Across the Waters: Sylvie Kandé and Alexander Dickow on The Neverending Quest for the Other Shore

In English (with some French)

Event begins at 1pm PT / 2pm MT / 3pm CT / 4pm ET

Join us for a dynamic conversation between French-Senegalese poet and historian Sylvie Kandé and Dr. Alexander Dickow, professor of French literature at Virginia Tech and translator of Kandé’s celebrated work, The Neverending Quest for the Other Shore. An Epic in Three Cantos (Wesleyan University Press, 2022).

Together, Kandé and Dickow will explore her poetry, her place in the history of French and Francophone literature, and the nuances of translating her work into English. Their discussion will dive into topics central to Kandé’s writing: the revitalization of epic poetry, echoes of the Odyssey, modern and historical migrations, and the richness of the underwater imagination.

Born in Paris to a French mother and a Senegalese father, Sylvie Kandé is the author of three collections of poetry published by Gallimard. Trained as both a literary critic and a historian, she is also known for her work on the complex conversations that have taken place between Africa and Europe and Africa and its Diasporas. Her areas of specialization include métissage/hybridity and post-racial utopias. Sylvie Kandé lives and works in New York City and teaches at SUNY Old Westbury.

Alexander Dickow writes fiction, poetry, and literary scholarship in French and English. He lives in Blacksburg, Virginia where he is professor of French at Virginia Tech. He grew up in Moscow, Idaho. Books include Le Premier Souper (La Volte, 2021) and The Distance, and You In It (BlazeVOX Books, 2025). He is also a translator, and has published works by Sylvie Kandé, Alain Damasio, Gustave Roud, Max Jacob, and Henri Droguet in this capacity.

Free for all AF, AATF and TAPIF members. (For AATF members: the AATF office will send certificates of attendance to members who request the certificate and provide a screenshot. Please email: staff@frenchteachers.org.)