This year again, Salon-de-Provence remains a land of poetry. Two high school students from Viala-Lacoste and a student are among the winners of the international poetry competition organized by Nicole Portay: “This year we received nearly 500 poems, from three continents“, specifies the ambassador of the Society of French Poets.
Africa was represented by Madagascar, Morocco, Niger and Togo. Canada and Haiti wore the colors of America. Young European poets were, unsurprisingly, the most numerous.
“High quality texts”
Among them, Chloé Lamotte received first prize for her sonnet soberly titled Water…a magnificent eulogy of the fragility and power of this precious element.
Lucas Martel, inspired by the same motif, centered his text on the work of Craponne, which earned him the Antoine Blaise Crousillat prize: “Suddenly the water gushes out, clear, like a light, A lively stream singing like a child’s laughter; His name was engraved in the memories of the earth, For he saved his city forever, henceforth“.
A BTS commerce student in Saint-Jean, Mélissa Le Panse drew from one of the notebooks in which she records her emotions, La Pinèdedelicately evoking human defeat in the face of the finitude of existence. A particularly strong poem, rewarded with the Pierre de Ronsard prize.
“High quality texts testifying to the attraction for poetic language“, welcomes the president of the jury who decided to present Chloé Lamotte’s sonnet for the Arthur Rimbaud prize.
Next poetry competition intended for young French speakers, from June 20, 2026 to March 15, 2027. Sending typed texts by email and information to [email protected].
