French author Danielle Michel-Chich to speak at Rice Feb. 12

French author and journalist Danielle Michel-Chich will be at Rice University Feb. 12 to discuss her new book, “Lettre à Zohra D.,” an autobiographical narrative exploring the author’s experience as a survivor of the 1956 bombing of the Milk Bar café in Algiers, Algeria. The bomb caused Michel-Chich to lose her left leg and killed her grandmother.

DANIELLE MICHEL-CHICH

The discussion will be from noon to 1:30 p.m. in the Rice Media Center. Part of the discussion will be in French.

The Milk Bar bombing was a seminal moment in the war between the French colonial power and Algeria’s independence movement as well as a development prominently featured in Italian filmmaker Gillo Pontocorvo’s 1966 film, “The Battle of Algiers.” Zohra Drif, a 20-year-old University of Algiers student, set the bomb, which killed several patrons and seriously injured dozens.

This is Michel-Chich’s first discussion of the book in the United States.

Hosted by Rice’s Department of French Studies and students in its “The Writing Workshop” and “The Battle of Algiers” courses, the event is free and open to the public.