Monique Wittig: Twenty Years Later / Vingt ans après

On Friday 17 and Saturday 18 March, the Department of French will mark the twentieth anniversary of the passing of the lesbian activist, writer and philosopher Monique Wittig (1935-2003), as well as the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of her Corps lesbien, with a two-part international conference: “Monique Wittig : Twenty Years Later / Monique Wittig : Vingt ans après.”

Download the conference program here. If you intend to attend in person, you can register here (it's optional, but it will help us prepare for the event.) And if you'd like to attend virtually, sign up to receive a Zoom link here.

Cosponsored by the Department of French at the University of California – Berkeley and the Institut des Études Genre at the Université de Genève, this conference will encourage new directions in scholarship on Wittig and stimulate transatlantic and international exchange about her work. The Geneva leg of the conference will take place on 27–28 June 2023.

It is fitting that Berkeley will host the first part of this event: Wittig first came to the U.S. with her partner Sande Zeig on Leo Bersani’s invitation to take up a position as visiting professor.

All events (except the film screenings) are free and open to the public and will be simulcast on Zoom. Questions about the Berkeley side of the conference? Write to wmb@berkeley.edu.

Organizing committee: Ty Blakeney, William M. Burton, Ilana Eloit, Mary Mussman, Carolina Topini and Agnès Vannouvong.

Image: From left to right: Monique Wittig, Sande Zeig, Christine L. and Martine Laroche in Berkeley in 1979. Photo by Martine Laroche. Used with permission.