Atlantide, The Words of the World

Atlantide: The Festival of World Literatures in Nantes

Since 2013, Atlantide has brought together writers from around the world in Nantes to celebrate the diversity of literatures and imaginations. Co-produced by La Cité des Congrès de Nantes and Le Lieu Unique, this literary festival has established itself as a must-attend event on the French and international literary scene.

An Exceptional Artistic Direction

Since 2016, the Franco-Congolese writer Alain Mabanckou, winner of the 2006 Renaudot Prize for Mémoires de porc-épic and the first author to hold the chair of artistic creation at the Collège de France, has been the festival's artistic director. Under his leadership, Atlantide has strengthened its international dimension and its commitment to freedom of expression.

A Rich and Accessible Program

Each edition brings together around fifty authors from about twenty countries. The program includes round tables, conferences, readings aloud, book signings, and meetings in bookstores. The festival also offers events for schoolchildren, from primary to high school, as well as a professional day dedicated to book mediators.

Recurring highlights include the inaugural lecture entrusted to a leading author, the evening against censorship organized in partnership with the French PEN Club, and the closing reading. The festival also houses the Cabinet of Curiosities, a collection of 273 objects offered by invited authors over the years.

A Festival Open to the City

While Le Lieu Unique is the festival's headquarters, Atlantide spreads throughout the city of Nantes: independent bookstores, municipal libraries, the Château des Ducs de Bretagne, Maison de l'Afrique, La Libre Usine, neighborhood centers, cultural associations, hospitals, retirement homes, and correctional facilities. This diffusion throughout the urban fabric reflects the festival's desire to make literature accessible to all audiences.

National and International Reach

Atlantide has established itself as one of the major literary festivals in France, attracting world-renowned authors alongside emerging voices each year. The festival addresses contemporary divides—shifting identities, exiles, colonial memory, freedom of expression, cultural resistance—through the prism of literature and intercultural dialogue.