We were all afraid. A virtual residency in writing was a first for the Lycée. In her preface to the e-book of student work from her residence, the author and artist-in-residence Valérie Zenatti recounted what she had imagined the residency to be:
“At the beginning of this project, there was the promise of a trip to New York and a residency at the Lycée Français de New York. I could already see myself getting up at dawn, jet-lagged and walking the streets of this city that I love so much, a tinge of stage fright in my chest, getting ready to meet the eighth-grade students for the first time, and diving into a writing project with them on the idea of “encounters”.”
Valérie had imagined the theme for her residency, “Hindered Encounters,” as COVID-19 was entering its second wave in early November. Her work is part of the Artist-in-Residence Program created at the Lycée in 2012 and offered to students at different grade levels to spark their creativity away from the structure of the curriculum.
Although Valérie says that she did indeed experience stage-fright from a distance, it was not noticeable. From her first Zoom, she opened the doors of her home to us literally and figuratively. The intimate and dark decor of her room became an almost familiar space for our eighth-grade students and their French teachers.
She had already generously shared her immense talent with us. The Lycée community was familiar with her work, as Isabelle Milkoff, who heads the French Department, had added her novel, “Quand j’étais soldate,” to the summer reading list a few years ago. At Isabelle’s request, Valérie had been invited to speak at a student conference in 2018. During her visit, the Lycée’s Cultural Center showed a screening of A Bottle in the Gaza Sea, an adaptation of another of her novels.
Her curiosity and talent was clear to us, when she took inspiration from Colum McCann‘s latest work, Apeirogon, “a geometric figure with an infinite number of sides”, as the starting point for the residency with our students. “The novel comes in the form of numbered fragments, of different natures, which are all facets of the same story,” explained Valérie, adding the work of this American writer was a colossal 500 pages long in one hundred fragments! Four eighth-grade classes took up the challenge with brilliance, writing a total of 85 pages of 176 fragments of all forms and sizes on this idea of “hindered encounters.”
“Inspiration comes into your home like the air,” Valérie told the students. She wanted them to fly far away from their Covid-19 confinement. “A book is a space of freedom; writing, reading, a desire.”
We asked ourselves questions that could help us approach the subject or better understand it. This allowed us to write with more fluidity and to express emotions that we didn’t think we would feel. — 8th-grade student
This wind of creativity swept through everyone, as evident in these student testimonials, shared with parents during a final virtual show of readings on November 30th:
“To write for the workshop, we had random, spontaneous or carefully thought-out ideas. We asked ourselves questions that could help us approach the subject or better understand it. This allowed us to write with more fluidity and to express emotions that we didn’t think we would feel,” wrote one student in 4ème2.
“The freedom to write in any form is quite rare at school. It allowed us to express ourselves much more easily. The idea of this project was also surprising for the class, because we created a single common story. This new way of writing seemed to intrigue many of us, and we found this experience interesting,” wrote another student, reflecting in these words genuine engagement in the project.
Letters, presentations, poetry, political thoughts, arguments, plays, diaries, speeches, technical notes, press articles… Everything was allowed–freedom, but within a clear framework. Each student wrote two fragments (they all appear in the e-book), reviewed and enhanced with the author’s guidance during work sessions continued on by their French teachers Catherine Genoux, Matthieu Cladidier, and Laurent Morival.
That was the challenge of this residency, to be in this fragmented, near obliteration of our lives and to see how we can be brought together through the power of words — Valérie Zanetti
On the day of the final reading, Valérie Zanetti had invited actor Laurent Natrella, a member of the Comédie Française, to read the texts for the students and their families. (In the meantime, Valérie had suffered a relapse of COVID, forcing her to spend 24 hours in the emergency room and making her doubt her respiratory capacities). What an honor for the students! And they were up to the task.
“A lot of finesse, fun, authenticity…which provoked thoughts, emotions that united adults and children! We realized how similar our feelings were, and it touched me to discover that, ” said Isabelle Bichard, dean of the high school.
“The voices of our eighth graders, brought to light by your caring reading, were striking, and moving with sadness, humor, wisdom, banality, hope, ” wrote Evelyne Estey, head of school, in an email to Valérie Zanetti and Laurent Natrella following the final show.
We leave Valérie Zanetti with the last word for our students, “Thank you for yesterday’s shared moment of emotion. From a distance, separated by thousands of kilometers, we were brought together for this hour by the words of your students. Laurent and I were struck by how much the individual and at times intimate work of each student connected with the words of the others to form a whole. That was the challenge of this residency, to be in this fragmented, near obliteration of our lives and to see how we can be brought together through the power of words.”
Or maybe we should leave it to the students with excerpts from their e-book:
3
Je m’appelle Simon et je suis né en Côte d’Ivoire dans un petit village à 50 km de Yamoussoukro. Aujourd’hui j’ai quinze ans, nous sommes en 2016 et j’habite toujours dans mon village natal. Dans ce village nous sommes une sorte de grande famille, nous habitons tous au même endroit et les enfants vont tous à la même école. Malgré notre forte connexion et notre joie de vivre quand nous sommes ensemble, je ne veux pas passer le reste de ma vie dans cet endroit perdu en pleine campagne. J’aimerais poursuivre mes rêves, partir loin, en Europe, en Amérique et en Asie. Voyager pour découvrir ces cultures incroyables comme celle du Japon. Admirer les monuments fascinants comme la Tour Eiffel ou encore l’Empire State Building. Aller regarder un match de foot professionnel en direct. Et enfin explorer les sept merveilles du monde. Mais j’ai l’impression d’être le seul à le vouloir comme si tout le monde autour de moi avait déjà perdu espoir. — Oscar
30
E-mail à ma grand-mère qui mange du chocolat tout le temps et qui est très drôle et gentille et amusante. Salut Mémé ! Tu me manquais trop alors j’ai acheté 2 kilos de chocolat et j’ai tout mangé. Il était très bon. –Micah
67
Rencontre
Deux objets, voyageant au niveau des étoiles, entrent en collision. Des années qu’ils attendaient cette rencontre, depuis que leurs trajectoires étaient définies. —Béatrice
163
Haïku
Ce confinement
Nous a chacun séparés
Malgré nos efforts —Noémie
All fragments should be read without moderation in the e-book.
Bonne lecture et bonnes rencontres !
About the Author :
Pascale Richard joined the Lycée as director of the Cultural Center in 2011, where she aims to bring the best of French and American cultures through conferences, concerts, films and various events. In the fall of 2012, she launched the school’s Artist-in-Residence program. Pascale was previously Vice President of External Affairs at the French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF). Her background is in journalism and writing with a focus on lifestyle and fashion. She is a graduate of Sciences-po and holds a master’s in journalism from New York University.