Miu Miu Literary Club "Politics of Desire"

On April 22nd, 2026, at Circolo Filologico Milanese, Miu Miu hosted the first day of Literary Club, 2026 - “Politics of Desire”.  Under the direction of Miuccia Prada, and now in its fourth iteration, (Milan 2026, 2025, 2024 - Shanghai 2025), this year’s event continues the aim to strengthen Miu Miu’s dialogue with contemporary culture, fostering a discourse on sexuality, desire and consent. From the personal to the political, and from literature to life, desire is a force that determines the right to exercise self-determination - a radical act of resistance.

Day one opened with “A Girl’s Story”, an in-depth exploration of Annie Ernaux based on the book of the same name. This more recent work, originally published in France in 2016 and in English in 2020, dissects the pivotal summer of 1958, when camp counsellor, 18-year-old Annie, has her first sexual experiences. Between her younger self naive perspective and her adult understanding, protagonist Annie analyses the chasm of the sexual politics and power dynamics that have shaped her identity and ultimately sparked her writing life.

The themes of this first conversation have been explored by a multidisciplinary group of speakers: French German journalist and author Annabelle Hirsch; prominent feminist thinker, and author Lea Melandri; and Irish‑born, New York-based author and journalist Megan Nolan. The discussion has been moderated by British writer and curator Lou Stoppard, returning to the Literary Club for the third year.  

The writers involved reflected upon the complex intersections of desire and consent, examining how social expectations shape the shared understanding of personal experience. It highlights the transformative power of memory as a testament to self‑ownership and resilience.

Later during the day, the first lecture took place. Entitled “Desire After AI”, cultural theorist Olga Goriunova talked about her most recent book, Ideal Subjects. The Abstract People of AI(2025), which examines how our lives and daily behaviours have come to reside in the world of data and artificial intelligence as they form ideal subjects - and how desire becomes oriented towards such abstractions - presenting an uncanny and fascinating portrait of modern subjectivity in the technological age. 

Goriunova was introduced by Jennifer Guerra, an Italian journalist and writer known for her work specialized in gender studies and LGBTQ+ rights. Guerra integrates nomadic subjectivity into her analysis of contemporary right and desire.

International guests attended the event including Dianna Agron that introduced the conversation in the morning.

The Miu Miu Literary Club will continue tomorrow April 23rd, a full day entirely dedicated to Ama Ata Aidoo’s book - Changes: A Love Story, featuring conversation, lecture, live music performances, as well as prose and poetry readings.

On April 24th, the club will transform into a reading room open to the public. Discover the complete program on miumiu.com.