Write About Now : Staying Alive • March 9

The French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF), New York’s premiere French cultural center, along with Bookforum magazine and the Villa Gillet, presents a new season of its literary program Write About Now, a forum for French and American-based authors to meet in conversation. Writers will engage in dynamic discussions, each organized around a topic that constitutes a cultural common ground and jumping-off point for fascinating literary exchange. Albert Mobilio, editor of Bookforum, will moderate.

Staying Alive: Surviving Survival – Wednesday, March 9

•             Novelists Philippe Forest and Francisco Goldman

•             Moderated by Albert Mobilio, Bookforum editor

“Survivor” means many things to many people, depending on whether it is used by artists, psychologists, or politicians. Does “survivor” describe someone who has simply endured trauma, or does the term imply a more heroic conquest of fate? Noted novelists Francisco Goldman and Philippe Forest will parse this word’s usage and deepen our understanding of what surviving might mean—in fiction, as well as in life.

About Francisco Goldman

Francisco Goldman’s new novel, Say Her Name, chronicles the loss of his wife and his attempt to recover the details of her life.

About Philippe Forest

Philippe Forest, in Sarinagara, sounds out the depth of his pain, as he mourns the death of his young child through the stories of three Japanese artists across the centuries.