Marc Levy, author of some 20 works, translated into 49 languages and selling more than 40 million copies worldwide, has just concluded a week-long writing residency with our eighth-grade students in collaboration their French teachers.
The theme for his residency is “The Power of Imagination,” and in it, he invited students to tap theirs and ask, What is my imagination good for? What can I do with it?
“Your words are going to move the world,” said Marc Levy during his introductory assembly, a master class, to an audience of 100 4èmes. “If you develop your thoughts, you are going to change the world.”
Despite so much technology, video and social media stimuli surrounding young people today, Levy captivated our students and helped them grasp the power within them when they pause, daydream and imagine.
Levy cites two sources of inspiration. At the age of 8, he read De la Terre à la Lune, the 19th century novel by Jules Verne. The idea that a person could go to the moon seemed ludicrous to readers at the time, and the book was ridiculed, he told the students. One night in July, 1969, Lévy watched on TV as Neil Armstrong took his first steps on the moon. Verne’s dream, because he had dared to write about it, became an inspiration to explorers, and then a reality.
What moved him most about the moon landing? Not the footsteps of the astronauts, but the team of scientists in bowties and short-sleeved shirts behind their computers in Houston who guided the Apollo 11 mission. They used the powerful tools and resources at their disposal with one goal: to turn an impossible dream into reality. Today, how does one stop wars, save the planet, figure out hunger? Imagination and then, the words to bring it to life for others.
Levy also insisted on work as a prerequisite – none of this “just happens”. Levy’s example? Mozart, as talented as he was, had to work very hard to create his works of genius, because genius on its own does not suffice. I was reminded of Gad Elmaleh, French comedian, saying exactly the same thing to our students in a 2018 master class on his stand-up comedy: it doesn’t just happen. Drafting, redrafting and practicing, going as far as one can, pushing one’s limits, is what gives birth to a great piece of work, one which also engenders pride.
Levy asked the students to define imagination: Baya explained in one breath: “It is creating something that does not exist by the simple power of one’s mind.” Every student in the auditorium applauded–a perfect example of the power of words, of the emotion evoked by a sentence. Another student continued: “Imagination is art, dreams and the future”. And another, “Imagination is what I create inside my head before it happens.”
Students, do you realize the power that’s in you to think and to create? Like Jules Verne’s, your imagination is your own treasure; it has no boundaries. The world and beyond can be yours, if you use it. Think and dream for a moment. Dream, imagine, create, and then put it into words.
This extraordinary residency helped the students put this advice to work in their own texts. Over the course of a week, their imagination and hard work gave birth to extraordinary short novels. The residency ended in our auditorium on Friday as students read their works to a rapt audience, gripped and transported by their words. We look forward to sharing the work of this residency with you as we publish our students’ writings. Congratulations, Quatrièmes, on your accomplishments. They should make you proud.
Our deepest gratitude to Marc Levy, along with our French teachers and Cultural Center, for having guided and accompanied our students with patience and care in the discovery of their power to change the world, through thought and words. “Respect,” Levy said, addressing our young writers, and thus concluded an extraordinary week.
About the Author :
Evelyne Estey is the Head of School at the Lycée Francais de New York. Evelyne brings to the Lycée a deep belief in the school’s mission of educating children to become Citizens of Culture and Courage. She served as Deputy Head and Chief Financial and Operating Officer of the Lycée from 2012 to 2017. In this position, she played an essential leadership role in growing the Lycée’s financial aid offering and in the planning and building of the York Wing, which, since its opening, has supported a transformation of teaching and learning at the school. From 1995 to 2012, she was an active member of the Lycée community as a parent and as a Trustee. Evelyne has consulted with educational institutions on financial management and governance, and currently advises with the Academy of International School Heads. In addition to her experience in education, Evelyne led a 25-year career in investment banking and asset management in New York City. She has also served as Trustee of Trinity School in Manhattan. Evelyne is a graduate of the École des Hautes Études Commerciales (HEC Paris). She is the proud mother of three sons, all bilingual and alumni of the Lycée.