Victor Hugo expert to speak 15

Photothèque des musées de la Ville de Paris/Cliché Joffre

The Department of French will host Gérard Pouchain, a specialist in the 19th century French press, for two talks on April 15 in the Rotunda Lower West Oval Room. His talk, “Victor Hugo, as Told by Caricature in the Service of Glory,” will be from 10 to 11:30 a.m., and “Victor Hugo et Juliette Drouet: Fifty Years of Love Letters” will begin at 2 p.m. The winner of several literary prizes, Pouchain’s work primarily focuses on the relationships between his native Normandy and such writers as Balzac, Leblanc, Maupassant, Stendhal, Verne and Zola; and Hugo and his faithful friend Drouet. The talks will be in French.