Karim Kattan on his book ‘Septentrionale’
Thursday 29 Oct 2026 from 6:30pm to 8pm
Free on booking
Talk in french
Lafayette Anticipations welcomes the writer Karim Kattan to mark the publication of his new novel, Septentrionale, published by Elyzad. A discussion centred on a story in which two strangers travel across a country in the throes of collapse.
At dusk, as everyone flees a country in the throes of an apocalypse, Joseph hitchhikes at the southern border. Maryam stops. Together, for the space of a single night, they race northwards, crossing a land that is falling apart before their very eyes. From deep forests to ruined villages, a series of mysterious encounters – a dolphin, an old man, perhaps an angel… – rekindle their wounds and their loves, and confront them with the violence that dwells within them. And high above, brighter than all the rest, the North Star, the Septentrionale, lights their way.
In sublime prose, playing with styles and expectations, Karim Kattan has crafted a novel of intense resonance, in which the ancient and the contemporary, myth and wonder, are interwoven.
The evening’s programme is set to music by Lola Malique.
The reading is followed by a discussion moderated by Faïza Zerouala.
He holds a PhD in comparative literature and writes in French and English.
His collection of short stories Preliminaries for a Future Orchard (Elyzad, 2017) was a finalist for the Boccaccio Prize. The Palace of the Two Hills (Elyzad, 2021), his first novel, was awarded the Francophonie’s Five Continents Prize. L’Éden à l’aube (novel, Elyzad 2024) has been honoured with numerous literary awards, including the Valéry-Larbaud Prize, the International Rotary-Pen Club Prize, the Hors Concours Prize and the Grand Prix du roman métis de la Réunion.
In 2016, Lola Malique was awarded a Master’s degree in classical cello from the Haute École de Musique de Lausanne, where she studied under François Salque, having previously obtained a Diplôme National Supérieur Professionnel du Musicien from the Pôle Supérieur de Seine-Saint-Denis, where she studied under Florian Lauridon. Alongside her instrumental training, she studied singing (jazz and French chanson) with Laura Littardi at the Cité des Arts in Paris.
She began her international solo career in Brazil in 2017, followed by Morocco in 2018, where she was artist-in-residence at the Institut Français du Maroc.
She accompanied the writer Abdellatif Laâbi (winner of the 2009 Prix Goncourt for Poetry) on the cello during the 2017 Nuit de la Poésie at the Arab World Institute, at the 2018 Printemps du Livre in Tangier, and at the Yves Saint-Laurent Museum in Marrakesh in 2019.
She has been invited to perform with the Itinéraire ensemble, l’Instant Donné, the Paris Cello Ensemble, Soundinitiative, the Bloom Project and Eté Large (Germany).
As a founding member of the Paris-based ensemble 20° dans le noir, she develops and promotes a new repertoire for cello and chamber music in collaboration with contemporary composers.
In 2017, she co-wrote and performed the music for Yoann Bourgeois’s production, *La Mécanique de l’Histoire*, at the Panthéon as part of the Théâtre de la Ville programme.
She also composed the music for the productions *Au fond, la Chose* with the actress Cécile Martin, *Ce que j’ai dans le ventre* with the dancer Maud Miroux, and works closely with the singer Gatica. In 2020, she wrote the music for the productions *Alice de l’autre côté du miroir* by the Alto company and *Insinuation* by the Trafic de Style dance company.
In 2018, she joined the lovemusic collective, a contemporary music ensemble based in Strasbourg that performs in various projects around the world (Germany, Portugal, Switzerland, England).
In May 2019, Lola Malique released her debut album *Le Meilleur Lit* at the Basilica of Saint-Denis as part of the Métis Festival, in partnership with the Centre des Monuments Nationaux. She also gave solo concerts at the Ars Musica festival (Belgium), Détours de Babel (Grenoble), Musica (Strasbourg) and Pantomines (Savoie)…
In 2025, she formed the ‘Lola Malique Trio’ with Yacouba Koné on guitar and Frédéric Chiffoleau on double bass, blending eclectic musical styles through her original compositions for this string trio.
She also composed the music for the dance piece *mɛʁ* by dancer Maud Miroux, for which she received the 2025 Laurier Award for Sound and Musical Composition.
She has accompanied the writers Rim Battal, Capitaine Alexandre, Issa Makhlouf, Paloma Hermina Hidalgo and Jean d’Amérique (at the Théâtre de la Ville, Maison de la Poésie, Sources poétiques, the Marathon des mots in Toulouse, and elsewhere). And, more recently, she accompanied the Quebec writer Hélène Dorion on the occasion of the publication of the poetry collection *Mes forets*, which is on the 2024 A-level syllabus, as well as the author Jean-Baptiste Andrea (winner of the 2023 Prix Goncourt) at the 2024 Book Festival.