Christine Collard

L'Ange de Prévert à tombeau ouvert

Synopsis

The story of a stucco angel that comes off the ceiling of Prévert's house, comes to life and takes the reader on a tour of the Normandy of the poet's heart; an adventure told in seventeen poetic tableaux. While visiting Jacques Prévert's house in Omonville-la-Petite in Normandy, Christine spots a stucco angel hanging from the ceiling. She imagines him breaking away and wandering through the Normandy landscape. Mischievous and in love with life, he meets a mermaid, does the trapeze in a church or crosses the region from above. The author takes us into a poetic and voluptuous reverie, in which we can almost hear the sound of the boats' ropes and the stones jostled by the foam, breathe in the scents of incense and the sea breeze, feel the warmth of the sun and the breath of the wind.

The author

Passionate about contemporary poetry, North and South American literature and travel, Christine Collard is a Spanish teacher at the college. Among other initiatives in the literary field, she offers her students discovery workshops every year on the occasion of the Printemps des Poètes. After publications in Collectifs, she published a first collection of poetry with Editions Scenent in 2019: L'Ange de Prévert à tombeau ouvert, a poetic journey that tells the adventures of an Angel who has just escaped from Prévert's house, and his dreamy crossings of the Normandy landscape.

Christine also composes poetic collages based on cut-outs, in the style of Jacques Prévert. Among the themes that are dear to her are forest landscapes, the taste for childhood and freedom, and the power of dreams. In her library, the works of traveling writers - Nicolas Bouvier and Bruce Chatwin in the lead - and poets from all countries coexist and interact: Henri Michaux, Yves Bonnefoy, Marie-Claire Bancquart, Eugenio Montale, José Angel Valente, Tomas Trantrömer, Abdellatif Laâbi, Emilie Dickinson, Sylvia Plath, Jacques Prévert...

The vein of the book

A big publisher's favorite. This is the first book published by Éditions Scenent. One day, at the end of a writing workshop, a poet and a budding publisher spoke to each other. A few scenes from the future Ange existed, without however constituting the beginning of a structured project. Nine months later, the articulation of the 17 tableaux took shape and was transformed into a proof, the first of the house. The author does not privilege any particular influence having presided over the writing of this collection, but rather a sum of influences (see The author above). So let's not deny ourselves our pleasure and aim high by inscribing this story in verse in the vein of the great texts of the genre:

- La Légende des Siècles by Victor Hugo.

- La Théogonie by Hesiod.

Why Entre deux rendez-vous ?

This story told in verse has the power to stop time. Men and women in a hurry, open this short collection and fly over Normandy as you never imagined. Whether you know the place or plan to go there one day, this new kind of stroll is worth all the guides.

Atmosphere

Out of loyalty to Normandy, a region enchanted by books, down a calvados (in moderation) in cold and rainy weather and alternate between reading and contemplating the raindrops beating on your window. Or take the opposite approach and plan a red wine, preferably Burgundy (always in moderation), while listening to a jam from the same origin, for example with local instruments.

If you have to drive in fog and storms (and even if the weather is nice), enjoy a luxury sparkling mineral water, like a grand hôtel de la côte, and form two circumflex accents (those of "grand hôtel de la côte"?) with your eyebrows each time the Angel surprises you. You will strengthen your forehead.

Agenda - Press

- June 28, 2019 : book release.
- October 2nd, 2019 : reading in front of a circle of entrepreneur-readers in the premises of Éditions Scenent in Garenne Colombes.
- October 17, 2019 : author's reading at the bookshop Mots en marge.
- March 4, 2020 : article in la Manche Libre announcing the upcoming reading in the poet's house.
- March 8, 2020 : author's reading at the Maison de Prévert.
- November 19, 2021 : Christine says her poems at the Café Cannelle, 1 rue Emile Delsol, 92 250 La Garenne Colombes, accompanied by Bertrand on the piano.
- December 12, 2021 : Christine says her poems - and others - at the Club des poètes, accompanied by Bertrand Ploquin on the piano.

Readers' notes

They said about L'Ange de Prévert à tombeau ouvert !

Je ne suis pas une spécialiste de la poésie, ni une grande fan non plus. Mais ce texte m'a vraiment prise à la lecture, et m'a fait m'évader dans des recoins pas assez explorés de ma sensibilté. Donc un grand bravo. Je sens que c'est aussi beaucoup de travail, je salue cette opiniâtreté à trouver le bon mot, le bon phrasé, le bon rythme. C'est très beau, vraiment.

A bookseller from the Paris region.

Magnifique petit livre qui évoque avec fraicheur l'atmosphère de la maison de Prévert et de sa région, inspiré par une visite guidée de l'endroit.

A visitor to the Prévert Museum.

Un livre original, sans équivalent récent à ma connaissance. Il faut remonter loin pour trouver des histoires racontées en vers. Les sons qui s'en dégagent sont fidèles à l'ambiance du lieu qu'elles contribuent à mettre en valeur.

An editor