About us

Founded in August 2022, French Press is a literary media outlet hosted by Benjamin Hoffmann, a writer and professor of French and Francophone literature at Ohio State. The show’s co-hosts are graduate students in French studies and professors at The Ohio State University, in particular Lucille Toth. The show receives the generous support of the Consulate General of France in Chicago. French Press also works with literary journalists in France and the United States.

Produced by the Center of Excellence and the Digital Media Studio at The Ohio State University, French Press is available on the major digital platforms (YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn, and more) as well as on the website of the Cultural Services of the French Embassy in the United States (Villa Albertine).

French Press gives a voice to the people shaping literature in France today: novelists, essayists, poets, philosophers. Forty-minute interviews offer an in-depth look at the work of the authors who join us live. French Press’s many guests include leading figures of today’s literary world: Alain Mabanckou, Philippe Vilain, Sophie Galabru, Étienne Kern, Mohamed Mbougar Sarr, Constance Debré, François-Henri Désérable, and Maboula Soumahoro, to name just a few.

A second show (French Press – En Bref) presents, in under five minutes, a team member’s take on a recent literary work. Reels and regular posts (“What are you reading this weekend?”, French Toast) share our literary enthusiasms with you.

Welcome to French Press!

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