Major/Minor

Alba Arikha has written a vivid and haunting coming-of-age memoir, Major/Minor, set in Paris in the 1980’s.  Her father was the artist, Avigdor Arikha; her mother the poet, Anne Atik; her godfather, Samuel Beckett. Their apartment/studio, where Alba and her sister grew up, was a hub of literary and artistic achievement, that still reverberates today. Alba’s tale is played out against the family memories of war and exile and the ever present echoes of the European holocaust.

Alba Arikha was born and raised in Paris.  She studied the piano for many years before turning to writing. After receiving an MFA from Columbia University, she moved to London where her novel, Muse, was published, followed by a collection of short stories, Walking on Ice.  Alba has also performed and recorded a CD of her own songs, Dans les Rues de Paris.

Janine di Giovanni is senior foreign correspondent for The Times and contributing editor for Vanity Fair. She has won Granada Television’s 'Foreign Correspondent of the Year' award, the National Magazine Award and two Amnesty International Media Awards. She is the author of five books, Against the Stranger, The Quick and the Dead, Madness Visible, The Place at the End of the World and most recently Ghosts by Daylight.