Québec en toutes lettres: Soirée découverte Accent basque

The acclaimed ‘Québec en toutes lettres festival’, which runs from 14 to 24 October, will dedicate an evening to Basque literature. The event, entitled ´Soirée découverte Accent basque´ will take place on 16 October at 7pm at the Musée de la Civilisation in Quebec City. There will be a round table on Basque literature with writers Itxaro Borda and Kirmen Uribe, and Irene Larraza, Director of the Etxepare Basque Institute. Writer and translator Mélissa Verrault will lead the panel.

In addition, the new edition of the ’Chekhov vs. Shakespeare’ project will be presented, featuring the Basque writer Aurelia Arkotxa and the Quebecois writer Jean Désy. For a year, they have exchanged correspondence and reflected on various topics such as acculturation, colonialism, cultural diversity and the Covid-19 pandemic. The result is a book published in Basque, Spanish, French and English, which Désy and Arkotxa themselves will present at the festival. Some passages from the book will also be read at the event, to the music of Trio Zukan.

To round off the festival, Itxaro Borda will take part in Poetry Night (23 October), an event not to be missed on the Quebec literary scene, where she will share the stage with a number of renowned and up-and-coming voices.