Dear Friends, 
Building on the success of the Lafayette Fellowship’s launch last year and following a successful Summer Leadership Program with our inaugural cohort, I am delighted to announce that applications for the 2027–2028 Lafayette Fellowship are now open. They will remain open through December 1, 2026. 
This program offers a unique opportunity to join the next generation of young leaders committed to strengthening the transatlantic relationship. The Lafayette Fellowship funds one year of master's-level study in France for up to 30 outstanding American students.  
Open to both Francophone and non-Francophone candidates, the program partners with leading French universities and grandes écoles across STEM, the humanities, the social sciences, and the arts, with degree programs offered in French or entirely in English. 
In addition to their academic studies, Fellows participate in the French-American Leadership Program, which provides an immersive introduction to French and European innovation, culture, and public policy, alongside mentorship opportunities. 
Last summer, our inaugural Fellows traveled to Paris, Avignon, Arles, and Marseille for the opening chapter of the program. Through masterclasses with leading figures, visits to major institutions, and unique cultural experiences, they discovered France from multiple perspectives while building a strong community of their own. Their journey will continue throughout the year, with additional sessions in Strasbourg and the Paris region. You can learn more about the inaugural cohort's Summer Leadership Program here. [ https://villa-albertine.org/va/lafayette/inside-the-2026-lafayette-fellows-leadership-program/ ]
As our inaugural Fellows now begin their academic year in France, we look forward to identifying our next cohort of Lafayette Fellows.  
Learn more about our upcoming informational webinars and additional program updates on the Lafayette Fellowship website.  [ https://lafayette.villa-albertine.org/ ]
If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to Florence Botello at lafayettefellowship@villa-albertine.org. 
Warm regards, 
Mohamed Bouabdallah
Cultural Counselor and Director of Villa Albertine
Founder of the Lafayette Fellowship 
French Embassy in the United States 

Event details

POLL LIST
https://aalbc.com/tc/events/event/498-heavy-metal-magazine-free-voting-booths-for-loctober/
DEVIANTART
https://www.deviantart.com/hddeviant/poll/Pick-one-of-these-themes-you-want-me-to-draw-I-will-add-a-small-story-loctober-heavymetal-8672618
proof of winner SPACE PIRATE QUEEN
https://www.deviantart.com/comments/14/8672618/5236016128
TUMBLR
https://www.tumblr.com/richardmurrayhumblr/794514088027996160/pick-one-of-these-themes-you-want-me-to-draw-for?source=share
proof of winners- ended in a draw- WARRIOR RIDING A DIREWOLF and VAMPIRE QUEENS FEAST
https://www.tumblr.com/richardmurrayhumblr/794514088027996160/pick-one-of-these-themes-you-want-me-to-draw-for/replies/795151199251939328
BLKTALES 
https://discord.com/channels/1082791769701363742/1087756593845772338/1416228013913280602
proof of winners- yes make story
https://discord.com/channels/1082791769701363742/1087756593845772338/1418704528621965382
AALBC
https://aalbc.com/tc/topic/11863-pick-one-of-these-themes-you-want-me-to-draw-heavymetal-loctober/
proof of winner COSMIC ENTITY AWAKENING
https://aalbc.com/tc/topic/11863-pick-one-of-these-themes-you-want-me-to-draw-heavymetal-loctober/#findComment-76205
So, in October
 
SPACE PIRATE QUEEN illustration + Story will be posted on my DeviantArt profile. 
Story shared to CRliterature/Dreadful Tales
Illustration shared to Color-me-club/inkblot splatter/dreadful tales
 
WARRIOR RIDING A DIREWOLF + VAMPIRE QUEENS FEAST will each have three illustrated versions in tumblr and one story version in blktouch
Clothed illustration for blackartistoftumblr
Noddy illustration for midnighthour + story for blktales
filmnoir illustration for filmnoirpigeons
 
COSMIC ENTITY AWAKENING illustration + Story in AALBC African American Literary Book Club
 

Event details

September Equinox is from september 20th to september 24th it was in 2021 september 22nd 13:31 UTC equate to 8:31 utc-5, it is the beginning of fall  in the northern hemisphere, spring in the southern hemisphere < http://www.astropixels.com/ephemeris/soleq2001.html  >  
 share photos of art OR text of fiction 
 The photos can be to->sculpture/knitting or sewing/graffiti/tattoo or any craft depicting Black people in spring in the southern hemisphere, any country <south america/caribbean/africa/south asia/australia> OR  Black people in fall in the northern hemisphere, any country <north america/europe/northern asia> 
 The text can only be fiction based on the following: Black person or peoples at the first day of spring or fall 
 Story 1 https://aalbc.com/tc/blogs/entry/261-september-equinox-art-or-text-craft-parade-good-news-blog/?do=findComment&comment=948
Story 2 https://aalbc.com/tc/blogs/entry/261-september-equinox-art-or-text-craft-parade-good-news-blog/?do=findComment&comment=949
 
 
STORY 1
 


I remember the autumn gatherings when I was a girl; sparkling gala’s where my parents dressed me plus my siblings in glittering attire. I loved it. I felt always like a princess.
The pumpkin pie, the cranberrry sauce, the rice pudding, the apple custard, the watermelon slices, the corn bread … I loved it all. A peaceful rearing for me, the magic was in merely being alive; I had no need of unicorns from mystical worlds gated in forests or aliens from beyond the sky or anything unearthly.
I had a brilliant summer, and now my Autumn.

My autumn is simple and in continuity, a life from a woman alone. My job I like to do while it pay the bills, allow me to save, and give me time off. I am unmarried, but I have all sorts of comforts: masculine,friendly,inhuman; I am not alone. I am the autumn, and I am at peace as when I was the summer.

Thank you for reading, if you want to read more of my work read below
Poetry or More
https://www.kobo.com/ebook/poetry-or-more-1
Bookbub
https://www.bookbub.com/profile/richard-murray-16885e64-6c28-459e-bf5f-45c7d458ce49
AALBC
https://aalbc.com/tc/blogs/blog/29-richard-murray-hearth/
 
STORY 2
 

 

An autumn wind speak this morning. It speak that the autumn is here for good, until the winter wind come. Let me boil some syrup. I need to get the wood, give me a moment. <Sniffle> I remember when I came here. The tantalum rush was amazing. Can you imagine a stream of automated vessels, frozen bodies inside , risking fate, between harvested body parts to raided goods to slavery on an A.B. hideaway , streaming from the spaceport in Addis Abeba to Beijing2 on Europa. I recall viewing it,nightly, with my ElectronMacroscope, from here on Titan. Few of those brave travelers made it here; the terraforming of this moon was the last initiative of the United Nations before the fall. But, millions came to this moon for the Tantalum. I worked my way here: a labor ticket to the moon from Earth, thirty years serving Senor Quetza who is still a lunar lord, paid my way to the graneries of mars for thirty years of overseering the self-automates, then enough money to take a long arc frozen trip around the AB and the battles of Jupiter. From out of my mother's womb to Titan took ninety one years. At seventy-eight I was content. I never found a woman on the way who wanted eternity with me or likewise. I helped a few people become mature. But, I just wanted to reach this place. Took me five years but I found this little enclave between mountains, no Tantalum, but everything I truly wanted. Some place to rest after a life lived.
I hear something. I am getting dressed to go out. Sometimes my fellow minors lose themselves in their depression. <creeeeek> I don't see anyone. ... I hear it again. Let me check the river. Ahh....

The Autumn Deer is looking at me from the frozen mist down the mountain in the nearby wood. Amazing how the deer evolved here. "Hello Friend!" Ahh, he is going into the ice blue mist. Enjoy life my friend, as I have. If anyone find my audiorecordings this land is in your caretaking. The tantalum can not be mined forever. And the beauty here can not outlast the dying sun, but will last longer.
 
Thank you for reading, if you want to read more of my work read below
Poetry or More
https://www.kobo.com/ebook/poetry-or-more-1
Bookbub
https://www.bookbub.com/profile/richard-murray-16885e64-6c28-459e-bf5f-45c7d458ce49
AALBC
https://aalbc.com/tc/blogs/blog/29-richard-murray-hearth/

Event details