Interpreting Lacan’s Autres Écrits

Even before, and certainly since, Freud’s dream book, interpretation has been a central, unavoidable and contentious facet of psychoanalysis. Whenever one speaks, the one who hears is in the position of interpreter. But the one who speaks is also already one of the ones who hears and, so, who interprets. This may not be more true in a psychoanalytic context, but it is perhaps more evident or emphasised here. So too with the written word. All reading, even the reading we perform while still writing, is interpretation. And some reading, like reading Lacan, appears to overtly demand such an act of interpretation.

In 2014 three academics of questionable sanity set out to provide a collection of readings of Lacan’s Écrits. We asked trusted experts to choose an écrits and, while staying as close to the original structure as possible, to add clarity, disentangle complex formulations and unearth obscured references. We asked them, that is, to interpret. Having completed four volumes of Reading Lacan’s Écrits, we decided our madness was not yet sated. We decided to tackle the Autres Écrits. The first volume of this new phase of our adventure will be published next month. In advance and in celebration of this, we would like to invite you to join us for an evening of contemplation on the place, the demand, the risk of interpretation and, in particular, the place, the demand, the risk of interpreting Lacan.

We will be joined by Stijn Vanheule and Fernanda Negrete who have both undertaken interpretations of the same écrits from the Autres Écrits: Allocution sur les psychoses de l’enfant. By focusing on a single text, we will look to explore how the act of reading produces differences in emphasis, purpose and sense, how reading is already interpretation and what this means for us as readers of Lacan and readers of readers of Lacan.

Speaker Biographies

Stijn Vanheule, PhD, is a clinical psychologist, professor at Ghent University (Belgium) and psychoanalyst in private practice. He is a member of the New Lacanian School and the World Association of Psychoanalysis. His work focuses on Lacanian and Freudian psychoanalysis, the theory and treatment of psychosis, and the critique of psychiatric diagnosis. His books include The Subject of Psychosis: A Lacanian Perspective (2011), Diagnosis and the DSM: A Critical Review(2014) and Psychiatric Diagnosis Revisited: From DSM to Clinical Case Formulation (2017). With Calum Neill and Derek Hook he is the editor of the book series Reading Lacan’s Écrits and Reading Lacan’s Autres Écrits.

About the Event

The seminar will take place on Zoom on Thursday 29 October 2026 at 7pm-8:30pm Greenwich Mean Time (GMT)/UTC)*.

The event is free with registration via Eventbrite. The event is open to anyone with an interest in psychoanalysis, Lacanian theory, clinical practice, or related fields, and we warmly welcome participants at all stages, including students, practitioners and early-career researchers. The Zoom link will be available for registrants on the ‘Online Event Page’ (found when accessing your ticket on Eventbrite) on the day of the seminar.

*Please note: due to differences in daylight saving time change dates, there may be a short period when the UK has moved to GMT but some other countries (including the US) have not yet changed. During this time, the advertised start time may fall at a different local time for you than usual, depending on where you are.