A Multilingual Roundtable on Kiffe Kiffe Demain by Faiza guène

A Multilingual Roundtable on Kiffe Kiffe Demain (Just Like Tomorrow) by Faiza Guène
Hosted by LINCS, in partnership with the Language Society and Project Esperanza

Do you speak French, German, Spanish, or English?
Do you love reading?

Join us for a lively multilingual roundtable discussion on Kiffe Kiffe Demain (Just Like Tomorrow), the iconic novel by Faïza Guène exploring youth, identity, humour, and resilience.

This free public event welcomes:
✨ High school pupils (suitable for S3–S6)
✨ University students
✨ Teachers, parents, and community groups
✨ Anyone who enjoys reading and discussing books

Our MSc Interpreting students will provide live interpreting into English and French/German/Spanish, ensuring full accessibility for multilingual audiences.

Waht is included?

Optional Campus Tour: 2:00–3:00 pm
Meeting point at 1.50 pm by James Watt statue, main reception

• Roundtable Discussion: 3:00–5:00 pm
  Room EM244 (campus map attached)

☕ Light refreshments available

📚 About the Book – Why Kiffe Kiffe Demain Speaks to So Many ReadersMeet Doria, a sharp, funny, no-nonsense teenager growing up in the Paris banlieues. Life isn’t always easy—missing parents, annoying neighbours, and teachers who never quite get her—but Doria has wit, courage, and a voice you’ll never forget.

The novel is quick to read, impossible to put down, and packed with the kind of honesty, humour, and attitude young people recognise instantly.

But here’s the big question:
Do we all experience the same story, the same humour, the same emotions—no matter which language we read it in?

This event is part of the series ELEVATE: Engaging Learners in Exchange, Voice, and Translation Encounters by Dr Khadidja Merakchi

About the Series – ELEVATE

ELEVATE: Engaging Learners in Exchange, Voice, and Translation Encounters is a creative outreach and public-engagement series led by Dr Khadidja Merakchi (LINCS, Heriot-Watt University).

The series is grounded in the principles of situated learning — the idea that people learn best when knowledge is embedded in real-world contexts, meaningful interactions, and authentic social participation.

ELEVATE creates opportunities where learners experience languages, rather than merely study them, by engaging in live multilingual exchanges, interpreting practice, collaborative reading, and community-based translation encounters.

The series aims to:

• Take learning outside the classroom and into communities, making language learning socially situated, meaningful, and rooted in real interactions.
• Bring together learners of all ages — from high school pupils to university students and community groups — through events that celebrate languages, literature, and intercultural communication.
• Create inclusive spaces where multilingual voices are shared and valued.
• Promote confidence and agency, enabling young people to take an active role as interpreters, readers, and cultural mediators.
• Connect academia and community, using translation, interpreting, and storytelling as tools for collaboration and empowerment.

Through multilingual roundtables, workshops, film screenings, and collaborative translation activities, ELEVATE turns multilingual communication learning into a lived experience — one rooted in social interaction, creativity, and the shared exploration of stories.

Department of Languages & Intercultural Studies (LINCS) at Heriot-Watt University is a distinguished academic unit with a proud history spanning over 50 years, specialising in translation, interpreting and intercultural studies. LINCS offers a comprehensive portfolio of undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral programmes that combine rigorous language learning with professional skills in applied linguistics, intercultural communication, and cultural studies. Students can study languages including British Sign Language, Mandarin Chinese, French, German and Spanish, and benefit from state-of-the-art facilities modelled on interpreting environments used by major international institutions. The department’s work is internationally recognised through professional partnerships and accreditations, and its research centres—such as the Centre for Translation and Interpreting Studies in Scotland and the Intercultural Research Centre—advance understanding of language, culture, identity and communication in a globalised world. LINCS equips graduates to become multilingual, culturally fluent professionals ready to contribute to global careers, research and public life.

https://www.hw.ac.uk/about/our-schools/social-sciences/languages-and-intercultural-studies

The Heriot-Watt University Languages Society is a student-led community dedicated to celebrating linguistic diversity, intercultural exchange, and the joy of language learning. Open to language students, multilingual peers, study-abroad participants and anyone with an interest in exploring global cultures and communication, the society fosters an inclusive environment to share, practise and appreciate languages both inside and outside the classroom. Members have the opportunity to build friendships, develop leadership experience, and engage in cultural activities that enrich university life. The society encourages a safe, culturally diverse community where language passion can thrive through social events, informal conversations, and collaborative initiatives. Joining the Languages Society is an excellent way to connect with like-minded students and enhance your global outlook at Heriot-Watt University

https://www.hwunion.com/societies/6353/

Project Esperanza is a respected Edinburgh-based registered charity and community organisation dedicated to advancing equality, inclusion and well-being for migrant, refugee, asylum-seeking families and individuals, with a particular focus on women of African heritage and people from diverse ethnic backgrounds. Grounded in a womanist, human rights-based and culturally sensitive approach, the organisation delivers a wide range of practical, emotional and integration support services, including advocacy, family support, employability assistance, wellbeing activities, youth work and culturally appropriate community programmes. Project Esperanza also provides English-language learning opportunities, anti-racism education, and initiatives that promote social integration and personal empowerment, helping beneficiaries to build meaningful lives and positive connections within the wider community. Its work is informed by a commitment to dignity, diversity, and the relief of disadvantage, and it operates in close partnership with local professionals and civic organisations in Edinburgh.

https://projectesperanza.org.uk

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Host or Publisher Heriot-Watt Languages & Intercultural Studies Department