Elise Bisschop Prize 2024

On Saturday, October 19, the Élise Bisschop Poetry Prize Award Ceremony took place at the Saint-Germain Abbey in Auxerre.

This event, organized by the "Élicité, la cité d’Élise Bisschop et de la poésie chrétienne" endowment fund, was a wonderful moment of exchange and sharing between everyone.

The afternoon was enlivened by speeches around Poetry and Peace, the theme of the competition. Ms. Jocelyne Tarneaud and Ms. Laurène de Beaulaincourt, members of the jury who came specially from Paris, spoke about their impressions of the competition, highlighting the quality of the poems received and the talent of the young poets. Then, Father Dominique-Marie delivered a message of hope for the 60th anniversary of the death of Ms. Élise Bisschop.

After this highlight, the three winners of the competition were chosen from among the 197 candidates who had participated: The Grand Prize was awarded to Mr. Olivier Cabrera, 34 years old, for his poem "Aux silencieux guerriers de lumière" (To the Silent Warriors of Light); the Discovery Prize was awarded to Haitian Philippeson Juste, 28 years old, for his poem "Pluie de prières" (Rain of Prayers); the Young Talent Prize (18-25 years old) was awarded to Miss Alexane Guillery, 22 years old, for her poem "S’il vous paix" (Can You Peace).

Very moved, our young candidate was invited to read her poem and say a few words on stage. The other candidates, who were absent, were keen to leave an audio and video message to the public.

After warm thanks to all our poets and the jury by Mr. Frédéric Leuger, president of the jury and the Endowment Fund, the afternoon continued with a musical flourish. Father Alain Raynal, parish priest and dean of the Parish of Saint Loup en Armance, enchanted us with a violin concert.

The ceremony having concluded, the public was invited to a time of dedication with the jury and then to a cocktail in the cloister. In a beautiful spirit of friendship and fraternity, Élise's joy shone in our hearts throughout the day.

Some figures from the competition: