Inside La Médiathèque
Poetry in Springtime
Emmy, the talented one, has been entertaining the population with her involvement in Le Printemps des Poètes, Poetry in Springtime, a France-wide celebration now in its twentieth year.
She has been involved in two separate events, both part of Passion in Poetry, Des Ardeurs de Poètes, and both taking place in La Médiathèque, our wonderful local library.
https://www.facebook.com/cavalaire.mediatheque/
Original photographs shown by kind permission of Laure Ronceret
The first is an exhibition of photography, where she was invited by Senad, director of La Médiathèque, to provide poems to match a selection of the stunning photography of Laure Ronceret:
https://www.facebook.com/LaureRonceret/
Emmy studied the images, then sourced the poems she thought best reflected what they said to her.
Some of these poems were her own original works, and some were by well-known French poets.
She also did a haunting interpretative translation of an extract from Leonard Cohen’s The Stranger Song.
Translation/Interpretation of The Stranger Song
And she translated a piece entitled Bubbles (Les Bulles) by C. E. Ayr, a pseudonym for her partner-in-crime on this very blog:
https://cavalairesurmer.wordpress.com/2018/03/06/bubbles-les-bulles/
Emmy Rocks It
Her second tour de force was on Saturday, when she presented an hour of poetry to a standing ovation from an enthralled audience.
This included original French works by such as Andrée Chedid, Yvon Le Men, Jacques Charpentreau, Patrice Nganang and Jean Pierre Siméon as well as translations of English writer Warsan Shire and Portuguese Nobel Prize winner José de Sousa Saramago.
Poster for Des Ardeurs de Poètes
Emmy, faithful to a fault, included her own translations of two pieces by C. E. Ayr.
Bubbles (Les Bulles), as above, and Leaving Scotland Forever (En quittant l’Ecosse), which you can see here, with accompanying music:
https://ceayr.com/2017/09/28/leaving-scotland-forever/
She also read three of her own poems which, to this unbiased reviewer, stood as equals beside the words of the above-mentioned giants.
All three can be found in English on her blog.
If you have a taste for exquisite poetry, take a few minutes and give your life a treat.
Un fil de temps, A breath of time:
https://unbuttonedorundone.com/2013/07/20/a-breath-of-time/
Présent, Present:
https://unbuttonedorundone.com/2017/08/25/present/
Laisse-moi, Let me:
https://unbuttonedorundone.com/2014/09/09/let-me/
This is an appropriate place to say thank you to the ladies who staff La Médiathèque.
For them nothing is too much trouble.
Their hard work, their smiling good humour, and their unfailing support is greatly appreciated.
They know who they are.
Merci les filles!
You should also understand that in France every great talent requires un domestique, a water carrier, as it is called in the Tour de France.
Et voilà!
Cavalaire in English 