The Balisaille Association holds its traditional international poetry festival called “a major genre festival”. From May 2 to 11, 2024, on Martinican soil, poets and other actors in the book chain are invited to make this long-awaited event more beautiful.
The 1st edition of the Mai.Poésie Festival took place in 2022, organized by the Balisaille Association. From May 2 to 11, 2024, Martinique will once again be the scene of beautiful poetic encounters, this year in memory of Maryse Condé and Édouard Glissant. The island’s first international poetry festival, it will span different locations under the theme “Poetry is a clamor”, a phrase that comes from the famous French songwriter Léo Ferré.
Mai.Poésie offers a fertile ground for poetry in all its forms, whether readings, performances, workshops or discussions. In this third edition, the Martinican public will once again have the opportunity to discover and appreciate the diversity of poetry, as well as to meet and exchange with poets from all over the world.
As with previous editions, a whole mosaic of guests will enrich this festival, including foreign poets such as Haitian poets Syto Cavé and Marc Exavier. “Our ambition is to be, in fact, an event which summons poets from around the world to make poetry heard throughout the territory of Martinique for two weeks,” writes the artistic director, Faubert Bolivar, in the presentation document received by our editorial staff.
Convinced that poetry must be on the agenda in the midst of our chimeras, the poet and playwright expresses it clearly. “At a time when humanity seems to have chosen war over peace, at a time when it is more rewarding to fight for greenbacks than for free verse, we intend to be among those and of those who, without being naive, proclaim that the path of poetry and love still exists and that it is beautiful,” he continues.
In addition to the performances and participations of international guests, the Mai.Poésie Festival will open the field to local poets, offering a diverse representation of Martinican and Caribbean poetry as a whole. A rich program including readings and signings, round tables, as well as the launch of books is already available.
The Common Poetry system, initiated last year, returns this year from May 2 to 7, in the towns of Gros-Morne, Lorrain, Prêcheur, Robert, Saint-Esprit and Vauclin. It is a poetry residency program where residents in pairs in a festival partner city meet local populations, instilling in them the freshness of poetry. Furthermore, the results of the 3rd edition of the International Poetry Prize, prize also worn by Balisaille and its partners since 2022, will be revealed during the official closing ceremony of the festival, on May 11.
The Mai.Poésie Festival, a true celebration of poetry in Martinique, is committed to promoting the art of speech and bringing poetry to the public when necessary. Poetry lovers and those interested in diving into another universe are expected at this unmissable event to discover the magic of words and the emotion of poetry in enchanting settings.
Source : Celebrity Magazine
