Pascale Dhombres studied in Paris under Julia Kristeva and in Montreal with William Readings and Walter Moser. She holds a PhD focused on the connections between In Search of Lost Time and phenomenology. After spending several years in Mexico, Ethiopia, and Georgia, she earned an MBA from Boston University and left the literary world to become a wealth manager.

She found her way back to Proust through the discovery of the writer’s correspondence with his banker. Proust—an heir, a rentier, and a formidable speculator—proves unpredictable in his exchanges with the conservative and talented Lionel Hauser. While Hauser favors short- and medium-term strategies, Proust insists on the very long term, convinced that the irrational and the emotional lie at the very heart of what it means to be human.

In French.

Pascale Frey is a literary journalist. She has been reading since she first learned how! She began her career at La Tribune de Genève, where she was in charge of the Books section. For many years, she contributed to the magazine Lire, and later to ELLE. While selecting books for the ELLE Readers’ Prize—novels, nonfiction, and crime fiction—she read a large portion of recent literary publications. Today, she continues to share her many favorites on Instagram: @pascale_frey.

This reading circle is dedicated exclusively to contemporary fiction. The latest releases, emerging authors—both French and international—books in the running for literary awards, and major reissues will all serve as the monthly inspiration. The workshop aims to be friendly and interactive, and each participant is encouraged to share their thoughts on the featured book, which must be read before the following meeting. Ten annual sessions to stay fully up to date with the literary scene.

In French.

Pascale Frey is a literary journalist. She has been reading since she first learned how! She began her career at La Tribune de Genève, where she was in charge of the Books section. For many years, she contributed to the magazine Lire, and later to ELLE. While selecting books for the ELLE Readers’ Prize—novels, nonfiction, and crime fiction—she read a large portion of recent literary publications. Today, she continues to share her many favorites on Instagram: @pascale_frey.

This reading circle is dedicated exclusively to contemporary fiction. The latest releases, emerging authors—both French and international—books in the running for literary awards, and major reissues will all serve as the monthly inspiration. The workshop aims to be friendly and interactive, and each participant is encouraged to share their thoughts on the featured book, which must be read before the following meeting. Ten annual sessions to stay fully up to date with the literary scene.

In French.

Economist, author, and global traveler Jean-Joseph Boillot (IRIS researcher and author of Chindiafrique) leads three evenings exploring key literary works from China, India, and Africa:

• Oct 16 – China: Water Margin (Au bord de l’eau), a legendary Chinese epic akin to The Three Musketeers.

• Nov 20 – India: Panchatantra, the ancient fable collection that inspired La Fontaine.

• Dec 11 – Africa: Petit Bodiel and Other Tales, by Malian writer Amadou Hampâté Bâ, who said, “When an old man dies, a library burns.”

A cultural journey through storytelling traditions that shaped civilizations.

In French.

After obtaining her B.A. at St Hilda’s College, Oxford, Valerie Fehlbaum moved to Switzerland where she taught English as a Foreign Language for a few years before joining the English Department at the University of Geneva. She then went on to obtain an M.A. in Gender Studies and a Ph.D. on the New Woman at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth. Her subsequent monograph on Ella Hepworth Dixon was initially published by Ashgate in 2005 and republished in paperback by Taylor & Francis in 2019. She has also lectured at the University of Neuchâtel and tutored with the Open University.

Irish writers have often occupied a liminal space in what is generally referred to as English Literature. Are they insiders or outsiders? Or both? Is there a specifically Irish Literature? In this cercle de lecture, through close analysis of some recent, highly-acclaimed fiction by Irish writers, we shall attempt to answer such questions.

Chosen authors and texts:

Sept. 24: Colm Tóibín (Brooklyn; Long Island)
Oct. 8: Sally Rooney (Normal People; Intermezzo)
Nov. 12: Claire Keegan (Foster; Small Things Like These)
Dec. 17: Anne Enright (The Wren, the Wren; Actress)

In English.