Archives : Events

The February read for the bookclub is « Hag-Seed » by Margaret Atwood.

Felix is at the top of his game as Artistic Director of the Makeshiweg Theatre Festival. His productions have amazed and confounded. Now he’s staging a Tempest like no other. It will boost his reputation. It will heal emotional wounds. Or that was the plan. Instead, after an act of unforeseen treachery, Felix is living in exile in a backwoods hovel, haunted by memories of his beloved lost daughter, Miranda. Also brewing revenge. After twelve years, revenge finally arrives in the shape of a theatre course at a nearby prison. Here, Felix and his inmate actors will put on his Tempest and snare the traitors who destroyed him. It’s magic! But will it remake Felix as his enemies fall?

For any inquiries about joining the book club please send an email by clicking here.

Stop by the library from February 22nd to March 19th during opening hours to see Andrew Painter’s Art Show! The exhibition is free and open to the public!

Andrew Painter is a well-traveled, British painter who moved to Angers in 1988. His colorful, lively work is inspired by anything and everything in the world around him. He enjoys, above all, seeing people interpret his work in different ways. His paintings seem to take on a life of their own and his recent work reflects on both “change” and “difference”. For more information about the artist click here.

The library is an authorized open center for the TOEIC Listening and Reading test (Public programme with photo). To sign up please consult the ETS website. 

[This workshop is FULL/COMPLET]

« Ski, snow and surf », a workshop in English based on winter sports for young adults (ages 12-14), will take place in the library and runs over three consecutive afternoons of three hours each. This is a wonderful way for kids to have fun learning English through games, songs and lots of speaking and moving around. Cost is 75 euros (includes snack, materials and library membership). Please contact the front desk to sign up. Limited to 15.

Time to get outside! Get on those hiking boots and take some time to revel in the great outdoors! The idea is to organise an easy walk once a month – approximately 10 km, 4 hours, in the afternoon – in order to discover or re-discover the beautiful hiking paths of the Maine-et-Loire. Come along with good walking shoes, protection against rain, cold or heat according to the season…. a bottle of water and a little « en-cas » to keep you going ! Maximum group is 20 so make sure to sign up!

Sign up by sending your name, email address and phone numbers (preferably cell phone) to this email address. You will be sent full details of the walk in due time.

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 parts 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. Please feel free to bring in an article that you would like to share with the other members of the group.

Meetings are held on Saturdays from 2-3pm. Dates for 2019 are Feb 16^th, March 16^th, April 13^th and May 18^th

This activity, free for library members, is organized by freelance journalist and library volunteer: Isma Hassaine-Poirier.

Unfortunately this session of Reading Shakespeare is canceled. But please join for the next session on March 1st at 3 pm!

Love those French restaurants? Feel like you need to speak English more but in a relaxed atmosphere? Join this club which schedules a lunch in a great local restaurant. Click here to send an email to the coordinator for more information and the full schedule and to sign up!

The film club shows a film once a month on a Saturday afternoon. This Saturday showing will be of « Sicko », a 2007 American documentary film made by filmmaker Michael Moore. The film investigates health care in the United States, focusing on its health insurance and the pharmaceutical industry. The movie compares the profiteering, non-universal U.S. system with the non-profit universal health care systems of Canada, the United Kingdom, France and Cuba. See trailer by clicking here.

Screening begins at 15:00 sharp and will be followed by a discussion in English. This activity is free of charge for all library members. If possible, please reserve by signing up at the front desk or by sending an email. 

The Saturday Reading Group on February 9th will be a joint discussion of The Handmaid’s Tale & Fahrenheit 451 to make up for the January cancellation.

« The Handmaid’s Tale » by Margaret Atwood is a dystopian novel that satirizes the strain of evangelical puritanism in American culture and the objectification of women. It is more broadly a contemporary myth of despotic power and how such power deforms those who are subjected to it. « One of Atwood’s finest pieces of work. » The TV series adaptation, starring Elisabeth Moss, is equally haunting, vivid and endlessly engrossing.

« Fahrenheit 451 » by Ray Bradbury is a hauntingly prophetic, classic novel set in a not-too-distant future where books are burned by a special task force of firemen. Guy Montag is a fireman. His job is to burn books, which are forbidden, being the source of all discord and unhappiness. The classic novel reflects a post-literate future in a prophetic account of Western civilization’s enslavement by the media, drugs and conformity. The 1966 film adaptation stars Julie Christie, Oskar Werner, and Cyril Cusack. « With a serious and even terrifying theme, this excursion into science fiction has been thoughtfully directed by Francois Truffaut and there is adequate evidence of light touches to bring welcome and needed relief to a sombre and scarifying subject. »

When and where: Meetings will be held at the library once a month on Saturday afternoons starting at 3 pm. Cost: FREE to all members of the library. To join: Please contact Anne Kaar at bookgroup@ellia.org