Stories Shaped by Villa Albertine 

When July comes, Léa Hirschfeld takes her brother to Zeno, a summer camp like no other, in Vermont. There, Anton, an unconventional young man, blends into a group where differences related to disabilities have been erased to make way for more direct and equal relationships.

The stays at Zeno, in the heart of magnificent nature, promise unforgettable summers and formative experiences for Anton and Léa, centered around shared artistic projects. As her brother gains more independence, Léa undergoes an inner transformation: is there really a world she could share with him? A world where the word “brother,” which had long been associated with absence and pain, would finally make sense?

A sensitive and intimate narrative about disability, Zeno is also the story of a little sister whose life has been deeply impacted by her brother’s.

2023 Villa Albertine resident Léa Hirschfeld is the creator of Décalés, a podcast featuring intimate discussions that explore mental, physical, and psychological disabilities through the lens of family relationships and cultural influences. <em>Zeno</em> is her first book.

Science-fiction writer Alain Damasio was irresistibly drawn to Silicon Valley, at the heart of the new technologies that shape our lives. In Vallée du silicium, he observes and takes it in, being jostled by a reality he didn’t anticipate. Readers follow his deep reflections on how technology shapes us; how it penetrates and controls our bodies;  how it supplants and reinvents our intelligence; and how it deforms and reconstructs our relationship to the world, to others, and to ourselves. From the headquarters of Apple, “the Mecca of the Mac,” to San Francisco’s Tenderloin district, Alain Damasio examines the metaverse, the generalization of AI, and the burgeoning empire of autonomous cars, to draw out a political reading of the times and let us understand the new era that await us.

Alain Damasio is the author of numerous science fiction novels and short stories, including La Horde du Contrevent (La Volte, 2004, Grand prix de l’Imaginaire 2006), which has sold 500,000 copies, and Les Furtifs (La Volte, 2019, Prix du Meilleur livre Lire and Grand Prix de l’Imaginaire).

During her fall 2023 residency in Yellowstone National Park in California, Alice Chemama explored the vast landscapes of Yellowstone National Park to study the challenges of coexistence between humans and grizzlies.

From this experience, she created a graphic novel, Grizzly Jam, set to be published in 2025 by Dargaud.

Based on dozens of testimonies from the inhabitants of “Bear Country” (hikers, caretakers, hunters, and trackers), Grizzly Jam portrays a complex coexistence marked by fascination, caution, and adaptation.

During her December 2021 – February 2022 Villa Albertine residency in San Francisco, Hélène Giannecchini explored California’s queer history through unpublished photographic archives.

This work inspired Un désir démesuré d’amitié, a novel that examines friendship not only as an emotional bond but as a political and ethical principle that helps deconstruct social relationships and highlight marginalized stories.

It was published in August 2024 by Éditions du Seuil.

At the end of his 2024 residency in Los Angeles, author, podcaster, and filmmaker Jamal Ouazzani published his first essay, Amour, and created the third season of JINS, a leading podcast on the sexualities, gender identities, and spiritualities of Arab and/or Muslim people.

Focused on the representation of Arab and Muslim bodies and identities in American cinema, this English-language series is the result of research and interviews conducted during his Villa Albertine residency. Using a feminist, intersectional, and inclusive approach, Jamal Ouazzani examines the stereotypes in cinema.

At the conclusion of his residency, the Arab World Institute additionally hosted a launch event for his essay Amour, in partnership with Villa Albertine. The institution will also host an audio exhibition of the JINS podcast.

Amour was published by Editions Leduc in 2024.