Last week, internationally acclaimed Belgian author Amélie Nothomb visited Kent’s Montparnasse centre for a conference on her work, giving students from the University of Kent at Paris (UKP) had the opportunity to interview her.
The students also had the opportunity to watch and discuss the documentary Amélie Nothomb, une vie entre deux eaux with its writer Laureline Amanieux and writer/director Luca Chiari.
Academics from Canada, USA and Europe also participated in the conference, entitled ‘Identity, Memory, Place: Amélie Nothomb – Past, Present and Future’.
Amélie Nothomb is one of today’s most popular and widely translated European authors. She has written more than 20 novels, two of which have been adapted for film whilst others have become stage plays.
Adina Stroia, a PhD in the Department of French, said: ‘Amélie Nothomb is one of the most prolific authors on the contemporary French literary scene. This conference attested not only to her growing cultural importance, but gave specialists and readers of her works the occasion to critically engage with her writing in what was a rich and stimulating event. As a highlight to an already exciting conference, we also had the opportunity to meet the author for a collective interview.’
Dr Ana de Medeiros, Director of UKP, added: ‘To mark its fifth anniversary, UKP has launched a series of open lectures and hosted a number of conferences and visits by internationally acclaimed authors such as Lauren Binet and Marie Nimier, as well as Amélie Nothomb.
‘These events are an integral part of the academic environment that our MA students thrive in and the opportunity for them to meet and discuss the works studied with the actual authors is a key part of the MA programmes offered here.’