Monday, February 5, 2007

Bilingual. An evening of textual musings as demonstrated and delivered by visual- and sound-artists.

In French. Drop that comfortable paper and pencil, my dear — your publisher wants you to give it up for the FVA! They opened their doors a mere five years ago, but the publishing house Le Quartanier, with its penchant for experimental, over-the-top writing, has already made a place for itself in Quebec’s poetry scene. In 2006, two Le Quartanier authors won major awards: Renée Gagnon took the 2005 Émile-Nelligan Prize for her poetry collection Des fois que je tombe, and Hervé Bouchard won the 2006 Grand Prix du Livre de Montréal for his novel Parents et amis sont invités à y assister.

Hallalou! is a live-action show, with no master of ceremonies, where you’ll hear writers Dauphin Vincent, Christian Larouche, Hervé Bouchard, Patrick Poulin, Philippe Charron, Alain Farah, and Renée Gagnon, accompanied by choreographer Karine Denault. It’s also a good place to discover French performance poets who have travelled to Quebec for that very reason. See the audacious and imposing Julien d’Abrigeon, and the mix of voice and re-purposed sound from interdisciplinary artist Thomas Braichet.

The performance space itself will come alive, as visual artists James Paterson (a collaborator with Björk and Mick Jagger, among others) and Christian Bélanger (winner of several prizes in graphic design) project some of their work on stage.

Open mic, bilingual.