The French Club and Student Activities have teamed up to present the French Poetry Reading Competition as part of the annual French Week celebration.
This event will be held in the Olson Auditorium in AB IV on Thursday, Nov. 5. The competition is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. and is expected to last 45 minutes.
Dr. Shirin Edwin, founder of the French Club and assistant professor of French, says that 25-30 students have signed up to present a poem and entries are still being submitted.
The participants are mostly students enrolled in French classes, but others are welcome to participate or attend. The dress code is casual.
Participants will read a poem and be judged on their pronunciation and annunciation. The judges are Dr Rafael Saumell-Munoz, Dr. Alejandro Latinez and Ms. Christine Payne. Dictionaries and French CDs will be given out as prizes.
“We like to give out prizes that will be useful to the students,” said Edwin.
French Week began on Wednesday with a showing of the French film “Persepolis.”
Thursday’s event is the poetry reading, and the film “Le Papillion” will be shown on Friday in the Olson Auditorium at 5 p.m.
Activities will continue next week with a showing of “Joyeux Noel” on Monday at 5 p.m. in the Olson Auditorium. A French Cuisine Tasting Event will be held at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 10 at the CJava Barista in the Criminal Justice Center. Then, French Week will wrap up on Wednesday with a showing of “Les Parapluies de Cherbourg” at 5 p.m. in Olson Auditorium.
French Week began in 2005 with the first poetry reading and the event has grown significantly since then.
“We organize this event to promote and encourage French culture on campus. We hope to continue this tradition in the coming years,” said Edwin.
For more information on French Week, contact the Department of Foreign Languages at (936)-294-1441.