The French Institute in Bulgaria invites you to an event in Plovdiv dedicated to the French writer and diplomat Romain Gary

The discussion is part of the celebrations of the 145th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between France and Bulgaria

The Embassy of the Republic of France in Bulgaria and the French Institute are organizing a week dedicated to Romain Gary - French writer and diplomat, screenwriter, military pilot, traveler with an outstanding literary career. He is the only two-time laureate of the prestigious literary prize "Goncourt" - once in 1956 under his already established pseudonym Romain Gary and a second time, in 1975, as Émile Ajar.

From October 21 to 25, 2024, in the cities of Sofia and Plovdiv (with French/Bulgarian translation provided), a series of discussions and film screenings are taking place, which are part of the celebrations of the 145th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between France and Bulgaria .

The event in Plovdiv is on October 25, 2024, Friday, from 18:00, in the "Saedinenie" hall of the Regional History Museum - Plovdiv, "Saedinenie" square No 1, in partnership with the Municipality of Plovdiv and the international film and literary festival "Cinelibri " and the kind hospitality of RIM - Plovdiv.

The format in the city under the hills is a discussion featuring Kerwin Spire, writer-biographer, on "Romain Gary in Sofia (1946-1948): the totalitarian experience". The moderator is Luc Levy, adviser on cooperation and cultural activities, director of the French Institute in Bulgaria.

Entrance is free. Consecutive translation is provided, registration is required, which can be done on the event page https://institutfrancais.bg/spomen-za-romen-gari/

The discussion with Kerwin Spire will examine the profound influence of the Bulgarian experience on Gary's anti-totalitarian thinking. As a post-war diplomat in a country that was about to be conquered by Soviet power, this period was a true political school for the writer, who was able to closely observe the workings of the establishing totalitarianism. Through previously unpublished documents from his diplomatic correspondence, participants will discover a clairvoyant and insightful Romain Gary, who describes Bulgaria as "an absolute triumph of totalitarian tendencies."

The French writer Kerwin Spire holds a degree in political science and a doctorate in French literature from the University of New Sorbonne. After defending a thesis on the work of Romain Gary and assisting in its publication in the Pleiades collection, he published a trilogy of novels entitled Monsieur Romain Gary, published by Gallimard in the White collection. The first volume received the Ernest Lemonon Award for 2022 from the Academy of Moral and Political Sciences, and the second - the Henri de Régnier Prize for the Support of Literary Creativity for 2023 from the French Academy.