Join us for a wonderful evening to celebrate the launch of Marriette Navarro's Ultramarine. The author will be in conversation with her translator Cory Stockwell. They'll also be joined by Alice Banks, translator of Ali Zamir's Deranged As I Am.

This is a free event. Please pre-book your free ticket.

Books will be available to purchase on the night. There will be a book signing following the discussion!

About Ultramarine:

A poetic and mesmerizing novel, Ultramarine pushes us to the very edges of the narrative genre.

Narrated in the first person by a female captain, the only woman amongst the crew of a transatlantic ship, Ultramarine reflects on the fears, strengths, and insecurities of female authority. In a ghostly, almost dream-like, atmosphere, the captain agrees to break one of her rules, letting the crew take a dip in the middle of the ocean. Something changes during that unprecedented swim; an uncertain atmosphere takes over their journey and the ship. A simple business trip turned into a true adventure.

Mariette Navarro writes for theatre and works as a dramaturg. Her published plays include Alors Carcasse (Cheyne, 2011 – Robert Walser Prize 2012), Nous les vagues followed by Célébrations (Quartett, 2011), Prodiges® (Quartett, 2012), Les feux de Poitrine (Quartett, 2015), Les Chemins contraires (Cheyne, 2016), Zone à étendre (Quartett, 2018), Les Hérétiques (Quartett, 2018) and Les désordres imaginaires ou La destruction du pays par le jeune président à la mode (Quartett, 2020). ULTRAMARINE is her first novel.

Cory Stockwell is a Canadian writer and translator. His writing has appeared in The Common, Spartan, Cultural Politics, and elsewhere. Translations include books by Jean-Luc Nancy and Cynthia Fleury, and poems by Jean-Christophe Bailly, Juan de Dios García, and Simon Johannin. He lectures in the Department of Cultural Studies and Comparative Literature at the University of Minnesota.

About Deranged As I Am:

Set on the island of Anjouan, Comoros, Deranged As I Am follows the story of a humble docker. With his ramshackle cart and patched-up clothes, he spends his days trying to find enough work to feed himself.

This whirlwind of a novel takes place over just a few days, yet Zamir's poetic and energetic prose transports us to the docks, its noises, colours, and smells, and the dynamism of his language along with his powerful mix of genres, and the cleverness of his verbal invention perfectly serve this tragicomedy that makes us feel both joy and pity. Yet this lively and often darkly humorous prose does not draw away from the more serious themes of class, poverty, and exploitation that Zamir explores.

Ali Zamir is a writer, poet and researcher from Anjouan, Comoros. In 2016, he won the Senghor Prize and the Mandela Prize for Literature for his first full length novel, Anguille sous roche. They Call Me Deranged is his third novel and winner of the 2019 Prix Roman France Télévisions.

Alice Banks is a translator from French and Spanish into English, based in Madrid. When she is not translating, Alice also writes on French and Spanish literature for various publications and works as a publisher for Fum d'Estampa Press.