SMS Poetry Namur
2006
Namur was the second city to jump on the SMS poetry bandwagon with great enthusiasm. In 2006 BASE organised together with the Maison de la Poésie the first SMS poetry competition there. The French speaking Belgians were challenged to write a poem of at most 160 characters on the theme ‘Aimer, c´est parler...'. 369 poets tried their luck, not bad at all for a first edition. Poems were submitted which clearly were the work of hours of refinement or days of ‘fermentation'. You could sense the train of thought of the SMS poet: "do I dare to send it in?", "aren´t I revealing too much of my heart?", "do I really want to show others that I (don´t) dare", "suppose they publish this if I´m selected?".
31 poets ultimately succeeded in so convincing the jury of their poetic abilities that they were included in the traditional poetry booklet, which in Namur as well was printed in the symbolic format of a mobile phone screen.
First prize:
6tu D6D 1 jr dHT 7 Am
kitM,dadrèC Isoley dtavwa &
daxepT m fraz...Jms porte nsrè
cloz pr 1 sijoliroz...6 lavie d2m1
aujd8 tFray,D7n8 vi 1 rèV ds la
miN...
(Caroline Mathias)
Second prize:
SMS Souris-Moi, Sylvine Soigne
Ma souffrance Supporte Mes
Silences Sonde Ma Soumission
Soumets-Moi, Sylvine Souris-
Moi,
Sandrine
(Louis Huwart)
Third prize (shared):
Pa fat-cil de part-laid avec 1 temps-pont
dent la bouch mets je l'm taon la
peau&scie ke chac foie con lui fix d r gles
j'pr-fer me terre et macher c menstrues
(Théophile De Giraud)Mes messages en cavale
Parcourent les petals
Des lèvres digitales
Et tout ton coeur s'emballe
Avant que ta langue tourne cette
fois-ci dans ma bouche.
(Pierre Van Hulle)
2007
In Namur too BASE continued the élan of the first edition. The central theme of the 2nd edition in 2007 was ‘Invitation au voyage', and inspired 285 participants. The quality of the submissions appeared to be very high, because no less than 36 SMS´s were bundled into a best of poetry album that took the reader on a trip around the world in 160 characters. The booklet could be found in bookshops and took a place right next to the great works from world literature at cultural events such as the ‘Festival International de Poésie' de Namur, the ‘Printemps des Poètes', the ‘Festival of the French Language' and the ‘Brussels Book Fair'.
Myriam Destexhe successfully gave her imagination free rein as well and convincingly won the poetry contest, ahead of Emile Lansman and Pierre Dancot.
First prize:
Le phare du four peinture marine
le mur du fond dans ma cuisine
je le regarde et j'imagine
un grand voilier la mer tranquille
le phare du four peinture marine.
(Myriam Destexhe)
Second prize:
Tu dis je ne meurs pas / Tu dis juste un voyage / Mais
tes yeux te trahissent Je sais / Tu sais / Que le bateau
chavire / Que je resterai seul sur ce rivage
(Emile Lansman)
Third prize:
Traverse mon crâne dans le sens du sang. Ajoute toi à ma nuit.
(Pierre Dancot)
2008
In 2008 as well BASE and the Maison de la Poésie invoked the inspiration of poets everywhere in Wallonia to write a poem of SMS length on the theme ‘Je vous parle... du Sud'. Although each competition is organised around a single specific theme, there is one subject that invariably shows up in many poems: love. The winner Laurent Dumortier also came up with a gem of a love poem, with which he left the other competitors behind.
First prize:
Aux courbes des dunes
je songe à ton dos dénudé
mais le désert n'a pourtant pas séché mes larmes
je t'aime
(Laurent Dumortier)
Second prize:
Au Sud,
vers ces paradis
qui illuminent nos vies,
j'aimerais là-bas finir,
être heureuse et viellir,
pour qu'enfin l'avenir,
m'y laissent mourir.
(Marie-France Vandendaele)
Third prize:
Je vous parle du Sud.
O... les sourires s'ensoleillent.
Les soupirs s'ensommeillent.
La prose et la poésie... pactisent.
Saveurs et petits lueurs... s'irisent.
(Fabien Ivergneau)
2009
The fourth edition of the SMS poetry competition in Namur set a record. The organisers received no fewer than 520 entries on the main theme: "J'écris ton nom, liberté" (Freedom, I write your name). Eluard's poem was an unprecedented source of inspiration for poets everywhere. Young people put up a good showing, because for the first time, quite a few schools took part. This shows that text message poetry is gradually finding acceptance in educational circles, as a fully-fledged form of literature.
For the first time, the young generation also found a voice on the jury, chaired by radio presenter Véronique Thyberghien: the class of French teacher Isabelle Fontaine wanted its say as a full member of the jury during the deliberation about the winners. The jury very soon reached a unanimous verdict on the winners: the dynamic poem by Thomas Gomez won the individual top prize, and class 1A of the Athénée Royal de Chimay won the Schools Prize.
First prize :
J'écris ton nom liberT,
Sur ts les murs de ma 6T,
Je crie ton nom liberT,
ds les rues 2 mon quartier :
car C la seule façon d'être libéré
et d'en être pRsuaD...
(Thomas Gomez)
Second prize :
La Liberté d'autrui,
c'est comme une putain :
on la possède un temps,
son corps soumis à nos désirs,
mais son âme nous résiste pour,
tôt ou tard,
nous échapper.
(Josette Lambreth)
Third prize :
La liberté, c'est choisir ses actes...
Mais subir leurs impacts.
(Shirley Vilette)
Schools prize :
Il y a comme un stress,
on n'enferme pas le mot liberté
dans un sms !
C'est là que le mot blesse.
(Class 1A, Athenée Royal de Chimay)
2010
On Saturday 27 November 2010, the Maison de la Poésie and BASE presented the first prize in the 5th edition of the SMS poetry competition to Frédéric Soete. The theme ‘Ode to Joy' was a source of inspiration to a substantial number of poets, who entered almost 300 poems, whether in SMS language or not. The Schools Prize was won by the sixth form of the Athénée Royal in La Louvière.
The jury awarded second prize to Xavier Dandoy, and the third prize was tied between Annie Desmet and an anonymous poet. The jury members - Daphnée Bertrand (a journalist at Canal C, who chaired the jury), Catherine Bottu (French teacher - Institut Saint-Louis, Namur), Jean-Luc De Meyer (author), Isabelle Fontaine (French teacher - Institut Sainte-Ursule, Namur), Diederick Legrain (journalist at La Meuse), Karel Logist (poet and literary critic) and Jean Loubry (poet and comic) - selected around thirty SMS poems for inclusion in the traditional poetry anthology.
First prize:
Ce que le voile voilait s'évanouit
Les mains en cercles concentriques
Se concertent en traversées tantriques
Descendent et remontent
Inventent et racontent
(Frédéric Soete)
Second prize:
9uis pas ma main!
J'en suis réd8 à contempler
7e douce colline
6ouvent gravie!
Sur ton 5onvexe,
chère 4ine,
oc3-moi
la joie 2 vivre
encore 1 peu
jusqu'0...
(Xavier Dandoy)
Third prize ex aequo:
Quitter le terminal
Pas pressés, marche hypnotique
Bagages
Douane
Sortie
Te chercher
Trouver tes yeux
Joie enivrante
Coma éthylique
Tant de toi à jeun
(Annie Desmet)
Third prize ex aequo:
Envie de le faire l'air de rien
De siffler sous le bain et
Eponge en poche
Marcher
Piétiner l'astre humide
(Anonymous)
Schools prize:
Si l'on buvait la joie comme on boit l'alcool,
le monde en serait ivre.
Bonjour aux cris de joie,
adieu les crises de foie !
(Athenée Royal de La Louvière - Class of 6th GA - Teacher: Mister Rasemont)
2011
For the 6th consecutive year, Maison de la Poésie in Namur handed out the prices for the SMS poetry contest.
A Jury of poets and professors, chaired by Jean-Pierre Dopagne, awarded François Salmon from Tournai with the first price and celebrated the 5th grade of the Ursulines - La Madeleine de Tournai, under supervision of Mr. Pilette, as the winner of the school contest.
1st price for schools : Ursulines - La Madeleine de Tournai classe de M. Pilette 5ème TQ
Bulles de silence Au milieu de nos cris Les soupirs Créent La page blanche de nos vies 1st price : François SALMON Le caporal rugit hurle CESSEZ-LE-FEU En vain Sur le 4-quarts 54 bougies kaki au garde-à-qui suent très cireusement Le caporal râle Un caporal ne souffle pas 2nd price : Marcel DARIMONT Vains cris de l’affamé, Soupirs d’aise du repu. 3rd price : Isabelle FONTAINE tR d’UlstR ton murmure identitR explose de colR jusqu’où tu IRA ?
KPN has delivered
solid results in 2010.
