The Queen's speech at the launch of the Prix de L’Entente Littéraire at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France
Published
Brigitte Macron and I share a deep love of literature and a passion to promote literacy: through our respective work, we have seen first-hand the life-changing power of books to bring us joy, comfort, companionship, laughter and tears.
Mesdames et Messieurs, j'espère que vous me pardonnerez mon français un peu rouillé, mais cela fait maintenant soixante ans que j'étais étudiante à l'Institut Britannique de Paris...
C'est un immense plaisir d'être ici aujourd'hui avec Mme Brigitte Macron, dans cette merveilleuse bibliothèque, afin de lancer le Prix de L’Entente Littéraire. J'espère sincèrement que ce prix va prouver que Victor Hugo était quelque peu injuste à notre égard lorsqu'il disait "L'Angleterre a deux livres". Même s’il est vrai que nous apprécions véritablement la Bible et Shakespeare – je vous promets que nous en avons bien plus que deux – comme ce fantastique rassemblement d’auteurs estimés le démontre aujourd’hui… Et, tout comme en France, nos écrivains créent chaque année de nouveaux chefs-d'œuvre que ce prix a pou intention de célébrer.
Brigitte Macron and I share a deep love ofliterature and a passion to promote literacy: through our respective work, we have seen first-hand the life-changing power of books to bring us joy, comfort, companionship, laughter and tears, opening our eyes to others’ experiences and reminding us that we are not alone. To quote Victor Hugo once again, "Apprendre à lire, c'est allumer du feu ;toute syllabe épelée étincelle”, “To learn to read is to light a fire; every syllable that is spelled out is a spark.”
Mesdames et Messieurs, vous avez la capacité d'allumer des feux avec vos mots et j'ai déjà hâte de lire les livres des lauréats l'année prochaine. Je tiens enfin à vousremercier de votre soutien au Prix de L’Entente Littéraire et je souhaite plein succès à tous les participants !
Merci beaucuop, thank you very much.
English translation:
Ladies and gentlemen, I hope that you will forgive my slightly rusty French, but it is now 60 years since I was a student at the Institut Britannique in Paris.
It is a huge pleasure to be here with Mme Brigitte Macron today, in this wonderful library, to launch the Prix de L’Entente Littéraire.
I very much hope that this Prize will go a long way to proving that Victor Hugo was unfair to us when he said, “L’Angleterre a deux livres”, “England has two books” – as dearly as we value the Bible and Shakespeare, I promise that we have many more than two, as the esteemed authors gathered here demonstrate… And, just as in France, our writers every year create new masterpieces which this Prize aims to celebrate.
Brigitte Macron and I share a deep love of literature and a passion to promote literacy: through our respective work, we have seen first-hand the life-changing power of books to bring us joy, comfort, companionship, laughter and tears, opening our eyes to others’ experiences and reminding us that we are not alone. To quote Victor Hugo once again, "Apprendre à lire, c'est allumer du feu ; toute syllabeépelée étincelle, “To learn to read is to light a fire; every syllable that is spelled out is a spark.”
Ladies and gentlemen, you have the ability tolight fires with your words and I greatly look forward to reading the winners’ books next year. Thank you for your support for the Prix de L’Entente Littéraire and may I wish all the entrants: bonne chance!
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