André Aciman
Acclaimed Novelist and Essayist André Aciman Discusses His New Book, “Homo Irrealis”
Join us for a virtual evening with acclaimed novelist and essayist André Aciman (Call Me By Your Name) as he talks about his newly published book of essays, Homo Irrealis.
Irrealis moods are the set of verbal moods that indicate that something is not actually the case or a certain situation or action is not known to have happened . . .
André Aciman returns to the essay form in Homo Irrealis to explore what the present tense means to artists who cannot grasp the here and now. Irrealis is not about the present, or the past, or the future, but about what might have been but never was–but could in theory still happen. From meditations on subway poetry and the temporal resonances of an empty Italian street, to considerations of the lives and work of Sigmund Freud, Constantine Cavafy, W. G. Sebald, John Sloan, Éric Rohmer, Marcel Proust, and Fernando Pessoa, and portraits of cities such as Alexandria and St. Petersburg, Homo Irrealis is a deep reflection of the imagination’s power to shape our memories under time’s seemingly intractable hold.
André Aciman is the New York Times bestselling author of Call Me By Your Name, Out of Egypt, Eight White Nights, False Papers, Alibis, Harvard Square, Enigma Variations, and Find Me. He’s the editor of The Proust Project and teaches comparative literature at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. He lives with his wife in Manhattan.
Upcoming Events
The Collective Edge: Unlocking the Secret Power of Groups
Colin M. Fisher, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Organisations and Innovation at University College London's School of Management
Amy C. Edmondson, Ph.D.
Novartis Professor of Leadership and Management at the Harvard Business School
ON ZOOM
Robin Hood Math: Take Control of the Algorithms That Run Your Life
Noah Giansiracusa, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Mathematics at Bentley University
Karen Saxe, Ph.D.
Senior Vice President, Government Relations, American Mathematical Society
ON ZOOM
Validation: Transform Your Relationships, Increase Your Influence, and Change Your Life
Caroline Fleck, Ph.D.
Licensed Psychologist, Author, and Corporate Consultant
Kelly Leonard
Vice President, Creative Strategy, Innovation, and Business Development at The Second City
ON ZOOM