Founded in 1818, the Société de Lecture (SDL) is a cultural institution nestled in Geneva’s Old Town. Housed in an 18th-century building, the SDL serves as a hub for relaxed intellectual exchange. Functioning as a library with an extensive book collection, the Société de Lecture also hosts diverse cultural events, including a full rich program of literary conferences, debates, workshops, and even yoga classes. Notably, it offers a diverse program for children.
Mathias Énard, award-winning novelist and essayist, presents Hôtel Balkan, a reflective narrative that follows a canoe journey along the Sèvre and traces memories linked to the history of the Balkans. Énard examines memory, literary influences—from Proust to Danilo Kiš—and the enduring presence of a youthful love encountered in Sarajevo. This lecture investigates how personal travel, historical portraiture and literary allusion intertwine to illuminate broader cultural and emotional landscapes.
In French.
Aurélia Thierrée brings her poetic, illusion-rich stage language to Tennessee Williams’s The Glass Menagerie as Laura Wingfield. Rooted in a family circus heritage, Thierrée blends mime, visual surprise and fragile theatricality to inhabit memory and longing. Directed by Jean Liermier for his final production as artistic director, the staging foregrounds transformation, delicate objects and a dreamlike atmosphere. The performance balances intimacy and surreal imagery, carried by Thierrée’s luminous physicality and emotional precision.
In French.
Brigitte Sion, an international expert in museography, memorials and heritage, chairs the scientific advisory board of the Izieu Memorial and co‑authored Nuremberg: The Trial Album (Tallandier, 2025) with Matthias Gemählich and Stéphanie Boissard. Drawing on a selection of seventy archival photographs—some previously unpublished—the lecture examines how visual testimony illuminates the judicial and historical dimensions of the Nuremberg trials and reflects on memory and memorial practices.
In French.
Charlotte Casiraghi, president of the Rencontres Philosophiques de Monaco and holder of a master’s degree in philosophy, presents La fêlure, her 2026 essay on human vulnerability. Drawing on philosophical reflection and literary sensibility, she explores how acknowledging our fragility can enable reinvention, self-acceptance or emancipation. The event examines key themes from the book and invites a reflective discussion moderated by Sarah Chiche.
In French.
Philippine Coutau, an independent researcher born in Geneva in 1999, investigates industrial seeds and the future of agriculture. Her 2025 investigation for Heidi.news examines how four agrochemical giants now control the majority of certified seeds and pesticides, standardising crops, locking in toxic farming models and increasing plant vulnerability. This lecture explores the political, ecological and social stakes of seed industrialisation and the implications for food systems. Moderated by Serge Michel.
In French.
Sarah Chiche, author of Aimer (Julliard, 2025), presents her sixth novel, a sweeping exploration of love rekindled after forty years. The talk examines the book’s themes — memory, long-term desire and the ways past and place shape intimate lives — and traces the narrative’s origins on the shores of Lake Geneva. Charlotte Casiraghi moderates the conversation, guiding a close reading of character, form and the novel’s emotional architecture.
In French.
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