Victor Hugo celebrated at weekend of events
DELEGATES from as far afield as the USA were in Guernsey at the weekend for this year’s festival hosted by the Victor Hugo in Guernsey Society.
After being taken on tours of the island and Town on Friday, on Saturday they heard talks from a variety of speakers, which this year focused on Hugo and Notre Dame.
Among the speakers at the Dorey Room was the honorary president of the society, Gerard Pouchain, who had brought with him some of his collection of caricatures of the French author and spoke about these and how they had started off with Notre Dame as a theme.
It was the first time Mr Pouchain had delivered a talk entirely in English, having been asked to do so by event organisers Roy Bisson and society chairwoman Dinah Bott.
He said that Hugo enjoyed caricatures of himself, even if they were mocking, and being a master of self-promotion, he saw all publicity as good publicity.
He was such a recognisable figure and an easily-understood symbol on lots of levels.
Mrs Bott herself took part in the event, too, providing a live English translation of a French language talk by Chantal Briere on how to write a novel about a cathedral.
Among visitors from the United States was Nicola Minott-Ahl, who lives in upstate New York.
She had written a book about the architectural novel and gave a talk on gothic architecture, narrative and mass media in Hugo’s Notre Dame de Paris.
It was her exploration of architecture in novels that had led her to Notre Dame.
‘That was where I came up with the idea of buildings as characters,’ she said.
While she said she was no expert on Hugo, she enjoyed his books.
He and other 19th Century novelists knew how to grip a reader, but he knew that there was another audience who wanted books to be a bit deeper, so he was writing on multiple levels at the same time.
Last year’s event was held via Zoom and this was the first time since the pandemic that it had taken place in person.
But for those who were unable to attend, or for anyone who was interested in future, the talks were streamed on YouTube and will remain available on the society’s channel.
The chance to visit the author’s Guernsey home was provided yesterday, with those delegates interested taken around Hauteville House after which they could go for lunch together.
