"Paper Gardens: A Stroll Through French Literature," a bilingual event set for tonight at New Dominion Bookshop, Charlottesville, Va., "will whisk visitors away from workweek stressors into a world of waterlilies, peonies, roses and serenity," Pulse reported, noting that the event is co-sponsored by Dominion, the University of Virginia Press--which published Paper Gardens: A Stroll Through French Literature by Evelyne Bloch-Dano--and Alliance Française Charlottesville.
Readings from the new work will be offered in French and English. There will also be time to sample French refreshments, mingle and converse in both languages, and watch a slideshow matching photographs and paintings of actual gardens to the passages being read aloud about them.
"It'll be good for people who like gardens, who like literary history, who like French writing. And people who like cheese," said Julia McCrea Kudravetz, New Dominion's general manager.
Pulse noted that "Kudravetz and her team envision New Dominion as a gathering place for diverse readers with different tastes and talents. The retail side is important, but so is the experiential aspect that reminds people how important books and reading are to both higher aspirations and everyday living."
"I see the bookshop as trying to reach out to as many communities as possible and bring people together," she said. "It's about our community, and serving our community.... It's a different model--to be a community literary space."