Café Littéraire with Guy Alexandre Sounda- Nov 7 at Alliance Française SF

On November 7, the Alliance Française of San Francisco will host Guy Alexandre Sounda, a French author of Congolese origin, for a special literary café centered around his concept: « Mes mots ont la parole »
In this gathering, words leave the page to become breath, memory, and dialogue. The morning will focus on his exploration of “inner exile”, the central theme of his literary and theatrical trilogy, and will feature a musical reading of excerpts from « Les soliloques de l’ombre », the first volume of the cycle, a work centered on the question of identity fracture.
Through Sounda’s journey and texts, this literary café delves into the experience of inner exile, those invisible territories where intimate and collective ruptures unfold.
Words here are embodied in the author's voice, harmonized with music, and brought into conversation with the audience. They circulate, resonate, and become shared memory.

PROJECT CONTEXT

« Mes mots ont la parole » was born of a single desire: to offer words a space where they are not merely read or heard, but where they come alive — embodied, resonant, bearers of memory and dialogue.
This is more than a literary café. It’s an expanded concept, imagined as an open stage for texts, voices, and imaginations. Here, words don’t stay frozen on the page — they move, collide, rub against silence and music, and are carried by emotion and orality.
« Mes mots ont la parole » is not just a literary encounter, it’s a shared experience of transmission and resonance. Each session becomes a space where literature meets memory, music, and theatre — where invisible voices find an audience.
To give words the floor is to acknowledge that behind every text lies a story, a body, and a suspended truth.

📝 EVENT OUTLINE

Estimated duration: 2 hours

1. Welcome and Ambience

• Musical atmosphere as the audience arrives
• Introduction to the concept « Mes mots ont la parole »
• Brief presentation of author Guy Alexandre Sounda
  

2. Poetic Prelude

• A short reading by the author as invocation
• Introduction of the theme: inner exile, as the guiding thread
  

3. Author Presentation

• Overview of the author’s literary and theatrical journey
• Francophone roots and literary influences
• Background on the project « Les soliloques de l’ombre »
  (with reference to Lilyan Kesteloot, Cheikh-Anta-Diop University, Paris, 2017)
  

4. Musical Reading

• A performed reading of excerpts from « Les soliloques de l’ombre »
• Accompanied by live or recorded music
• Alternating narrative voice and silence to let the text breathe
  

5. Audience Conversation

• Open discussion: reactions, questions, emotions
• Highlighting the idea that “the audience's words speak too”
• Interactive exchange on memory, identity, and inner exile
  

6. Collective Oral Creation

• Audience invited to write a sentence or short text in response to the reading
• A few volunteers read aloud, creating a mini chorus of voices
  

7. Poetic Closing

• Final words by Guy Alexandre Sounda
• Optional book signing session
• Informal time to connect over a cup of coffee/ tea with French bakeries.
• Café Notebook: each participant leaves a word, a trace

GUY ALEXANDRE SOUNDA

“I define myself as a boundary-crosser who strives to explore the fractures of time, the silences of History, and the wounds of the human soul with passion and lucidity.”

BIOGRAPHY

Born in Brazzaville, Guy Alexandre Sounda lives in Paris, where he works as a trainer and instructional designer.
His literary style, which he calls “Congolese chitchat”, is a profusion of words embroidered on the skin, where sensitivity and shadow interweave. A fusion of baroque and absurd, his writing brings to life singular characters and vibrant narratives where the personal and the universal meet with simplicity.

Deeply rooted in Kongo oral tradition, his voice draws on songs, proverbs, and parables to craft an incantatory, rhythmic language.
It reflects a love for speculative narration, enabling him to explore, with bare hands, the surreal landscapes between politics and poetry. His work embraces an existential struggle: the search for meaning and the affirmation of a complex humanity.

Guy Alexandre Sounda received the Ethiophile Prize, awarded by writer Daniel Maximin at Le Procope, Paris, in October 2027.