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Meet Eric Burnand, author of the graphic novel “Berne, nid d’espions”

Fri 1 March
Books & Ideas
Talks
Mois de la Francophonie 2024

In his latest best-selling historical graphic novel, Berne, nid d’espions, Swiss ex-journalist Éric Burnand sheds new light on an espionage scandal that threatened to derail Franco-Swiss relations at the height of the Cold War. In 1957, while the Algerian war was raging, French intelligence drew some of their Swiss colleagues into spying on FLN independence fighters, thus jeopardising Switzerland’s policy of neutrality. The author, who was granted access to official records, will discuss the  background to this international real-life thriller that also involved the CIA, Egypt, and the British Press. This is Eric Burnand’s third historical graphic novel. He previously co-wrote Le siècle de Jeanne and Le siècle d’Emma.

The talk will be moderated by Etienne Duval, an Edinburgh-based Franco-Scottish journalist.

This event is organized as part of the Mois de la francophonie 2024

  • Language: in French, a minimum B2 level is recommended
  • Price: Free admission for French Institute members | £5 non-members
  • Duration: 1h
  • More information: Doors open 15 minutes before the conference

After studying history and political science, Éric Burnand was a journalist at L’Hebdo and Radio Télévision Suisse. He produced numerous reports before being the producer, in particular, of the magazines Mise au Point and Temps Present. Having moved from the small screen to comic strips, he now writes graphic novels with the desire to tell certain little-known pages of Swiss history. Eric Burnand is the co-author, with the designer Fanny Vaucher, of two historical comic strips which have achieved great success: Le siècle d’Emma and Le siècle de Jeanne, published in 2019 and 2022 by Éd. Antipodes to Lausanne. Eric Burnand has just published with Matthieu Berthod Berne nid d’espion, a graphic spy novel.

Listen to Eric Burnand’s interview for radio-France here

 

London