Boris Vian was born on March 10, 1920. Despite the brevity of his career – he died at 39 – he distinguished himself as a talented novelist, poet, songwriter, jazz trumpet player, journalist and translator. His best-known novel, Froth on the Daydream, is deemed as a masterpiece of world literature and has been translated into over forty languages.

This conference aims at shedding a new light on Vian’s personality by avoiding hackneyed biographical retrospectives and focusing on the reception and internationalization of his work, as well as the place he occupies in today’s cultural landscape.

The interventions will be divided into five sub-categories: Musicality, Sullivan and America, Categorizations, Themes, Adaptations. The Boris Vian exhibition at the University Library will be inaugurated on March 12, and the colloquium will be brought to a close with a jazz concert on March 14.

For more information, please visit https://hcmc.uvic.ca/vian/index.php