Marie Ndiaye on Tour in New England

Marie NDiaye is a French novelist, playwright, and screenwriter whose career spans nearly four decades. She published her first novel at age 18 and went on to receive the Prix Goncourt in 2009 for Three Strong Women, France’s most prestigious literary award. Since then, she has published books across multiple genres to ever-greater critical acclaim, notably with the Prix Femina for Rosie Carpe. Her play Papa doit manger entered the repertoire of the Comédie-Française, a rare distinction for a living writer. Her work is widely translated and studied internationally. Her previous novel in English, Vengeance Is Mine (2023), was named a Best Book of the Year by The New Yorker, TIME, and The Washington Post. 

Marie NDiaye’s book, The Witch, first released in French in 2024, is set in a small French town and follows Lucie, born into a lineage of women whose supernatural gifts are passed from mother to daughter. Long forced into silence by fear and male authority, Lucie defies her controlling husband and initiates her twin daughters into their inheritance, setting in motion a transformation that is both ecstatic and terrifying. Dreamlike yet deeply psychological, the novel explores the fragile bonds between mothers and daughters, the cost of power and of repressing it, and the moment when children become freer and more dangerous than their parents. With mounting tension and emotional precision, NDiaye captures the unsettling truth that love, freedom, and fear often grow from the same roots.

Program

• Wednesday, April 22, 2026, at 5:30PM
  A Reading and Conversation with Marie NDiaye
  

Boston University – Center for the Study of Europe
(121 Bay State Road, Boston, MA)

This event is open to the public and will be followed by a Q&A. Register here.

• Saturday, April 25, 2026, at 5:00PM
  Marie NDiaye in Conversation: Mothers, Daughters, and the Supernatural

French Library, in partnership with Villa Albertine Boston
(53 Malborough Street, Boston MA)

Join award-winning French novelist Marie NDiaye for a conversation on the topic of Mothers, Daughters, and the Supernatural, celebrating the launch of the new English translation of her book, The Witch.

This event is open to the public and will be followed by a Q&A and a book signing. Register here.

Other Appearances

Monday, April 20, 2026 – Tuesday, April 21, 2026
Conferences and workshops with students at Dartmouth College (private event)

Thursday, April 23, 2026
Conference with students at La Maison Française, Wellesley College (private event)