By Holland Park Press
Wednesday 30 January at 7.30 pm
Tickets at the door: £5
Timothy Adès presents ‘How to be a Grandfather’, by Victor Hugo
Victor Hugo is best known to English-speakers by the screen and musical versions of just two great novels, Les Misérables and Notre-Dame de Paris.
Yet he created a torrent of wonderful poetry, plays, novels and political speeches. He is France’s greatest poet and surely greatest writer, commemorated by a major street or square in hundreds of towns and villages.
More than that, he was a great human being, he was and still is a worldwide symbol of liberty. Twice a Deputy and twice a Senator, he never stood for President of France, but two million people went to his funeral.
How to be a Grandfather
How to be a Grandfather is Victor Hugo’s last book of poetry.
Exiled in Guernsey, he describes beautifully how the young awaken to life and nature. In Paris, the zoo sets him musing.
Songs and stories, poems on childhood and old age, and political freedom…
For most of the poems there is no other English version.
Timothy Adès
Timothy Adès, who translates with rhyme and metre, also provides an introduction and notes, and includes some of Hugo’s other poems. The publisher is Hearing Eye.
Timothy has had two other poetry books published, both translations from the French of Jean Cassou: 33 Sonnets of the Resistance (Arc) and The Madness of Amadis (Agenda). He also translates from Spanish, German and (rarely) Greek, and has won various awards.
To reserve your place email bernadette@hollandparkpress.co.uk
Thank you to the the Culture Trip for advertising this event with a lovely preview together with other literary gems from around the world.