American Library in Paris

Writing from Life with Jion Sheibani (ages 12–18)
2023-04-07 19:00 - 21:00 (Europe/Paris) | The American Library in Paris
Join us for a Teen Night dedicated to creative writing. Join author Jion Sheibani and fellow aspiring writers in a relaxed and creative setting where you can share your ideas, get feedback and work on your technique. We’ll focus on letting the conscious go and work on fun creative exercises the surrealists used to do to explore how dreaming and day dreaming impact the creative process.

Light refreshments will be provided by the Library.

About Jion Sheibani: Jion is the author and illustrator of the young adult novel The Silver Chain, as well as the picture book Lily & The Polar Bears and The Worries young fiction series. She grew up in Brighton and now lives in Paris with her family. She’s a self-taught illustrator and studied English literature at Oxford University. When she moved to Paris, she taught English to students at Sciences Po and ENSAE universities before opening her own language school for children, Anglofun. Now, she mainly draws and writes in her garden studio. As well as picture books and young fiction, she also writes and illustrates for older readers. Find out more about Jion and her work here. 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.

History Tour at the Library
2023-04-07 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.
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.

Toddler Time (ages 1–3)
2023-04-06 11:00 - 11:30
Stories featured during our Toddler Time programs include short picture books and board books, such as Freight Train by Donald Crews, which will be included in this 6 April 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.

(Online) Returning to East Berlin with Jenny Erpenbeck and Claire Messud
2023-04-05 19:30 - 20:30
The Greek expression for timeliness or opportunity, kairos expresses the correspondence of an activity to its historical moment; an ephemeral alignment of situation and season. In celebrated writer Jenny Erpenbeck’s new work Kairos, this alignment is a relationship which emerges between a young woman and older writer amidst the dissolution of the GDR. The book contends with generational and political divides, anchored to the division of Berlin: having fortuitously found one another, the couple experiences the collapse of East Berlin from two different historical perspectives, unable to reach each other across the wall of time that separates them. Erpenbeck will discuss divided states, lovers, and ages with writer Claire Messud.
About the speakers:
Born in East Berlin in 1967, Jenny Erpenbeck is the author of many works of fiction. She won the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize for her 2012 novel Aller Tage Abend (The End of Days). Her novel Gehen, ging, gegangen (Go, Went, Gone) was shortlisted for the Deutscher Buchpreis in 2017 and has been nominated for the 2023 Prix Frontieres Leonora Miano. For her works, translated into 30 languages, she has won several awards such as the Thomas-Mann-Prize, the Premio Strega, and the Lee-Hochul-Prize.
Claire Messud is the author of six novels, including The Emperor’s Children (2006), a New York Times Book of the Year in 2006; The Woman Upstairs (2013); and The Burning Girl (2017), a finalist for the LA Times Book Award in Fiction. Her most recent novel is A Dream Life (2021). She was made a Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Ministry of Culture in 2020. Messud teaches creative writing at Harvard University and writes a monthly books column for Harper’s Magazine.
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: Fairy Tales and Fables (ages 3–5)
2023-04-05 14:30 - 15:30
For this Story Hour, we’ll read fairy tales and fables, and a few mixed-up fairy tales too. Each Story Hour program features short picture books such as The Little Mermaid by Caldecott Medalist Jerry Pinkney, 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) Reimagining Race with Mohsin Hamid
2023-04-04 19:30 - 20:30
Award-winning novelist Mohsin Hamid’s newest work, The Last White Man, begins with a premise borrowed from Kafka: one day, his protagonist wakes up to find that he has undergone a transformation overnight. In this case, he has metamorphosed from a white man into a man of color. As similar transformations begin to occur to all white members of his town, the previously fixed social order begins to break down. Disorienting and thought-provoking, the work forces readers to confront the instability of racial identity in contemporary society. Wielding the absurd as a tool for political engagement, Hamid harnesses fiction’s capacity to inspire the imagination in order to propose alternative visions for the world.
About the speaker:
Mohsin Hamid was born in Lahore (Pakistan) in 1971. Known all over the world for The Reluctant Fundamentalist (2007), he has lived between Pakistan, United-States and London all his life.
Important information: The discussion will be available both online and in person. While the conversation will happen in person (Hamid 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.

Submission deadline for the Young Authors Fiction Festival
2023-04-01 22:00
The American Library in Paris is proud to be the organizer of the Young Authors Fiction Festival (YAFF). YAFF is a creative writing initiative that aims to strengthen community among English-speakers in the Paris area through the art and craft of storytelling. The Library believes that creative writing plays an important role in a child’s literacy development. Creative writing is fun and a great tool to help broaden a child’s imagination and foster a life-long love of reading and writing.
YAFF is free of charge and open to all students ages 5-18 in France who write in English. For further information about YAFF please see the Library YAFF page. The deadline for the 2023 Young Authors Fiction Festival is 1 April by 22h00.
To enter please follow this link to the Library YAFF page, where you can find the submission guidelines and the instructions to submit your story.
For any questions regarding YAFF please contact yaff@americanlibraryinparis.org 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.

Yoga Kids with Pari-Grandir (ages 3–6)
2023-04-01 11:00 - 12:00
This participatory event for young children ages 3–6 and their caregivers will give young children an opportunity to practice yoga exercises adapted for their age. Yoga allows children of any age an opportunity to work on balance, relaxation techniques, and body awareness. Come in and try it out with Patricia de Sereys of Pari-Grandir, who has been working at Pari-Grandir for the past 11 years. 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.

Ecologues Meeting Three: The Energy Question
2023-03-30 19:00 - 20:30
Volatile gas and electricity prices, accelerating energy diversification, and a cold winter ahead, the question of energy (and of the energy transition from fossil-based to zero-carbon by the second half of this century) is central to contemporary discussions about the environment.
In partnership with News Decoder and the Climate Academy at the European School of Brussels, we’re delighted to announce Ecologues, a series of interactive webinars featuring experts on various aspects of the environmental crisis. Attached to The Writing’s on the Wall (WoW), a year-long project helping students across the world grapple with the climate crisis through journalism, activism, and art, the series will allow participants of all ages to deepen understanding, tackle disinformation and, ultimately, inspire change in their communities. Reconciling science and art, knowledge and action, pragmatism and hope, the conversations will stir curiosity and encourage participation. The Library’s contribution to this joint program is supported by the Florence Gould Foundation and the American Center for Arts and Culture.
About the speakers:
Andreas Rüdinger coordinates IDDRI’s, a think tank which facilitates the transition towards sustainable development, activities on the French energy transition.
Tom Burke is the co-founding Director and Chairman of Third Generation Environmentalism, a climate change think tank.
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.

(Hybrid) Preti Taneja on the Aftermath of Disaster
2023-03-29 19:30 - 20:30
Novelist Preti Taneja’s second work, Aftermath, is a fragmented, aching, yet ultimately hopeful account of the immediate consequences of catastrophe. Following a fatal attack at a celebration for a prison education program in London which left a colleague of Taneja’s dead, the work details both the intimate experience of loss and a public reckoning with a fractured social structure. Touching upon violence, power, and poetry, the work considers the culture of trauma narratives and the limits of language in contending with disaster. Blending first, second, and third person, Taneja ultimately arrives at writing as a means of reconciling the personal with the shared.
About the speaker:
Preti Taneja is a British Asian writer and activist, and Professor of World Literature and Creative Writing at Newcastle University, UK. Her first book, We That Are Young (2017), won the 2018 Desmond Elliott Prize for the year’s best literary debut novel. Aftermath (2021) was a 2022 New Yorker best book of the year and a New Statesman book of the year. It won the Gordon Burn Prize for literature that is fearless in ambition and execution.
Important information: The discussion will be available both online and in person. While the conversation will happen in person (Taneja 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: Mythical Creatures (ages 3–5)
2023-03-29 14:30 - 15:30
For this Story Hour, we’ll read stories all about dragons, krakens, unicorns, mermaids, and other mythical creatures. Each Story Hour program features short picture books such as Unicorn Thinks He’s Pretty Great by Bob Shea, 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) Simone de Beauvoir: Living Philosophy with Kate Kirkpatrick and Marine Rouch
2023-03-28 19:30 - 20:30
Nearly seventy-five years ago, Simone de Beauvoir published the monumental The Second Sex. An invaluable contribution to existential philosophy, the work laid the foundations for contemporary feminist thought. It led to the development of new disciplines, from gender studies to queer theory, all motivated by the central claim: that one is not born a woman, but rather becomes one. Who was the woman behind the text? How did her life feed into her philosophy, and in what ways were the two in contradiction? How did Simone de Beauvoir become herself? Join American Library in Paris Visiting Fellow and author of Becoming Beauvoir Kate Kirkpatrick and de Beauvoir expert Marine Rouch to discuss the biography of the woman who changed philosophy.
About the speakers:
Kate Kirkpatrick is a 2022-23 American Library in Paris Visiting Fellow. She is a philosopher based in Oxford, where she is Tutorial Fellow in Philosophy and Christian Ethics at Regent’s Park College. Kirkpatrick is author of Sartre on Sin (2017), Sartre and Theology (2017), and the internationally acclaimed biography Becoming Beauvoir: A Life (2019), which was selected as one of the best books of 2019 by the Times Literary Supplement, the Guardian, and the Telegraph, and is currently being translated into over a dozen languages. In 2021 she was awarded a British Academy Mid-Career Fellowship to write a philosophical commentary on Simone de Beauvoir’s The Second Sex.
Dr. Marine Rouch is a researcher at the University of Toulouse Jean Jaurès and teaches in several universities. She wrote a thesis based on the thousands of letters Simone de Beauvoir received from her ordinary readers, mostly women. She is the editor of the research blog “Chère Simone de Beauvoir” and the Communication Coordinator of The International Simone de Beauvoir Society. She co-created the Beauvoir Webinar Series and published numerous articles.
Important information: The discussion will be available both online and in person. While the conversation will happen in person (Kirkpatrick and Rouch 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.

Creating Compelling Characters (a workshop) (ages 12–18)
2023-03-25 16:30 - 18:00
Explore what elements are needed to create strong characters in your original stories, whether you’re beginning your own work just for fun, or writing a piece to submit to the Young Authors Fiction Festival (YAFF).

Find out more about the Library’s Young Authors Fiction Festival here.

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.

The Stages of Reading Development (for parents and caregivers)
2023-03-25 15:00 - 16:00
Join us for an afternoon discussion on reading and multilingualism. Dr. Allison Peck, in interview with Children’s and Teens’ Services Manager Celeste Rhoads, will address how caregivers can help children strengthen reading skills at home, what to look for as red flags in reading development for children, how multilingualism plays into reading, what it might look like for beginning readers in multiple languages simultaneously, as well as what research-backed strategies and practices can be implemented at home to strengthen reading. The interview will be followed by an audience Q&A.

About Dr. Allison Peck: Dr. Allison Peck is currently the Chief Academic Officer at Neuhaus Education Center in Houston, Texas. She holds certifications as a Certified Academic Language Therapist-Qualified Instructor, Licensed Dyslexia Therapist for the state of Texas, and a Structured Literacy Dyslexia Specialist per the International Dyslexia Association. She is a special education, general education, and reading specialist teacher, with her experience being in the public school (middle school) and private school (elementary) realms for the last 18 years. She started her journey in the field of education after her oldest child was diagnosed with dyslexia. Allison has a BA in Political Science, an MLA in History, and an MEd in Curriculum and Instruction. She completed her Ph.D. in Literacy at St. John’s University in New York. Important information: This event is for Library members, and advance registration is required. Attendees 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, teens and families can be sent to the Library’s Children’s and Teens’ Services Manager, Celeste Rhoads: celeste@americanlibraryinparis.org.

Saturday Series: Good Luck Charms (ages 6–12)
2023-03-25 11:00 - 12:00
Discuss superstitions about good luck and bad luck with Front of House Assistant Sinamen McGee, and read a story as a group, then create your own good luck charm.

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.

Teen Night: A Capella with Rock U. (ages 12–18)
2023-03-24 19:00 - 21:00
Join Jessica Moore and Matt Black from Rock U. for an evening dedicated to song! Jess and Matt will teach you to sing a capella versions of some pop/rock songs you know and love. We’ll work on harmony, blend, and dynamics to create something that rocks—with only our voices! No need to have any experience singing to enjoy this event. Amateurs, experienced singers, and beginners are all welcome to attend.
Learn more about Jessica Moore, Matt Black, and Rock U. here.

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.

Critical Conversations Meeting Five: A Life of Reading and Writing
2023-03-23 19:00 - 21:00
Given the pressure of constant connectivity today, forging a life of reading and writing may feel like a solitary or revolutionary pursuit. But how might such a life benefit the individual and society at large? What exactly doesa life of reading and writing demand of, and offer to, the individual? Do reading and writing complement or disrupt a digital lifestyle, and are words on the screen the same as words on the page? Like tasting wine or looking at a 5 painting, is there depth to reading and writing which we can only reach through honing our attention?
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.

(Hybrid) Macron's Second Term, Analyzed
2023-03-22 19:30 - 20:30
Emmanuel Macron’s win in the 2022 French presidential election arrived at a moment of intense political polarization across France. The divided state of French politics has continued to limit Macron’s success, already undermined by the lowest turnout in a French presidential election since 1969 and a smaller-than-expected margin of victory. Is Macron, polling at 35% in October, falling out of favor with the French? How should we evaluate the first six months of his second term? What challenges does a minority government face in modern-day France? And what sort of prognoses can we draw from this about centrism in Europe today? In partnership with the Overseas Press Club of America (OPC), we invite a panel of experts to analyze the state of French politics, what led up to this, and what this means for the future. This discussion will be moderated by Vivienne Walt.
About the speakers:
Constant Méheut is a reporter in the Paris bureau of the New York Times, covering France. He joined the Paris bureau in 2020, after graduating from HEC Paris and MGIMO university in Moscow with a dual master’s degree in business and international relations. Méheut has reported the 2022 presidential campaign in France and the rise of the French far right.
Vivienne Walt is a Paris correspondent for TIME Magazine and Fortune Magazine. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, National Geographic, BusinessWeek, and more. She is governor of the Overseas Press Club of America.
Matthew Dalton is a reporter in the Wall Street Journal Paris bureau where he covers climate change, energy security and European politics and foreign policy. Before moving to Paris, he was a reporter in the Journal’s Brussels bureau for seven years, where his coverage ranged from the eurozone economic crisis to Islamist militancy in Europe.
Thierry Arnaud is currently international editor for French news network BFMTV. Thierry joined BFMTV in 2006 as its US Correspondent, and later served as the network political editor for six years. He was managing editor for sister network BFM Business from 2019 to 2022. Thierry started in career in print journalism, and was based for several of these years in London and New York.
Victor Mallet has covered France in three stints, and was the Financial Time‘s Paris bureau chief until last September. He has spent three decades covering Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa, and has written two books, on the Ganges River and the modernisation of south-east Asia.
Important information: The discussion will be available both online and in person. While the conversation will happen in person (Abboud, Méheut, Arnaud and Walt 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.
Please note the Daylight Savings gap between the US and France. This event will take place at 19h30 CET / 14h30 EDT
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.
This event has been organized in partnership with the Overseas Press Club of American (OPC).
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: Knights and Ninjas (ages 3–5)
2023-03-22 14:30 - 15:30
For this Story Hour, we’ll read tales both factual and fictional all about knights and ninjas. Books included in this Story Hour are short picture books such as the 2023 Caldecott Honor winner Knight Owl by Christopher Denise.
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: 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 Dispatch from the Fashion Archives with Marco Pecorari and Antoine Bucher
2023-03-21 19:30 - 20:30
Fashion captures the historical moment, giving it shape and fixing it in fabric. We often turn to fashion as a record and reflection of its time. Yet how is fashion itself recorded? What tools do we have to document the design, production, and use of fashion? What constitutes a fashion object? When writing the history of fashion, what is worthy of the archive, and what is cast aside? When considering the legacy of the most famous luxury brands, what is included in the narrative, and what is deliberately left out? At the heart of this question is the idea of ephemera: from invitations, to press releases, to catalogs, minor and often forgotten documents provide an alternative means of envisioning the development of modern fashion within the contemporary marketplace. Experts in fashion history, practices of collection, and archival sciences discuss.
About the speakers:
Antoine Bucher graduated from the University of Lille and from the Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris. He is the co-founder of Diktats, a bookstore specialized in rare books and documents related to fashion from the 16th century to the 20th century. As the manager of Diktats, Antoine Bucher has been working with international museums and libraries, private collectors and heritage departments of luxury brands for more than a decade.
Dr. Marco Pecorari is Assistant Professor and Program Director of the MA in Fashion Studies at Parsons Paris. He is co-editor of the volume Fashion, Performance and Performativity: The Complex Spaces of Fashion (2021) and author of Fashion Remains: Rethinking Fashion Ephemera in the Archive (2021). He is the co-founder of the festival and publication Printing Fashion and sits on the editorial boards of Fashion Theory, ZoneModa Journal, and Bloomsbury Fashion Central.
Important information: The discussion will be available both online and in person. While the conversation will happen in person (Bucher and Pecorari 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.
Please note the Daylight Savings gap between the US and France. This event will take place at 19h30 CET / 14h30 EDT
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.
This talk is supported by the Florence Gould Foundation and the American Center for Arts and Culture.
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.

Master Shot Film Club Meeting (ages 12–18) (FULL)
2023-03-18 17:00 - 18:30
Led by Paris-based filmmaker and writer Clarence Tokley, the purpose of this club is to allow budding filmmakers the opportunity to produce high quality short films.

The Master Shot Film Club provides a space for teens to explore all aspects of film-making, including the development and production process, script-writing, camera work, directing, acting, editing and much more, not to mention that you’ll get to know other young filmmakers in the community! This club is open to teens ages 12–18 in the Paris area who are fluent in English, by application. Applications were open through the end of August 2022 and are closed for the 2022–2023 film club. Applications for the 2023–2024 club opened on 31 March. Apply to here for the 2023–2024 Master Shot Film Club.
About Clarence Tokley:Clarence Tokley is a Paris-based teacher, filmmaker, and writer. A native of New Jersey, Clarence attended Rutgers University, obtaining a degree in History and Film Studies. Clarence then attended the New York Film Academy in New York City, before packing up everything and moving to Paris—he wanted to get a taste of the European style of storytelling. He fully immersed himself in the film industry and quickly landed his first job in Paris. Some of his credits include Rush Hour 3, Truth in 24, Exes, and the Cherry Orchard. Clarence also does voice-over work in Paris. Along with his duties as teacher of the BAW Teen and Youth Acting courses, he is the director of camps in France and provides workshops and private coaching. When he’s not teaching or coaching, Clarence continues to work professionally in film and theater productions in and around Paris.

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.

Spring Stories and Crafts (ages 6–12)
2023-03-18 14:00 - 15:30
Join the Children’s and Teens’ Services staff and volunteers for a spring celebration full of music, games, crafts, fun, and surprises!
Children between the ages 6–12 may participate in Library programs on their own, while their chaperone remains inside the Library, although parents and caregivers are encouraged to participate in crafts and games with their children during this event. 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.

Spring Stories and Crafts (ages 0–6)
2023-03-18 11:00 - 12:00
Join the Children’s and Teens’ Services staff and volunteers for a spring celebration full of music, games, crafts, fun, and surprises!
Children ages 0–6 must have a chaperone with them at all times during Library events. Parents and caregivers are encouraged to participate in crafts and games with their children during this event. 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.

Science Fiction Movie Night (ages 12–18)
2023-03-17 19:00 - 21:30
Join us for a Sci-fi movie night! Vote on the science fiction film you’d like to watch when you register for this event. Participate in trivia based on science fiction and dystopian books 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 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.

Toddler Time (ages 1–3)
2023-03-16 11:00 - 11:30
Stories featured during our Toddler Time programs include short picture books and board books, such as Dinosaur vs. the Library by Bob Shea, which will be included in this 16 March 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 Manager 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.

(Hybrid) Bruno Patino on the Age of Information
2023-03-15 19:30 - 20:30
Are we living through an information overload? Constantly bombarded by images, facts, and opinions emanating from screens of varied shapes and sizes, one may begin to wonder what purpose staying up to date ultimately serves. In the words of ARTE President Bruno Patino, is it only natural to ask, “s’informer, à quoi bon?” Yet Patino insists upon the social imperative of remaining informed, providing a compelling case for knowledge as a public good. Patino will discuss new essay “S’informer, à quoi bon”, as well as his celebrated works on the attention economy and the failures of internet utopianism. Join him to learn how we can rework digital society to reclaim our relationship to our devices and re-enter the shared human world.
About the speaker:
Bruno Patino is an author and journalist. He has published five works on digital media with Grasset, including La civilisation du poisson rouge (2019) and its sequel, Tempête dans le bocal : la nouvelle civilisation du poisson rouge (2022). “S’informer, à quoi bon?” was published in 2023. Patino has been CEO of the French-German TV channel ARTE since 2021, after previously serving as Editorial Director of Arte France. He is Associate Professor at Sciences Po and an analyst of digital society.
Important information: The discussion will be available both online and in person. While the conversation will happen in person (Patino 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.
Please note the Daylight Savings gap between the US and France. This event will take place at 19h30 CET / 14h30 EDT
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: Rainy Days (ages 3–5)
2023-03-15 14:30 - 15:30
For this Story Hour, we’ll read tales both factual and fictional all about rainy days, and the weather. Books included in this Story Hour are short picture books such as Rain! by Linda Ashman, illustrated by Christian Robinson.
This Story Hour will be hosted by Assistant Children’s and Teens’ Services Librarian Jason Hazard and 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: 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) Noga Arikha on the Self and the Disrupted Mind
2023-03-14 19:30 - 20:30
Philosopher Noga Arikha’s decision to study neuropsychiatric patients at a hospital in Paris was not initially motivated by personal experience. However, when her mother began to succumb to dementia, Arikha’s research into the threats to the self posed by mental illness took on new dimensions. Seeking to understand the confrontation of the mind with its own dissolution, Arikha grew close to a network of patients whose variety of symptoms defied neat classification and whose loss of identity is a current of intense pain throughout Arikha’s new work, The Ceiling Outside. Empathic and unflinching, the book details the fragility of the mind, the limits of medical practice, and, above all, the humanity of all beings trying to grapple with who they are. Arikha will appear in conversation with writer Rachel Donadio.
About the speaker:
Noga Arikha is a philosopher, historian of ideas and essayist who works as a “science humanist”. Her book The Ceiling Outside: The Science and Experience of the Disrupted Mind was published in spring 2022 by Basic Books. She is also the author of Passions and Tempers: A History of the Humours (2007). She is a Visiting Fellow at the European University Institute in Fiesole, Associate Fellow of the Warburg Institute and of the Center for the Politics of Feelings (London), Research Associate at the Institut Jean Nicod (Paris), and Research Associate at the Fotopoulou Lab at UCL.
Rachel Donadio is a Paris-based writer and journalist, a contributing writer for the Atlantic, and a former Rome Bureau Chief and European Culture correspondent for the New York Times. She regularly publishes textured profiles and features at the intersection of culture and politics, as well as literary criticism. Since 2022 she has been the administrator of the American Library in Paris annual Book Award.
Important information: The discussion will be available both online and in person. While the conversation will happen in person (Arikha and Donadio 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.
Please note the Daylight Savings gap between the US and France. This event will take place at 19h30 CET / 14h30 EDT
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.

Saturday Series: Fractured Fables (ages 6–12)
2023-03-11 11:00 - 12:00
Discuss fairy tales and fables, then explore how you can alter these classic stories to create your own original fractured fairy tale or fable. Join us for this writing workshop and then get started on your own piece for the Library’s Young Authors Fiction Festival here.

Children’s and Teens’ Services Manager Celeste Rhoads will host this event with the help of Library volunteers, and will be available to answer questions about the Young Authors Fiction Festival.

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.

Youth Leadership Program (ages 14–18) (FULL)
2023-03-10 19:00 - 21:00
This public speaking club is for teens ages 14-18. The YLP is led by the teen participants themselves with the guidance and support of Toastmasters from several groups in the Paris area and the American Library in Paris’ Children’s and Teens’ Services Manager. Toastmasters participate at each meeting to coach and help evaluate.

Participants between the ages of 14-18 were selected for this program based on applications sent in August 2023. Applications will be open on 31 March for the 2023–2024 Youth Leadership Program, and will close on 31 July 2023. 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.
