Events
Finding Love at the Alliance Française
By Monica Fredette (With input from Yves Fredette) I met the love of my life on March 10, 2007 at Le Festival de la Francophonie at Chicago’s Alliance Française. It all started with a look at current events in a “Time Out Chicago” magazine while awaiting my hairdresser, Parto Nadiri. As I searched for upcoming events, I circled quite a few things of interest, but quickly honed in on the French event since I felt very at ease using my language skills learned in college and while studying in France.
Read more »We met Dany Laferrière... Do you want to know all about it?
A few weeks ago, on February 13, in conversation with our very own Director of Programs, Aimee Laberge, Dany Laferrière told us stories about his life. When asked where he lives these days he responded whimsically that he lives in the vast space of writing. He also spends a fair amount of time in hotels due to the large amount of travelling he does. Some of the places he described travelling to included Italy (where two of his books are set) as well as Haiti, Madagascar, Algeria, Canada, China and France. He also confirmed that his books have been translated into a wide variety of languages.
Read more »Irène Jacob for a live jazz concert at the Alliance!
Irène Jacob is a singer and an actress of stage and screen. She doesn’t seem to be one to shy away from any genre and her career so far is a rich tapestry woven with a little bit of everything, from dramatic TV shows to Shakespeare to French art-house films, all of which she shines in.
Read more »Cheesy cheesy melty food
In the mid-west we are known for our casseroles and hot dishes. If you grew up here you might have memories of eating mounds of tater tot hot dish or green bean casserole. These recipes probably involved some variation of vegetables and/or tater tots swimming in a pool of condensed mushroom soup.
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Events Francophone Fun History
Turning sour grapes into Champagne
If you clicked on this post, you probably have some idea of what champagne is. You might be able to recall the pleasant fizz of the bubbles or a particular sweet, light flavor. But do you know of the rich history and the unique details of production?
Read more »Read our interview with Sophie Loubière!
[caption id=“attachment3110” align=“alignleft” width=“231”] _Sophie Loubière[/caption] Sophie Loubière is a French journalist and writer who already published more than ten novels. She is urrently working on a new one, B__loody Coffee and this one will be set in Chicago! Before listening to her next week, come read about her in our exclusive interview;
Read more »Fun facts about Tales of Hoffmann
Jaques Offenbach composed the opera The Tales of Hoffmann in the late 1870s. Before dying he apparently had a premonition that he would not survive to see his opera performed… He ended up being right as he died only four months before the opera was performed for the first time! As a result, many different editions of his original score have been altered and this means that there are many different editions in existence. Recently there have been efforts to reinstate the opera to a close approximation of the original.
Read more »When our Programs Director meets Dany Laferrière and tells us all about it!
I met Dany Laferrière at the Salon du livre de Quebec in April 1986, where I was peddling my first publication, a collection of bad poems hesitating between French and English. I think it was called Turtleneck and Black Slacks. Nobody was showing much interest so I had plenty of time to walk around and check the competition.
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