“Our clocks strike the hour of courage,” wrote Anna Akhmatova in the winter of 1942. Now, as countries around the world go into lockdown and hospital teams battle against coronavirus, the hour of courage is called upon once again. Our writers bring you news this week from France, where literary festivals find innovative solutions to cancellations; Hong Kong, where launch events and publishers move online; and Nicaragua, where writers and the public have been mourning the passing of celebrated writer Ernesto Cardenal. Read on to find out more!
Sarah Moore, Assistant Blog Editor, reporting from France
France has been under a strict lockdown since March 17, and with all non-essential establishments now closed—including bookshops, theatres, libraries, and cultural centers—writers and organizers have had to be creative in finding new ways to engage with the public.
The annual Printemps des Poètes was due to be held from March 7 to 23. Its theme for this twenty-second edition was “Courage” and its poster design featured an original artwork by Pierre Soulages. The festival’s director, Sophie Nauleau, published a text on the festival website, “Espère en ton courage” (“Hope in your courage”) from her collection of the same name:
It’s a verse by Corneille. An old, famous alexandrine, right at the end of The Cid, which speaks of the heart, hope, and triumph of time somewhere in Seville:
Hope in your courage, hope in my promise . . .
Of course, none of us knew how much more pertinent her words would become after the new security measures taken by the French government caused the festival to close early. Suddenly, her words took on an additional meaning:
And in this hemistich, all the world’s bravery assaults centuries, with so much constancy. So much patience passed down into posterity, like a bequeathed secret, like a more efficient mantra than the coarse rule of blood.
Addressing the public after the decision to close the festival, Sophie Nauleau recognised this additional relevance:
In choosing “Courage” as the emblem of the twenty-second edition of Printemps des Poètes, and an opening show at the Bataclan, I was aware of the risks of such a title. But I had complete confidence in poetry since it knows how to keep its word. I intentionally referenced the etymology of heart (“cœur”) without imagining for a second that coronavirus would come to disrupt the leaps and bounds of our lives. This sudden halt is not at all an ominous sign of bad luck. It is like the image of verticality in “l’Outrenoir” by Pierre Soulages, the sign of the possibility of a new alchemy . . . We will find new dates in better days . . . from the seventh to the thirteenth, not the twenty-third, that’s barely seven days, but in the prolonged echo of the commitment of Sandrine Bonnaire, and in the dazzle of so many poems which are a promise to us of passion, strength, and survival.
The festival’s opening ceremony did take place before the lockdown, at the Bataclan theatre in Paris (the main site targeted by terrorists during the November 2015 attacks,) presented by Sandrine Bonnaire. She read poems by Joël Bastard, Jacques Higelin, Assia Djebar, Louis Aragon, Andrée Chedid, Federico García Lorca, Boris Vian, and Claro.
The annual La semaine de la poèsie, (Poetry Week) was also set to take place from March 14 to 21. With fifteen poets invited for readings and lectures taking place throughout France, the government’s lockdown announcement came as a blow for the festival’s organizers.
Yet Françoise Lalot, the director of La semaine de la poèsie, addressed the public in her message “The show must go on!”:
Exceptional situation. Exceptional response . . . We are sad about it. But, we told ourselves that, despite this, we have to let poetry find its place again in the everyday for everyone. This is why we have decided to put poems online . . . Even though we are making this virtual to face such an unexpected situation, we hope for a real presence, a presence full of emotions, with the poets.
These online readings kicked off with Lucien Suel, a writer, poet, and translator from the north of France who is also this year’s festival sponsor. He read extracts from his collections Je suis débout (I’m Up, Éditions de la Table Ronde, 2014) Ni bruit ni fureur (Neither Sound nor Fury, Éditions de la Table Ronde, 2017) and Patismit (Éditions le dernier Télégramme, 2008). He joked that, “Sadly, as William Burroughs predicted, a virus has replaced me!” Other poets who have since performed their readings online include Hélène Lanscotte, Bruno Berchoud, Pierre Soletti, Jacques Demarcq, and romanian poet Doina Ioanid.
The optimism of both teams has ensured that poetry can always find its voice, even in these most testing of times.
Charlie Ng, Editor-at-Large, reporting from Hong Kong
As the coronavirus pandemic continues to develop globally, many countries are in face of the disease’s serious threat to public health and the subsequent negative economic impact. Although Hong Kong has been able to contain the virus in the previous months, the risk of a massive community outbreak has increased with the return of travellers and students who study abroad. As the government advises citizens to stay at home and temporarily closes leisure facilities and bars, and restaurants are also told to change their modes of operation, the local retail industry is experiencing an especially trying time. Singapore-based books retail chain, Popular Bookstore, announced the closure of all its sixteen branches in Hong Kong on March 19, which has come as shocking news to the local cultural circle.
In the time of plague, many literary events have been cancelled or suspended. The launch event of local poet’s new poetry collection, Jie He Tong Xiu, was one of the few exceptions. During the event, conducted live on March 22 in the Tsim Sha Tsui branch of the Commercial Press, Tsang engaged in a dialogue with another local poet, Lui Wing-kai, to discuss their reflections on life’s challenges and disorders in the world through poetry.
Moreover, literary organizations are also experimenting with online means to sustain interactions with readers. Local independent publisher, PS Cultural Collaboration, conducted their first Zoom reading session on March 21 to launch Hong Kong poet Siu Sai’s second poetry collection, Liu Li Cui (Precarious Life). Meanwhile, local literary magazine, Fleurs des Lettres, has just published its most recent issue, which is available across a few Chinese electronic reading platforms, including Readmoo, TAAZE, Kono Magazine, and Hyhead, for the convenience of readers to access the content of the magazine while staying at home to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
José García Escobar, Editor-at-Large, reporting from Central America
Earlier this month Central America, and the world, bid farewell to one of its most accomplished and celebrated poets: Ernesto Cardenal (Nicaragua). Ernesto was a Catholic priest, theologist, poet, and revolutionary—he was a former member of the Nicaraguan Sandinistas. Salmos (1988), Canto Cósmico (1989), and La Revolución Perdida (2004) are among some of his most celebrated works. His work has been translated into countless languages. In 2012, the Reina Sofía Ibero-American Poetry Award, awarded to other greats such as Álvaro Mutis, Nicanor Parra, and his countrywoman Claribel Alegría. Additionally, in 2019 Pope Francis lifted the suspension imposed on him, in 1984, by Pope John Paul II for joining the Sandinista government.
Writers across the world have mourned the death of the poet. Gioconda Belli and Sergio Ramírez, the two leading figures of Nicaraguan literature, said of him: “He put words of pain and hope in the determined (revolutionary) struggle,” (Belli) and “His poetry marked, not just my literary path, but the path of my entire generation,” (Ramírez). A month before his death, our assistant poetry editor, Whitney DeVos, published this essay to pay homage to his remarkable life and brilliant career.
Cardenal was ninety-five.
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