On 30 November and 1 December 2017, the international conference “Lieux, géographie et médiations : la Lorraine des écrivains dans lʼespace francophone” took place in the Black Box at the Maison des Sciences Humaines on the University of Luxembourg’s Belval Campus.
This event was organised by Malte Helfer from the Institute of Geography and Spatial Planning at the University of Luxembourg and Carole Bisenius-Penin from the Centre de recherche sur les mediations (CREM) at the University of Lorraine.
Around 30 participants, some from as far afield as Canada and the United States, attended this event, which included 13 lectures and a round table with artists and journalists. Michel Lussault, Professor of Geography at the École Normale Supérieure de Lyon, gave a fascinating introductory lecture entitled “The geographical imagination of the contemporary world” in which he explored the links between geographical and literary themes and approaches.
The guest of honour at the conference was writer and Prix Goncourt laureate Jean Rouaud, who gave a public reading at the National Library of Luxembourg in cooperation with the Pierre Werner European Cultural Institute on the first evening. This was followed by a gala dinner at the “Café littéraire Le Bovary”, with musical entertainment provided by Olivier Dautrey and Jean Rouaud.
The conference, sponsored by UniGR, was held in connection with the research project La Lorraine des écrivains (The writers of Lorraine). This project is based on interdisciplinary cooperation between the fields of geography and literature and cross-border cooperation between the University of Lorraine and the University of Luxembourg within the Greater Region.
One of the results of the project is the website “La Lorraine des écrivains – une géolocalisation de la literature” featuring articles with interactive maps of Lorraine, the Greater Region and the Canadian province of Quebec which were previously presented at the international workshop held at the University of Lorraine in December 2016.
Looking ahead, the aim is to enlarge the focus of the research project from Lorraine to the Greater Region with the involvement of other partner universities.
Contact:
Dr Malte Helfer, +352 (0)46 66 44 62 45; malte.helfer@uni.lu; Institute of Geography and Spatial Planning, University of Luxembourg
Dr Carole Bisenius-Penin, +33 (0)3 87 31 52 53; carole.bisenius-penin@univ-lorraine.fr; Centre de recherche sur les médiations (CREM), UFR Arts, Literature and Languages, University of Lorraine
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