Acclaimed French author and director inspires NewVIc students
The young French author and director, Faïza Guène, visited NewVIc during the summer term to talk to students about her writing and experiences of growing up in France. Faïza is currently promoting her second novel, Dreams from the Endz, and has been holding talks at venues including The British Museum. The visit to NewVIc was arranged in collaboration with Newham Bookshop and English PEN.
Faïza wrote her first novel, Just Like Tomorrow, when she just 17 years old. It was a huge success in France and has since been translated into 27 languages and 350,000 copies have been sold. Faïza was born in France to Algerian parents and much of her writing is inspired by episodes from her own life growing up as a Muslim on a Parisian housing estate.
Sarah Ardizzone, who is Faïza’s translator received the Scott-Moncrieff Prize 2007 for the translation of Faiza’s first novel. Sarah also attended the event and read extracts from the novels whilst Faïza read in French. The event attracted an enthusiastic audience of over 100; NewVIc students taking A-levels in French and English as well as students from Sarah Bonnell and Plashet schools.
NewVIc Principal Eddie Playfair, who chaired the event and is half French himself, was delighted to welcome Faïza to the college: “It was a real privilege to welcome Faïza Guène who is an exciting new voice in literature, a voice which hadn’t previously been heard much in France. She tells her stories in a very honest and direct way and one which young people can readily understand. I think British readers will enjoy her books as she has a lot to say about young people’s lives, about culture, identity and discrimination in a diverse society.”