EMERY, A POET IN LENS

Cristian Emery, born Christian-Philippe in 1960, was originally from Lens, Switzerland. He called himself Emery, omitting the original “h”.

An incandescent, marginal, and largely unknown poet, he left behind a handful of texts that still resonate forty years later. Published during his lifetime by the Vaud-based printer and publisher Parisod, Emery uses irony, sarcasm, and absurdity to express “life in its most painful and intimate form”¹.

August 23 will be a day dedicated to Cristian Emery, who will return with his texts and a roundtable discussion at Le Monument café-restaurant in Lens.

Program:
4:30 pm – Welcome by Gautier Chiarini, Director of Fondation Opale in Lens
4:35 pm – Talk by Catherine Antille Emery, heritage guide
4:45 pm – “1979, a turning point in Valais and the world”, by Gabriel Bender, sociologist
5:00 pm – Reading of “La Vie en vain” by Emery, by Geneviève Guhl, actress and director
5:30 pm – Roundtable discussion modereted by Gabriel Bender, with Geneviève Guhl, poet Francine Clavien, musician Gilles Mauron, and Chester Civelli
6:45 pm – Concert by Le Sourd Parle: music set to Emery’s texts
7:30 pm – Drinks reception hosted by the Municipality of Lens.

The round table discussion will be broadcast live on the radio Pavillon nomade
Emery’s books will be available for consultation and sale.

Free event
Booking required : online ticketing

¹ Frédéric Pajak, “Emery, l’accélérateur de solitude”, in Grand trouble, Les Cahiers dessinés, p. 17