Theater in English…Word for Word!
|
Aunt Penny (Margo Hall), Miss Agatha (Edris Cooper-Anifowoshe) and Bertha (Velina Brown) pay a visit. Photo by Julie Schuchard. WORD FOR WORD, the theater company from San Francisco which transforms short stories into great theater will be presenting ”All Aunt Hagar’s Children” by Edward P. Jones directed by Stephanie Hunt with the assistant Director Margo Hall.Set in 1950s Washington, D.C., this Noir tale spotlights a young Korean War vet who sets out to solve a murder and becomes entangled in a web of family history. Along the way, he is unsettled by another death—a young woman whose last words haunt him and his investigation. Edward P. Jones evokes a neighborhood of vivid characters, telling a story about the strength of family and the choices that shape our lives.Edward Paul Jones was born in 1950, in Arlington, Virginia. The only son of an illiterate hotel maid and kitchen worker, Jones grew up in his mother’s sphere because his father had drifted out of his life when he was a preschooler. His interest in literature was sparked early, yet it was some time before he realized that African Americans, like their white counterparts, were writing works of literary merit. For more than a decade Jones worked full time as a freelance columnist and proofreader for Tax Notes. It was tedious work and thus left room for his imagination to wander to other topics. Finally Jones let his imagination run free and started mentally plotting in intricate detail the story of Henry Townsend, a Virginia slave who buys his freedom and then becomes a slave owner himself. However, this novel, told in omniscient point of view and in a nonlinear form, is more than the tale of Townsend. Townsend is the pivotal character around which the stories of myriad other characters revolve. In 2004, The Known World won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction and the National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction. He has been an instructor of fiction writing at a range of universities. He lives in Washington, D.C. His second collection of short stories, All Aunt Hagar’s Children, was awarded “Favorite Fiction in 2006” by the Los Angeles Times. “Jones’ everyday tales …capture so beautifully the passion and fragility of ordinary life….Taken together they give us a portrait of black life in Washington, D.C….that compares well with James Joyce’s Irish in The Dubliners.” – San Francisco Chronicle.Shows are on Thursday, March 16th at 8 pm & Friday, March 17th at either 2 or 8 pm at the “Quart’Ney” 5/9 rue E.E. Duboys in Angers.Limited seating available so we highly recommend that you reserve early. To reserve, simply send an email by clicking here or give the library a call at 02.41.24.97.07. Donations will be accepted at the door.Word for Word’s mission is to “tell great stories with elegant theatricality, staging performances of classic and contemporary fiction”. Made possible by the generous support of the Florence Gould Foundation. |
|
Theater in English…Word for Word!
|
Aunt Penny (Margo Hall), Miss Agatha (Edris Cooper-Anifowoshe) and Bertha (Velina Brown) pay a visit. Photo by Julie Schuchard
WORD FOR WORD, the theater company from San Francisco which transforms short stories into great theater will be presenting ”All Aunt Hagar’s Children” by Edward P. Jones. Directed by Stephanie Hunt. Assistant Director Margo Hall.Set in 1950s Washington, D.C., this Noir tale spotlights a young Korean War vet who sets out to solve a murder and becomes entangled in a web of family history. Along the way, he is unsettled by another death—a young woman whose last words haunt him and his investigation. Edward P. Jones evokes a neighborhood of vivid characters, telling a story about the strength of family and the choices that shape our lives.Edward Paul Jones was born on October 5, 1950, in Arlington, Virginia. The only son of an illiterate hotel maid and kitchen worker, Jones grew up in his mother’s sphere because his father had drifted out of his life when he was a preschooler. His interest in literature was sparked early, yet it was some time before he realized that African Americans, like their white counterparts, were writing works of literary merit. For more than a decade Jones worked full time as a freelance columnist and proofreader for Tax Notes. It was tedious work and thus left room for his imagination to wander to other topics. Finally Jones let his imagination run free and started mentally plotting in intricate detail the story of Henry Townsend, a Virginia slave who buys his freedom and then becomes a slave owner himself. However, this novel, told in omniscient point of view and in a nonlinear form, is more than the tale of Townsend. Townsend is the pivotal character around which the stories of myriad other characters revolve. In 2004, The Known World won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction and the National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction.
|
|
Pizza and board games
|
|
|
Luncheon Club
|
|
|
Reading Shakespeare
|
|
|
Critical thinking: the monthly press review
|
The Internet is wonderful and can answer all your questions. For most of us, it is the main source for news. Indeed, we have immediate access to plenty of media from different part of the world. But can they all be trusted? Using different sources and media, the press review helps you to find your way through the news and be well-informed. This is an informal sharing and discussion of the news in English. Dates: Special “launch” session of the press review and presentation of the activity during coffee house on Friday, March 10th from 10-11AM. Then on Saturdays from 3-4:30PM on the following dates: This new activity for library members is organized by freelance journalist and library volunteer: Isma Hassaine-Poirier
|
|
Walk and Talk
|
Want to sign up? Easy as pie!Sign up by sending your name, email address and phone numbers (perferably cell phone) to this email address. You will be sent full details of the walk in due time. |
|
Saturday Reading Group
|
The March selection is the book “The Silver Linings Playbook” by Matthew Quick. During the years he spends in a neural health facility, Pat Peoples formulates a theory about silver linings: he believes his life is a movie produced by God, his mission is to become physically fit and emotionally supportive, and his happy ending will be the return of his estranged wife Nikki. When Pat goes to live with his parents everything seems changed; no one will talk to him about Nikki; his old friends are saddled with families; the Philadelphia Eagles keep losing, making his father moody; and his new therapist seems to be recommending adultery as a form of therapy. When Pat meets the tragically widowed, physically fit, and clinically depressed Tiffany, she offers to act as a liaison between him and his wife, if only he will give up watching football, agree to perform in this year’s Dance Away Depression competition, and promise not to tell anyone about their ‘contract.’ All When and where: Meetings will be held in the library once a month on Saturday afternoons starting at 3:00. Cost: FREE to all members of the library. To join: Please contact Anne Kaar at bookgroup@ellia.org |
|
France celebrates poetry
|
Every year France organises a celebration of poetry called the “Printemps des poètes” and for the 2017 celebration there is a focus on African poets and poetry. The library is pleased to offer a display of books with 10 favorite African poets and 10 favorite African-American poets. Highlights happening at the library are: March 4th – 28th: Exhibition of books of African and African-American poets. March 4th -28th: Exhibition of paintings of Philippe de Latour. Take a minute to come and see this stunning wash of colors and large canvases. In collaboration with the MIEL. Thursday, March 16th – reading in French by the Algrian poet Samira Negrouche in collaboration with the MIEL. Samira Negrouche is mainly known for her poetry, but also for her prose, her academic and dramatic texts, and her other creative writings. The author received a scholarship from the National Book Centre to pursue a stage in France during 2004 and 2005. In 2012, she edited contemporary Algerian poetry written in French for the review “Ici è là”, and prepared a compilation of contemporary Algerian poetry written in Arabic, Tamazight and French, for the Quebecer magazine of poetry “Exit”. Evening starts at 7 pm. Free and open to the public. |
|
