VERA MIHAILOVICH-DICKMAN is a scholar and teacher of language and literature with a special interest in intercultural communication and the work of poet and artist Henri Michaux.
Born in Apartheid-ruled South Africa as a Third Culture Kid (TCK), Vera grew up speaking French at home with her father, an exile from ex-Yugoslavia (Belgrade), and her French Algerian-born mother. English was her second language, Afrikaans her third, and apart from Serbian on weekends, she heard IsiZulu, IsiSotho and IsiTswana daily, local music she absorbed but could not play or decipher.
Vera obtained an M.A. in Tours, on the work of Henri Michaux, and then came to Paris, where she completed a second M.A. in Post-Colonial Literature and Comparative Linguistics (English-French). From 2001 to 2016, she served as Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Languages and Culture at Télécom Paris, now part of the Institut Polytechnique de Paris (IPP). For three years, Vera taught Intercultural Communication Skills at the Université Paris-Saclay, where she also serves as an associate researcher at the SLAM Lab (Synergies Languages Art and Music).
Vera’s current work focuses on art-science and sustainability projects at IPP and SLAM. Her work on Henri Michaux has led to co-curated exhibitions in London and Livorno, and continues to inspire her work in creative writing, visual arts, and performance. Vera is a contributor to the forthcoming Dictionnaire Henri Michaux (Honoré Champion, 2025).
To find out more about Vera, check out her: