes de terres brûlées (2016). In 2023, she was appointed Canada’s 10th Parliamentary Poet Laureate.

Myriam J. A. Chancy, Ph.D. is a Guggenheim Fellow and Hartley Burr Alexander Chair of the Humanities at Scripps College. She is the author of What Storm, What Thunder, a novel on the 2010 Haiti earthquake (Harper Collins Canada/Tin House USA 2021), awarded a 2022 American Book Award (ABA) from the Before Columbus Foundation, and named a “Best Book of 2021,” by NPR, Kirkus, the Chicago Public Library, the New York Public Library, Library Journal, the Boston Globe, Amazon Books & Canada’s Globe & Mail. Her forthcoming books include Harvesting Haiti: Reflections on Unnatural Disasters (University of Texas Press, 2023), Spirit of Haiti (20th anniversary edition, SUNY Press, 2023) and Village Weavers: A Novel (Tin House 2024). Her recent writings have appeared in Whetstone.com Journal, Electric Literature, and Guernica.

About the International Library series:
This conversation is part of the International Library, a new series launched in collaboration with the Center for Fiction in Brooklyn and the Center for the Art of Translation in San Francisco which will offer conversations across time, place, and language.
The International Library celebrates the live diffusion of in-person conversations in the hope of connecting new audiences across land and sea for a collective, intercultural experience. These conversations will broach deeper questions about writing and translation as we learn 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. Important information: The discussion will be available both online and in person. While Octavia will appear in-person in the Reading Room, other participants 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.
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.

History Tour at the Library
2023-09-15 11:00 - 12:00
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. Please email us if you are reserving for 4 or more people. (Do not reserve through the site.)
Please email tours@americanlibraryinparis.org with any questions.
This initiative is made possible through the generous support of the Florence Gould Foundation and the American Center for Art and Culture.
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.

Imaginative Writing with Anna Brooke (ages 8–12)
2023-09-16 11:00 - 12:00
Join children’s author Anna Brooke for an event dedicated to exploring imaginative writing, inventing words and where ideas come from. This activity is entirely in English, and no translation will be provided.
All participants must be able to understand and speak English in order to participate in the program. Children between the ages 8–12 may participate in Library programs on their own, while their chaperone remains inside the Library. All children participating in this workshop must be able to write and read in English.

About Anna Brooke: Anna’s writing career started in journalism as a film critic for Time Out Paris and the author of seven travel guidebooks for Frommer’s. She has written for multiple publications, including the Financial Times, The Times and The Sunday Times Travel Magazine, where she was the long-standing Paris expert. Her debut novel, Monster Bogey, was a SCBWI Undiscovered Voices winner and longlisted for the Bath Children’s Novel Award. When not writing, she has been an actress, a cabaret singer and an electro-pop artist, performing on stage and composing songs for films and commercials. Raised in Birmingham and Yorkshire, she now lives in Paris with her French-Canadian husband and son. Find out more about Anna here.

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 and Teens Services Manager, Celeste Rhoads: celeste@americanlibraryinparis.org.

Financial Aid with with College Goals (ages 14–adult)
2023-09-16 15:00 - 17:00
This presentation, by Elise London of College Goals, will provide general information and definitions to help students and families navigate the complex financial aid landscape; dive into the differences between merit aid and financial aid and how to apply for both; develop protocols for building “financially savvy” college lists; and, finally, cover some questions and conversations that are important to have both before and after your family receives a financial aid award (internally and with college financial aid offices).
Elise London will be logging in from the US to give this presentation, and a member of the Children and Teens Services staff will moderate.

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.
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.

(Online) Henry Hoke and Melissa Broder on Animal Desire
2023-09-19 19:30 - 20:30
In Open Throat, Henry Hoke’s “queer and dangerously hungry” protagonist confronts a central question: “Do they want to eat a person, or become one?” Inspired by a real-life Hollywood Hills puma, Hoke uses an animal perspective to break into human language, highlighting cruelties and contradictions in the anthropocene world. Our protagonist is a naive and probing witness to all that L.A. has to offer: sex, crime, cars, climate change, economic disparity, digital content creation, New York transplants, and more. A delicious contribution to contemporary fiction, the book defamiliarizes the human world, while simultaneously revealing hidden depths to hunger, desire, grief, and care.
Hoke will appear in conversation with celebrated author of Milk Fed and The Pisces, Melissa Broder.
About the speakers:
Henry Hoke is an editor at the Offing and the author of five books, most recently the novel Open Throat and the memoir Sticker.
Melissa Broder is the author of the novels Milk Fed, The Pisces, and the forthcoming Death Valley, the essay collection So Sad Today, and five poetry collections, including Superdoom. Her books are translated in ten languages. She has written for the New York Times, Elle.com, and New York magazine’s the Cut. She lives in Los Angeles. Learn more about Open Throat:
Eileen Myles writes of its protagonist that “the beauty and tragedy of all of nature is in this character”, and that “Open Throat is a fierce writing act. Henry Hoke makes it true.” It has been praised by Chris Kraus as “completely awakening.”
Author Marie-Helene Bertino described the book in the New York Times Book Review as “an act of ravishing and outlandish imagination,” and concludes: “At its best, fiction can make the familiar strange in order to bring readers and our world into scintillating focus. Open Throat is what fiction should be.” Read the review here.
Hoke’s protagonist is inspired by real-life puma P-22. Learn about LA’s most iconic feline here. Important information: This event is online. Attendees will receive a Zoom link upon registration. Participants will be able to pose questions through the Zoom chat function.
This event requires advance registration.
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: Fast and Slow (ages 3–5)
2023-09-20 14:30 - 15:30
For this Story Hour, we’ll read stories about all about creatures and characters who move very fast or very slowly, and other opposites. Each Story Hour program features short picture books such as Snail Crossing by Corey R. Tabor.
This Story Hour will be hosted by Assistant Children and Teens Services Librarian Jason Hazard, Visiting Librarian Arielle McCune, and Children and Teens Services Intern Kelly Cummings. 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. This activity is entirely in English, and no translation will be provided. 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 and Teens Services Manager, Celeste Rhoads: celeste@americanlibraryinparis.org.

(Hybrid) Emmanuel Dongala: Scribe of Social Reality
2023-09-20 19:30 - 20:30
Emmanuel Dongala, “the most accomplished novelist from Africa since Chinua Achebe,” will make a special appearance at the Library to discuss the new English edition of The Stone Breakers: A Classic Novel of Labor Resistance. The novel tells the story of a feminist uprising among a group of workers in a gravel pit: what begins as a village protest escalates to a state-wide rebellion that confronts the corrupt leadership and challenges the status quo set by the government and the mining corporations. It has been adapted to the stage in Africa, Europe and South America, and, originally published by Actes Sud as Photo de groupe au bord du fleuve, was named the best French novel of 2010 by Lire. Dongala will appear in conversation with Will Mountain Cox, author of With Paris in Mind and the forthcoming debut novel, Roundabout. Learn more:
The 2023 winner of the Grand Prix Hervé Deluen from L’Académie française, awarded for contributing to the promotion of French as an international language, Dongala is described by Alain Mabanckou as “a key figure of French-language African literature… a scribe of social reality… his universe combines realism, meeting African and African-American cultures… and features memorable characters in search of freedom, equality and justice in the face of a decadent world.”
Dongala studied in the United States in 1961, and later returned to the U.S. in 1997, fleeing the Congolese Civil War, with the assistance of Philip Roth and William Styron.
Terry Gross named Dongala “One of [Republic of the Congo’s] best known novelists,” praising his bold ability to “criticize, even mock, the corruption in his country’s government.” Listen to his appearance on Fresh Air.
A film adaptation of Dongala’s celebrated book Johnny Mad Dog premiered at Cannes Film Festival in 2008. Read about it in the New York Times.
About the speakers:
Born in the Republic of Congo in 1941, Emmanuel Dongala is a scientist and author who came to the United States in 1997 during the civil war in his native country and was offered a professorship at Bard College. He was a Guggenheim Fellow in Fiction in 1999. Dongala is the author most recently of the acclaimed novel The Bridgetower Sonata, as well as Johnny Mad Dog, Little Boys Come from the Stars, and The Fire of Origins. He is the recipient of the 2011 Prix Ahmadou Kourouma Award and his most recent novel The Bridgetower Sonata was shortlisted for the Prix Albertine in 2022. This novel is currently under option to French film director David Lanzmann for a limited series.
Will Mountain Cox is the author of With Paris in Mind. His writing has been published in Forever Magazine, Hobart, Spectra Poets, The Drunken Canal and Vol.1 Brooklyn. In 2013, Will co-founded the Belleville Park Pages. He holds degrees from Boston University and from Sciences Po in Paris, where he was named Graduate of Honor. Important information: The discussion will be available both online and in person. While the conversation will happen in person (Dongala and Cox 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.
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)
2023-09-21 11:00 - 11:30
Stories featured during our Toddler Time programs include short picture books and board books, such as Ain’t Gonne Paint No More by Karen Beaumont, illustrated by David Catrow, which will be included in this 21 September event.
Our Toddler Time is for children ages 1–3 and their caregivers, and lasts 30 minutes. The program is entirely in English, as are all of our events for children and teens. No translation will be provided. This session will be hosted by Children and Teens Services Manager Celeste Rhoads, with the help of Visiting Librarian Arielle McCune. 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:
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 and Teens Services Manager, Celeste Rhoads: celeste@americanlibraryinparis.org.

Teen Night: Creating Crosswords with Jane Mobille (ages 12–18)
2023-09-22 19:00 - 21:00
Across
1. My pants happen to be square
2. This intelligent candy consists of colorful drops of chocolate
3. My favorite sneakers were created in 1971 for a tennis player

Join us for a Teen Night and create your own crossword puzzle. Write clues whose answers reveal what you love about your life.
We’ll have all the supplies you need to put together a puzzle to dazzle your friends and family as you work in groups and individually to invent clues for your own crossword puzzle.
Light snacks and drinks will be provided by the Library for all participants.
About Jane Mobille: Memoir writer Jane Mobille is also a Professional Certified Coach with extensive experience coaching teens and young adults. Jane uses the tools of writing and coaching to inspire freedom and confidence in young writers as they learn to put their authenticity or “heart” on paper. Editor of the quarterly AAWE News magazine in Paris, Jane also authors a “Teen Coach” column at the online magazine INSPIRELLE. She holds degrees from Duke, University of Maryland, and Thunderbird. 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 and Teens Services Manager, Celeste Rhoads: celeste@americanlibraryinparis.org.

Saturday Series: Art and Illustration (ages 6–12)
2023-09-23 11:00 - 12:00
What do illustrators do? How are picture books made? Who are some of the best-known picture book artists in America? Find out the answers to these questions and more, then try your hand at illustration.
This event will be hosted by Children and Teens Services Manager Celeste Rhoads with the help of Visiting Librarian Arielle McCune with the help of Library volunteers. This activity is entirely in English, and no translation will be provided. All participants must be able to understand and speak English in order to participate in the program. 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 and Teens Services Manager, Celeste Rhoads: celeste@americanlibraryinparis.org.

Optimize Your College Application with Richard Montauk (ages 14–adult)
2023-09-23 15:00 - 16:30
You (or your student) will soon be applying to a U.S. college. This presentation examines what you need to know to maximize chances of admission, including:

How to get the most out of who you are, what you’ve done, and where you’re headed
How to optimize your essays, recommendations, resume, and interviews
How to tailor your application to each school (showing it fits you and you fit it)

Along the way, we’ll address application timing, demonstrating interest, the role of money in the process, the importance of correct positioning, estimating chances of acceptance, and much more. (We’ll also take a brief look at applying outside of the U.S.)
Substantial time will be available–during and after the presentation–for questions.

About Richard Montauk: Richard Montauk is the author of a series of best-selling guides, all published by Prentice Hall, including How to Get Into the Top Colleges and How to Get Into the Top MBA Programs. His most recent books include College Interviews: The Definitive Guide and Getting into Brown: Successful Applicants’ Essays, Resumes, and Interviews. He received a BA in literature from Brown University, an MA in government from Harvard, an MS in finance, and a JD from Stanford Law School. Pursuant to a graduate fellowship, he also studied at the London School of Economics and the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (University of London). After graduating from Stanford, Richard worked as a corporate lawyer for Latham & Watkins in Los Angeles, then as a corporate strategy consultant for Bain & Co. in London, before devoting himself full-time to admissions consulting. Since 1991, he has consulted to candidates for the world’s top universities, for both undergraduate and graduate programs. He can be reached through his website: www.richardmontauk.com. Important information:
This event is free for Library members, and 15€ per person for non-members, and advance registration is required. All Library users are expected to familiarize themselves with 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.

Monuments of Paris Scavenger Hunt (ages 12–18)
2023-09-24 14:00 - 16:00
Join us for a scavenger hunt in the Library and outdoors. We’ll meet to talk about ways to gather accurate information, then you will be sent out to discover new facts about the city of light. This event will be hosted by Assistant Children and Teens Services Librarian Jason Hazard and Children and Teens Services Intern Kelly Cummings.
Parents/caregivers are welcome to participate along with their teens for this activity.

Important information:
This event is free for Library members, and 15€ per person for non-members, and advance registration is required. All Library users are expected to familiarize themselves with 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 and Teens Services Manager, Celeste Rhoads: celeste@americanlibraryinparis.org.

(Hybrid) Myth, Power, Genre with Scholar of Note Ladee Hubbard
2023-09-26 19:30 - 21:00
While in residence, Scholar of Note Ladee has been re-imagining society’s relationship to mythical women across literature, from Eurydice to the femme fatale, as a way of understanding our vision of Black women today. In conversation, Ladee will consider: what is our relationship to myth? What makes it eternally fascinating, relevant, and open to new interpretations? How does it reveal and conceal power, gender, and race? Moreover, who is the femme fatale, and what is her role in the noir genre? How can we explain current interest in noir, and what might this interest explain to us about ourselves? Join us to learn how Ladee works within literary history, adopting genres of mythology and crime, in order to reinvent the narratives marginalized women are forced into.
This event will be followed by a cocktail reception. Learn more:
Ladee’s most recent short story collection imagines life in a Black neighborhood from the 1980’s through Obama’s election. Listen to what she said about it on NPR.
The Rib King is a domestic tale turned revenge saga following the servants of an aristocratic family in decline in early-twentieth-century Chicago. Read a review in the Washington Post.
Ladee’s debut novel, The Talented Ribkins, was inspired by a famous essay by philosopher and activist W.E.B. Du Bois entitled “The Talented Tenth”. Read what she has to say about Du Bois in the Guardian.
About the speaker:
Ladee Hubbard is the author of the novels The Last Suspicious Holdout, The Talented Ribkins, which received the 2018 Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence and the Hurston-Wright Legacy Award for Debut Fiction, and The Rib King. Her writing has appeared in Oxford American, Guernica, Virginia Quarterly and Callaloo among other venues. She is a recipient of a Berlin Prize, a Radcliffe Institute Fellowship and a Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers’ Award.
The American Library in Paris Scholar of Note program is generously sponsored by the de Groot Foundation. Important information: The discussion will be available both online and in person. While the conversation will happen in person (Hubbard 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.
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. Copies of The Last Suspicious Holdout will be available for purchase at the Library in the week leading up to this event and while the event takes place, generously provided by Smith&Son. All sales support this local independent bookstore.
Attendees will have the opportunity to have their copy signed following the conversation.
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.
