Two Cities, One Book Festival
La Médiathèque rencontre… Lia Mills
- 12 April 16
- 7.30pm, in English
- admission free, reservation necessary (spaces limited)
For the second year running, Centre Culturel Irlandais takes Paris closer to Dublin and Belfast by sharing “One Book” with them – Fallen by Lia Mills.
This novel tells the story of Dubliners against the backdrop of the dramatic events of Easter Week 1916. It explores the challenges of living in a conflict situation while vividly depicting the various and conflicting allegiances faced by Irish soldiers in the first World War and those supporting the cause of the rebellion.
Lia Mills was a writer-in-residence at the CCI in 2009, while she was writing Fallen. Parisian commemorations of the Liberation of Paris changed her perspective on commemoration, on Irish participation in WWI and WWII, and on her own novel. Her reading will be followed by a discussion with visual artist Gail Ritchie, who was resident artist at the same time, developing her Memorials series. The two former artists-in-residence will revisit some of the conversations they shared around ideas of commemoration. The conversation will be chaired by art historian Paula Murphy, who has written extensively on Irish sculpture and public art, placing particular emphasis on Ireland’s 1916 commemorations.