Born in the Middle Ages and yet so modern: the Toulouse poetry competition spans the centuries
The origin of the Toulouse Floral Games dates back to November 2, 1323 when seven lovers of poetry, meeting in a garden near the current Place Saint-Aubin, decided to launch an appeal to all poets in language of oc. The first poetic joust, endowed with a golden violet, was held seven months later, on May 3, 1324, during the Flower Festival.
Since then, the Compagnie du Gai Savoir, formed by the seven troubadours and reinforced under Louis XIV in the Floral Games Academy, has ensured that this tradition has recently been included in the National Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage.
“The Academy is considered the oldest learned society in Europe and it was from the Toulouse Floral Games that other competitions flourished throughout France. They have never stopped since the 14th century, apart from during the Revolution and during periods of epidemic and war”, specifies Philippe Dazet-Brun, permanent secretary of the Academy.
Slam poetry in French
For their seventh centenary, the Toulouse Floral Games continued their “open approach” to rally to the taste for poetry of new audiences. In 2013, an agreement signed with the Rectorate of the Toulouse Academy had already accelerated things.
“Young poets have pushed us forward. They explore new forms, on new media such as MP3 or MP4 for poetic songs. The younger ones integrated drawings or pop-ups. For several years, we have felt a great appetite for slam poetry. For this seventh centenary, we have therefore decided to create a new flower and to launch a slam poetry competition in the French language which will take place in public, in the spirit of the first oratorical jousting of 1324”, explains Philippe Dazet-Brun.
The Cameroonian slam poet Marc Alexandre Oho Bambe, master of games at the Academy, helps organize it. At the end of this 2023 edition, two other new prizes will reward sonnets, epistles, fables or prose texts. A grand prize for poetry in the French language, endowed with 15,000 euros, will be awarded for the first time to both French and foreign poets.
As for the Victor Hugo prize for young poets, also international, it will serve as a reminder that the author of Contemplationformer master of games, was decorated by the Academy with a gold lily at the age of 17.