08 mars 2017

David Atkinson's Skype Interview. By Noah.

We have once again Skype interviewed a great author! This time, it was the poet David Atkinson, an inspiring Irish author. Through a short Skype interview, he has presented himself, his life, his art and his philosophy. Accompanied by a journalist from the “Journal Du Dimanche”, and a photographer, a lucky half of our class have experienced this delightful moment.
A few questions we asked him:
What is poetry to you?
- A poem to me is a creation, art, “the best words in the best order”.
What is a great poem?
- A great poem is a poe where you can understand what the poet feels.
Is it sometimes hard to find inspiration?
- I usually write when I have an idea. The problem is, it happens that I think about something, and then forget it, so I try to always write down my ideas. I even occasionally wake up at night, because I have an idea and go and write in down.”


In his youth poetry was not his cup of tea. But years passed by, and he started writing, more and more. He won competitions and he is, even today still, in a writer’s group, where they help and advise each other. He is not a full time poet, he also works part time in a bank. And mostly writes and studies at home. To him poetry is also music, it has a beat, a rhythm, a tone. It is a way for him to express, through his writing, what he feels and he mostly writes about his life.
It was a short but a very fulfilling Skype interview, since it was the first time we interviewed a poet!! Thanks to him and to Ms. Fasquel for making such interesting projects which allow us to contact fascinating artists possible.
By Noah, seconde 5.




06 mars 2017

Cathi Unsworth's Skype Interview with my students. By Lila.

Curled light blonde hair with a swirl of black held with red and green barrettes… an amazing author answered our questions, while France 3’s TV crew filmed our every move. Another great Skype interview, this time with the charismatic Cathi Unsworth.
"How do you come up with the titles of your novels?"
“Most of them come from songs”, she told us.
"What message do you try to convey through your stories?"
She speaks up about what the bullies make others go through, she wants to spread tolerance.
The English writer and journalist who started out studying fashion, then music, encouraged us to write more, because it can be a great way to express ourselves and get things out of our system. She told us about her literary tastes, about her inspirations and about her hobbies. And while students continued inquiring about her, a cameraman asked others about their thoughts about Mrs. Fasquel's classes. Having France 2 and 3 around was obviously exciting and made us even more proud to be Mrs. Fasquel's students. Yet another enlightening class and a big thank you to Cathi for having shared her knowledge and creativity with us!
By Lila, 10th grader.


Cathi's presentation slides:

05 mars 2017

Cyane's visit. By Kostia

Sometimes, you have great opportunities which are offered to you and you really don't want to let those pass. I believe that our class with the French author Cyane was one of those great moments you never forget in your life. He is a great writer and is a passionate man and he believes in what he does and that is something great to see when you're a 15-year-old teenager. At first,I thought that the project was simply translating a book but once he explained to us what the purpose of this project really was, I was shocked. I totaly embraced the original idea of this project and it felt good to be able to make a possible change for future lives, so for that thank you Cyane for what you did,the time you spent with us and for your enthusiasm!
Kostia, 2nde SIA. Lycée International Nelson Mandela.



04 mars 2017

Skype Interview of David ARENSTAM, American author. By Louise.

On February 28, our class had a Skype interview with novel author David Arenstam. This American writer started by introducing himself to us. David Arenstam is a Massachusetts-born author, he started off his professional life by creating his own data processing company, but soon abandoned that job for something he had dreamed of for years: teaching English literature and writing. This quick presentation was followed by getting to know more about his book than we knew from the extract we had read. Homecoming is a novel that tackles the complicated subject of the Vietnam War, and from what we read, Mr Arenstam handled it very well. The idea came to him at an event celebrating a local Vietnam War hero. This novel started off as a simple short story, but after receiving advice from his instructor and mentor, he decided to turn it into a full-fledged novel. After summing up the book and answering the questions some students asked, David Arenstam decided to read another excerpt of the book to us. The book changes points of view, and, in that chapter, we were following the backstory of one of the two narrators. The detailed way of writing had us all captivated! The experience was very interesting and I am looking forward to working with M. Arenstam.
By Louise (10th grade OIB student).