Lit Crawl! Reading of the life of Eleanor of Aquitaine
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Lit Crawl Global 2020 In 2020, many of the Lit Crawls in our worldwide network were cancelled due to Covid-19, so we decided to gather everyone for one big virtual literary hoedown. On October 24th from 10:30am-3pm (California time) we’ll hear from the global literati in Boston, Los Angeles, Seattle, Wellington (New Zealand), Kells (Ireland), Cheltenham (England), Angers (France). Since 2008, 14 cities worldwide have launched affiliated Lit Crawls. By partnering with a variety of organizations, many of them the leading literary entities in their regions, each Lit Crawl bolsters the local literary scene and captures its city’s unique flavor — all while getting book lovers and revelers alike drunk on words. For the Angers event, feel free (since it is free!) to listen to a reading and interpretation of the life of Eleanor of Aquitaine based on adapted excerpts from an essay by Norman Cantor. This event will take place of Saturday, October 24th from 7:30-8 pm*. Readers are Phoebe Marshall-Raimbeau, Francoise Arnaud, Marie France Roland and Kenneth Thomas. Directed and produced by Nicole Graine. The library would like to thank the Château d’Angers for the use of their beautiful 12th-centruy space, so appropriate to the times of Eleanor of Aquitaine. *All Lit Crawl events to be held on Zoom and broadcasted to Facebook Live. Click here for more information. |
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Take your TOEIC test
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The library is an authorised test center for the TOEIC Listening and Reading Test (the Test of English for International Communication). For more information please visit our TOEIC page or to sign up go to the official ETS website.
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Intensive English workshop for “collégiens”
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“Halloween’s Coming” is a 3-day English-learning workshop for collégiens. Participants learn English in a fun, interactive way with games, songs and activities with lots of talking and moving around! The workshop will be at the library for three consecutive afternoons of three hours each, from 2 to 5 p.m. Please contact the front desk to sign up by phone: 02 41 24 97 07 or email: info@ellia.org. Limited to 15 participants so sign-up fast! Cost is 75 euros (includes snack, materials and a one-time library membership). |
Saturday Reading Group
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The Saturday Reading Group is for anyone who loves to read, socialize in English, and meet new people. The October read for the group is Hallucinating Foucault by Patricia Dunker. An intricate and self-reflective novel about that most delicate of relationships–meaning the one between writers and readers. The narrator, an anonymous graduate student, sets off on the trail of a French novelist named Paul Michel, who is currently confined to an asylum. Engineering his hero’s release, the narrator finds himself enmeshed in bizarre love triangle, of which the three vertices are himself, the novelist, and the late Michel Foucault. Sex, it seems, can be made safe, but the oddball intimacy of reading cannot. Meetings are once a month on Saturday afternoons starting at 3 pm. Open to all library members. To sign up please contact the group coordinator at bookgroup@ellia.org.
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Reading Shakespeare
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Treat yourself to an afternoon of a collective reading of one of Shakespeare’s plays. This activity consists of watching a BBC production on DVD and then reading relative scenes. This is a great activity for lovers of language and fans of the great wit. Free and open to all library members. During the current sanitary crisis, the group will meet outside the library until further notice. For more information or to sign-up, please contact the group coordinator here. |
Book Club reads “The Speckled People”
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The October read for the book club is “The Speckled People” by Hugo Hamilton. The childhood world of Hugo Hamilton, born and brought up in Dublin, is a confusing place. His father, a sometimes brutal Irish nationalist, demands his children speak Gaelic, while his mother a softly spoken German immigrant, marked by the Nazi past, speaks to them in German. He personally prefers to speak English. English is, after all, what the other children in Dublin speak. English is what they use when they hunt him down in the streets and dub him Eichmann, as they bring him to trial and sentence him to death at a mock seaside court. Out of this fear and guilt and often comical cultural entanglements, he tries to understand the differences between Irish history and German history and turn the twisted logic of what he is told into truth. It is a journey that ends in liberation, but not before he uncovers the long-buried secrets that lie at the bottom of his parents wardrobe. To join the book club please send an email to the group coordinator here. |
Knit and Natter
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Come along and bring your knitting, Have a natter while you’re sitting, Or learn to knit with wool provided, Needles loaned and stitches guided. Knitted garments are très chic, So be in vogue and start this week. Knit and Natter is a free activity, open to all library members. No need to reserve, just come and enjoy! If anyone has some extra yarn please bring it in. |
Coffee House
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Join the library community for a special moment to talk about anything and everything (in English of course!) over a cup of coffee or tea. Coffee House is free and open to all library members. Just drop by, no need to reserve! |
Garden Club visit
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The garden club invites you to discover the beautiful gardens in the area! This visit is to the Manoir de Clairefontaine, in Baugé. An authentic medieval manor, transformed in the 15th century, surrounded by 5 hectares of landscaped park with animals and ponds. We will have a short visit of the manor and then hopefully we will be able to enjoy the Autumn leaf colours in the park. Please note that this visit will be on the third Thursday of the month, not the first one! This activity is open to library members and offers visits once a month to a garden between April and October. For more information and/or to sign up for this visit please send an email to Sylvie Leys at elliagardenclub@gmail.com. |
Books and Tea
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“Books and Tea” is a monthly meeting for bookworms and tea drinkers. Bring a book you’ve really enjoyed, talk about it and pass it on! The group will meet from 2 to 3:30 pm at the tea shop in town called “La Cour”. No need to sign up, just come and enjoy! |