French-Moroccan writer Leïla Slimani will be in Bucharest on Wednesday, October 25, to attend the launch of the Romanian-language edition of her novel Chanson douce (Cântec lin).

The novel received in 2016 the Goncourt prize, a French literature distinction given by the Académie Goncourt to the author of “the best and most imaginative prose work of the year.” The Prix Goncourt is regarded as the most prestigious of the “big six” French literary awards, which include the Grand Prix du roman de l'Académie française, the Prix Femina, the Prix Renaudot, the Prix Interallié, and the Prix Médicis.

The Romanian edition of the novel is published in the Literary Fiction collection of the Pandora M publishing house, part of the Grupul Editorial Trei publishing group. The novel will be launched at the Carturesti Verona tea house, starting 18:30.

Slimani will be in Bucharest on Thursday, October 26, as well. She will attend a public debate on the impact of the written word in contemporary society and the civic engagement of the literary works. The debate is held at the French Institute starting 18:30.

Slimani was born in Rabat, Morocco. At the age of 17 she left for Paris to study political science and media studies at the Sciences Po. In 2014 she published her first novel Dans le jardin de l’ogre (In the Garden of the Ogre), which received the Moroccan La Mamounia literary award.

(Photo source: Wikipedia)

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