Cécile Black now lives in Denmark, though with her appetite for adventure she might just as easily have ended up in Georgia, Germany or Lebanon. However, a French-speaking, Francophile Dane captured her heart in Denmark, so in Denmark she decided to stay.

Like everything else she undertakes, Black threw herself wholeheartedly into learning the perfect Danish she speaks today. She is a firm believer that speaking the language gives her a far better understanding of her host country’s mindset, though fortunately her language studies didn’t stop her from reading two novels per week or indulging in her passion for the works of Romain Gary.

While teaching French in Copenhagen, Black first discovered her talent for sharing her knowledge, and also found a particularly enthusiastic audience in a country she'd always thought of as staunchly anglophile. The idea to found a space dedicated to her own culture soon started to take shape, “on the condition that it was open to all French-speaking cultures,” she explains. A graduate of France’s prestigious Sciences Po institute, Black also spent time at a range of other French-speaking institutions and at a Lebanese university, and believes that French is at its most engaging when it builds a bridge between different nationalities.

It’s this spirit that she hopes to foster in her new project, a place where people can come to relax over a coffee or glass of wine and be stimulated culturally by a book, an author, an exhibition or a discussion. Indeed, this Toulouse native aims to create a meeting place with all the warmth and infectious enthusiasm that she herself has in abundance.

Achievements since winning the grant

In 2005, Cecile Black opened Den Franske Bogcafé (a literary café) in Copenhagen, an event that received extensive coverage by the Danish press. Since then, she has continued to draw a loyal audience to lectures, exhibitions, evening events and concerts.