Lyrics Under Siege
Overview
Intro
Benoit D’Afrique, a Haitian poet, is visiting Neuchâtel to read excerpts from his latest collection, *Paroles en état de siège*, published in 2025 by Éditions La Veilleuse.
Benoit D’Afrique, a Haitian poet, is visiting Neuchâtel to read excerpts from his latest collection, *Paroles en état de siège*, published in 2025 by Éditions La Veilleuse. Through veiled language, the poet speaks of exile, wars, and battered bodies. His socially conscious poetry denounces immigration controls and oppression, serving as the backdrop for a quest for identity, memory, and poetry. His memories resurface in lucid, powerful speech, with electrifying words. From this inner turmoil springs a rebellion in verse—against borders and visas, against silence and disapproving whispers, and against the sometimes painful act of putting words to paper.
“Inspect my passport—it’s laden with places of doubt / of rejection // to heal my wounds / centuries of sponges // the hours of ruin / I have traversed / one thing leading to another // I am the sum of capsized nights / that is why I walk—on the tips of words”
Benoit D’Afrique is a Haitian poet and photographer born in Gonaïves. His first work, *Ma Mort*, won the International Poetry in Freedom Prize in 2016. In 2021, he founded the literary and artistic journal *Débridé*, with the aim of bringing to light the young voices of contemporary literature. That same year, he received the Île-de-France Region Writers’ Grant and was named a finalist for the prestigious Léopold Sédar Senghor Prize. At the same time, he leads writing and reading workshops for young people. His collection *Paroles en état de siège* has been acclaimed by critics, confirming Benoit D’Afrique’s place among the notable voices of contemporary Francophone poetry.
In partnership with Éditions La Veilleuse and Les Lundis des mots
Note: This text was translated by machine translation software and not by a human translator. It may contain translation errors.
| Contact address |
Le Pommier
Rue du Pommier 9 2000 Neuchâtel |
|---|---|
| Event Homepage | https://lepommier.ch/event/984-paroles-en-etat-de-siege |
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Event dates
- 01 February 2027
Discover the surroundings
Théâtre du Pommier ? CCN
Rue du Pommier 9
2000
Neuchâtel
Switzerland
