Utopias from a female perspective

As part of the literary event Refonder les histoires 5: Refounding Utopias at the Espace de la diversité.

A series of literary lunchtime events hosted by Lise Gauvin, professor and member of the Académie des lettres du Québec. In collaboration with the Parlement des écrivaines francophones (PEF).

May 1, 2025: Fawzia Zouari

Tunisian essayist and novelist Fawzia Zouari was born in northwestern Tunisia and has lived in Paris since 1979. With a doctorate in comparative literature (Sorbonne Nouvelle), she worked at the Arab World Institute before joining the newspaper Jeune Afrique. She currently chairs the Parliament of Francophone Women Writers and was named Chevalier de l’ordre des Arts et des Lettres de la République française in 2019.

These events were made possible thanks to the support of the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec (CALQ) and the Canada Council for the Arts (CCA).

[All videos below are in French.]

May 8, 2025: Marijosé Alie-Monthieux

Marijosé Alie-Monthieux, from Martinique, is a writer and musician. A senior reporter, editor-in-chief, and regional director, she has produced a number of documentaries on the Caribbean countries, as well as on the poet and thinker Aimé Césaire, to whom she was very close, and on the philosopher Edouard Glissant, whose thinking she says is an indispensable reference point for understanding today’s world.

May 13, 2025: Hyam Yared

Writer and poet Hyam Yared is a Lebanese author born in Beirut in 1975. In her critically acclaimed works, including Tout est halluciné (Fayard, 2016), a finalist for the France Télévision Prize, and Sous la tonnelle (S. Wespieser, 2009), Nos longues années en tant que filles (Flammarion 2020) and Implosions (Equateurs, 2021), she establishes a link between the intimate and political spheres, questioning ways of being in the world by exploring the notion of collective identities in relation to the psychological dimension of individuals.

May 15, 2025: Sedef Ecer

Born in Istanbul, novelist, playwright, and screenwriter Sedef Ecer writes in several genres in Turkish and French. Her novel Trésor national, published by JC Lattès in January 2021, has already been selected for literary awards and has been enthusiastically received by critics and booksellers.