Category: News

“To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow.” — Audrey Hepburn

That is very much in keeping with the theme of our 2025 Angers Literary Festival—possible futures—which is happening on Saturday, May 24 from 10 am-5 pm at Salons Curnonsky.

We believe that a library is a place for all voices and that, at a time when access to knowledge is increasingly under attack, libraries like the ELLIA remain a safe harbor for the free exchange of diverse voices and ideas. We believe in the power of books and conversations to inspire and shape the future we’ll share.

And yet—there is always more work to be done, and we are grateful for your support in helping us continue our programming. In 2025, our goal is to raise 20,000€ which will help us offset a loss of funding from the Conseil Régional due to recent budget cuts across France.

You can donate online by clicking here or, if you prefer to send a check or cash, you can fill out this form by clicking here. Don’t forget! You can enjoy a tax reduction of 66% for every euro you donate. In other words, if you donate 100€, the actual cost to you is 34€.

We are also thrilled to announce we are now partnering with the Friends of the Fondation de France which allows Americans to take a tax deduction in the United States for any donations. You can email Mandy for more information at mandy@ellia.org.

Of course, there are other ways to support our work at the ELLIA. If you know other English-speaking Angevins, you can tell them about the library and encourage them to become members. If your membership is lapsed, you can rejoin the library. And you can sign up for some of our great upcoming events like our May 14 memoir writing workshop featuring a moderator for the literary festival, Michelle Crowell.

Thank you for helping the ELLIA to play a crucial role in the Angers of tomorrow. We are grateful for your support and we hope to see you at the library—and at our 2025 Angers Literary Festival—soon.

We challenge you to read (at least) 12 books in English in 2025. Together we’ll set off on a worldwide journey and explore literature from a different region each month.

 

Pack your literary bags—we’re heading to South Asia this April! We’ve selected six must-read titles for you by acclaimed authors—winners of the Booker Prize, the International Booker, and global bestseller lists.

All titles are available in our collection.  Check out the display at the front of the library for even more recommendations, including our Kids’ Edition of the Reading Challenge!

 

It’s never too late to join the challenge.  Stop by the library during opening hours and pick up your 2025 Reading Passport. Each time you finish a book from a region, we’ll stamp it to mark your journey. Feeling adventurous? Use your Compass Rose Detour to swap out one region with a book of your choice.

 

Spring is here—and so are nearly 50 new titles!

If you’re curious to explore the work of recent visiting author Yara El-Ghadban, we’re pleased to share that the English translation of her novel I Am Ariel Sharon is now available in the collection.

We have also several new arrivals by featured authors of the 2025 Angers Literary Festival. If you’re planning to attend the festival, now is the perfect time to discover their work:

Voilà Vegan by Amanda Bankert, What’s Good: Notes on Rap and Language by Daniel Levin Becker, Race Relations: The Struggle for Equality in America by Barbara Diggs, and Die for Me and Until I Die by Amy Plum.

Happy spring reading!

Browse summaries here

Explore all new arrivals here

 

Learn about our 2025 Featured Speakers

Discover the “Possible Futures” Program

Our future is full of more questions than answers right now. How can we protect our democracies?  How can we fight for human rights in a social media landscape filled with misinformation? How can we cope with climate change and ever-worsening wildfires, hurricanes, and droughts? Who should we listen to when deciding how to live ethically in response to today’s challenges? 

We have little precedent for how to answer questions like these. And all too often, when we turn to television or film, we find grim, stark, and dystopian portrayals of the future. 

That is why we need stories about other possible futures to tell ourselves and our children. At this year’s Angers Literary Festival, we will hear from six thinkers on this topic.

Erin Ogunkeye will lead the day. Amanda Bankert will talk about how veganism and food politics are changing in France and globally. Amy Plum will delve into how inclusivity and identity in young adult fiction is continuing to grow and evolve. Daniel Levin Becker will tell us about Indivisible Cities, a project from the French literary collective Oulipo that created fictional representations of cities under climate pressure and the role narratives play in advancing climate action. Kristina Kearns will explore the reality that even though only a narrow group of people is able to get published, the opportunity to experiment is more accessible than ever before. And Barbara Diggs will share how the history of Civil Rights era marches, boycotts, and strikes could continue to shape our politics in the present and future. 

We hope you will join us for a day that will be filled with fascinating, illuminating, and hopeful discussions about our possible futures.

 

---

These in-person events are free and open to the public. Registration is required as space is limited.

✨ Get your free tickets for the main event “Possible Futures” on May 24th

✍️ Sign up for our newly added Writing Workshop on May 14th

---

We are honored that this year’s festival is supported by The de Groot Foundation, which believes free speech and civil discourse are essential tools for exploring the defining issues of our times.