The "Graines de poètes" competition is open to all students who want to write a poem without any constraints on subject or form. This year was its 23rde edition!
After an initial selection, about forty poems were submitted to a jury composed of booksellers, librarians, literature teachers, and students. The award ceremony was held at Émile-Duclaux High School in May 2024. While the Grand Prize was awarded to Lucie Martin, a student at Haute-Auvergne High School, the Orphée Prize was given to Lola Valin, a student in the CAP Signage and Graphic Design program, for Saint-Géraud High School.
A collection, illustrated by students, is on sale at the Point-Virgule bookstore. The cover of the book features marquetry created by François-Xavier de Seguin de Reynies, a student at Joseph Constant High School in Murat.
Here is the poem composed by Lola Valin:
Letter writer
I write because I love.
I like to let my finest pen dance.
On a sometimes ridiculous sheet of paper,
Words, poems, wash ashore.
I like to leave a trace of my thoughts
Who sometimes want to be freed.
Like a primal need
Describe me in a narrative text.
I love this familiar color of ink
Even with the coldest phrases,
Let its royal blue show.,
But who, despite everything, over time, becomes unmoored.
I like knowing I have a second chance.,
Thanks to the magic white eraser.
But, since I'm posing as I think,
I don't always write elegantly.
Lola Valin