Why is poetry, and the celebration of poetry, important to you?
Poetry is a desperate move to express what we can't express.
Is it a poet's responsibility to write engaged literature?
Engaged literature … So often a poet was used by kings or dictators to celebrate their glory! Poets shouldn't stay in a neutral limbo. The way they express their views remains open.
How does a poem begin for you – with an idea, a feeling, an image?
It starts with a sentence, running like a riff.
Is something always lost in translation?
Of course a translation can't keep everything in a poem, but it can focus the light on interesting nuances within the poem.
How important is accessibility of meaning? Should the reader be able to solve the poem?
The music of the verse is sometimes as important as the meaning.
Will you please share one of your poems, or a part of it, with our readers?
This accent which lingers
on the page
is a forgotten eyelid
I like
foreign accents
Cet accent qui traine
sur le papier
est un cil abandonné
J'aime les accents
étrangers
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Georges Lory, born in 1950, graduated from the Institut d’Etudes Politiques of Paris in 1972. He worked in Africa as a journalist for the weekly Jeune Afrique, as a diplomat, as Head of International Affairs for Radio France Internationale and as Delegate General of the Alliance Française in Southern Africa. He has written several books on Africa and has translated since 1975 many South African authors, including Breyten Breytenbach, John Matshikisa, Nadine Gordimer, Njabulo Ndebele, Antjie Krog and Lebo Mashile into French. |
The dancing in other words / dansende digtersfees is an annual international poetry event, curated by Breyten Breytenbach and Dominique Botha, and composer Neo Muyanga. The 2016 festival will take place on Saturday 7 May. Click here for more information.
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Al singende en dansende na die Spier Digtersfees 2016
“Die fees sal weer eens ’n bevoorregte ruimte bied vir die vervlegting van stemme waar ons sal droom asof ons vir ewig gaan lewe.” – Breyten Breytenbach |
The post Spier Poetry Festival: Quick Q&A with Georges Lory appeared first on LitNet.