The Irish community in Paris is preparing to mark Thursday's centenary of the birth of the playwright Samuel Beckett who lived and died here and wrote many of his best-known works in French.
A commemoration and reading is to be held at Beckett's graveside in the Montparnasse cemetery where the Nobel Prize-winning author is buried.
"He was an important part of the Irish diaspora as well as being a huge figure in world literature with a unique voice," organiser Peter Mulligan from the Irish Community Arts project, based in Northampton, central England told AFP.
Some Irish earth is also to be scattered over the tomb, but Mulligan stressed the event aimed to celebrate Beckett's links to both France and Ireland.
The Irish embassy is also hosting a exhibition on the life and works of Beckett which will tour France during the year, and will hold a breakfast on Thursday for academics and artists to discuss Beckett's lasting influence.
In the evening the Irish Cultural Centre is holding a meeting with the Booker Prize winning author John Banville who will talk about his work and his influences including Beckett.
Born near Dublin, Beckett moved to Paris in 1937, and when war broke out two years later, joined the French Resistance, which was to win him the honour of the Croix de Guerre from the French state. French became his adopted tongue, with many of his most important works were written first in French and then translated by him into English.
Ever in search of just the right words to express the meaninglessness of life, Beckett apparently enjoyed the discipline and economy imposed on him by writing in a foreign language.
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