Join us for a live talk* on Zoom with French writer Alexandre Labruffe about his latest novel published by Éditions Gallimard, Un hiver à Wuhan.

 

As part of the new series of events “Ideas change the world” organised by IFS, Alexandre Labruffre, French writer, will be speaking about his latest novel

“Un hiver à Wuhan”, Éditions Gallimard

On Tuesday, 13th October at 7 PM SGT

Click here to book your slot.

 

After studying Chinese and holding a “Diplôme d’Études Approfondies” (postgraduate degree) in Applied Communication in Culture, Alexandre Labruffe worked in the Alliance Françaises in China and then in South Korea.

At that time, he published with Benjamin Limonet an experimental four-handed story, “Battre Roger” (D’ores et déjà, 2008).

Since his return to Paris in 2015, he has collaborated on various artistic projects (with the Villa des Arts in Bas-Montmartre), theatrical projects (notably with the Iranian director Saeed Mirzaei) and film projects (with the Korean director Jeon Soo-il, for his films “Un homme coréen”, 2015; “America Town”, 2017), while pursuing his thesis in Arts and Cinema at the University of Paris-3. 

The fragmented narrative “Un hiver à Wuhan” conciliate a sharp documentary look with the desperate humour of a Voltairian tale. Alexandre Labruffe alternates memories of his stays there: from 1996, as a trainee controller in local factories, to the fall of 2019, as a cultural attaché in Wuhan. He lists the micro-apocalypses that have underpinned the economic miracle of the People’s Republic for the past two decades and becomes a witness of a health crisis, revealing its liberal-totalitarian nature.

*This talk will be held in French and in English.