Oulipo in New York

Although this may be April Fool's Day, this is no joke. At last, The New School, Yale, and Columbia join forces to create an unholy union of, um, Oulipo literary goodness:

The Oulipo, Ouvroir de Littérature Potentielle, is a collective of writers and mathematicians founded in 1960 by François Le Lionnais and Raymond Queneau. Since its creation, the Oulipo group explores alternative ways of writing fiction and poetry, by using patterns and constraints often inspired from mathematical models, but always in a playful spirit. Its members include Marcel Bénabou, Anne Garréta, Hervé Le Tellier, Ian Monk, Jacques Roubaud, and American author Harry Mathews, all of whom will be in New York for three days of readings, lectures, writing workshops and book signings.

Some events include:

April 1st, 7-8:30pm

Oulipo reading followed by book signings, in English

The New School, Tishman Auditorium, 66 W 12th Street, NYC - More Info

April 2nd, 12-2pm

Oulip, Nouveaux Sentiers, Nouveaux Chantiers, a roundtable discussion in French

Maison Française of Columbia University, Broadway at West 116th Street, NYC - More info

Cosponsored by the Poet's House, the French Embassy, Columbia University, Yale University, and the New School Writing Program. Oulipo in New York is being held from April 1-4, 2009 at several venues throughout New York City. All events are free and open to the public. For more information on this and other events, please visit www.frenchculture.org.