Boston Book Festival 2018

Novelist, poet, essayist, and journalist J.R. Léveillé will present his newest book, Compositions. Compositions is a hybrid work conceived on the margins of the pictorial dimension where the textual and the visual are combined in a literary work of art. It can be read or not, even though every word was carefully chosen; its works can be carefully looked at and analyzed for hours or just rapidly gone through: this book is an art object that goes beyond the literary frame. Léveillé will be interviewed by French Cultural Center librarian Ingrid Marquardt, and there will be an opportunity for audience Q&A.

Hubert Haddad will present his bestselling book, Desirable Body, a medical mystery/fantasy/love story that delves deeply into the nature of consciousness while raising many of the ethical and existential issues facing scientists today. This author talk will be moderated by Shuchi Saraswat, curator of the Transnational Literature Series at Brookline Booksmith, an events series focused on migration, exile and displacement and works in translation. Their conversation will be followed by audience Q&A.

Charles-Étienne Ferland will present his science fiction novel Dévorés. Ferland deploys his background in environmental science and insect ecology in his novel, which  brings readers into a dystopian world where food reserves and agricultural crops are ravaged by a new wasp-like insect species that operates until there is almost nothing left to eat but the last prey...human beings. Anyone who ventures outside during the day is doomed to a deadly destiny, and soon people compete against one another for the remaining commodities. Ferland will be interviewed by French Cultural Center librarian Ingrid Marquardt, and there will be an opportunity for audience Q&A.