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Leila Slimani at Harvard Book Store
Past event
Featured Book
I'll Take the Fire
Q: If your house was burning down, what would you take with you?
A: I’d take the fire.
–Jean Cocteau
Mia Daoud yearns to be free. Growing up in socially conservative Morocco, her imagination fired by her banker father’s charisma and political idealism, her doctor mother’s feminist example and social conscience, and the boundless possibilities suggested by her favorite authors, she learns to go after what she wants, even if it means jumping through fire to get it. Determined to be true to her sexuality and to differentiate herself from her adoring younger sister, she sets out in search of her place in the world, from Casablanca to Paris to London, and against the backdrop of era-defining events like the fall of the Berlin Wall and 9/11, guided by a preternatural sense of justice and an unerring instinct for what makes her feel most alive. Combining vigorous poetry and unflinching bravery, Leila Slimani’s autobiographical novel is a rousing ode to living a life of purpose and consequence.
This book will be available for purchase at the event.
About This Event
Harvard Book Store and The French Library welcome Leila Slimani—bestselling and Prix Goncourt-winning author of The Perfect Nanny—for a discussion of her new novel, I'll Take the Fire. She will be joined in conversation by Mylène Priam—scholar and writer who taught French and Francophone literature at Harvard University for more than a decade.
Praise for I'll Take the Fire
“For the half week I spent in its pages, this book set fire to my days. Propulsive and fearless, Leila Slimani’s novel renders coming of age—social, sexual, artistic—with uncommon command and passion. Slimani’s courage, her vulnerability, her virtuosity left me inspired. I won’t be surprised if this book finds readers for generations to come.” —Ayad Akhtar, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Homeland Elegies and The Radiance
“This beautiful novel tells us the story of a battle fought by an Arab girl to discover herself and liberate herself from tradition. Leila Slimani has succeeded in creating a wonderful world that we will never forget, and that will always inspire us.” —Alaa Al Aswany, author of The Yacoubian Building
“Leila Slimani is one of our best writers, a master stylist and an exquisite storyteller. I read anything she writes.” —Rabih Alameddine, National Book Award–winning author of The True True Story of Raja the Gullible (and His Mother)
Co-Sponsor
French Library / Alliance Française
The French Library is a non-profit U.S. organization that provides the general public with affordable access to language and cultural education programs. While French culture is our historic focus, we actively promote the discovery and appreciation of other equally important cultures. Through our activities, we inspire our diverse community of children, teens, and adults to explore, understand, embrace, and share the richness of their cultures. For more information, visit https://frenchlibrary.org
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Contact Info
General Info
(617) 661-1515
info@harvard.com
Media Inquiries
mediainquiries@harvard.com
Accessibility Inquiries
access@harvard.com
Featured Authors
Leila Slimani
Leila Slimani is the bestselling author of The Perfect Nanny, one of The New York Times Book Review’s 10 Best Books of 2018, for which she became the first Moroccan woman to win France’s most prestigious literary prize, the Goncourt. Her other books include Adèle, Sex and Lies, and the #1 international bestsellers In the Country of Others and Watch Us Dance, which are the first and second parts of a trilogy of novels based on her family’s roots in revolutionary Morocco. Slimani is French president Emmanuel Macron’s former personal representative for the promotion of the French language and culture, and is the chair of the jury for the 2023 International Booker Prize. She was ranked #2 on Vanity Fair France’s annual list of the Fifty Most Influential French People in the World. Born in Rabat, Morocco, in 1981, she divides her time between France and Portugal.
Mylène Priam
Originally from Martinique, raised in Paris, Mylène Priam is a scholar and a writer. As an Associate Professor, she taught French and Francophone literature at Harvard University for more than a decade. She has published widely on Caribbean and Francophone literature, including contributions to book chapters and in Academic journals such as Research in African Literatures, International Journal of Francophone Studies, Cuadernos de Literatura. She has lead conversations with prominent Francophone authors among which, Rachid Boujedra, Kim Thuy, Alain Mabanckou, Daniel Boukman, Claire Messud. Now based in Brookline, Massachusetts, Priam continues to write and remains actively engaged in promoting French and Francophone literature and culture. She is currently completing a second novel that infuses Caribbean myths and legends into our modern world. Her first novel, Trois îles (Three Islands), is the tales of three generations of women across five decades and two continents.
About the Venue
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