Publisher's entry of the first edition of the Sonnets

Shakespeare's Sonnets

Super Utilisateur Poésie Spé

On this page you will find various multimedia resources on the Sonnets and A Lover's Complaint.

I encourage you to delve in, focusing perhaps first on this very rich conference on the latest translation of the Sonnets and their meaning, featuring J.-M. Desprats & A.-M. Miller-Blaise (the most interesting segments are 11:38-14:58, on the specificities of the Shakespearian sonnet - the video begins there; 26:00-31:57 on the feminine ending's impact on diction; 34:11-37:48 on the Sonnets' themes; from 1:06:03 a discussion of the Sonnets' subversive nature):

 

Then listen to this illuminating masterclass on saying the Sonnets out loud, with two masters of their craft, Trevor Nunn directing and David Suchet performing:


 

You can now dip into the Royal Shakespeare Company "Sonnets in Solitude" sequence recorded during the 2020 lockdown (most Sonnets are covered if you go to their YouTube link).

The British Library published a comprehensive essay on sexuality and the Sonnets which should help you navigate the pitfalls of the topic.

And finally, a France Culture broadcast on the Sonnets in general, with A.-M. Miller-Blaise as guest speaker, a good refresher when you're brushing your teeth for instance!

Saint Lucia, Photo by Claudio Trigueros on Unsplash

Derek Walcott

Super Utilisateur Poésie Spé

Derek Walcott, this year's poet, is going to take us far away to the West Indies,

with his poem Omeros, but also on an epic journey through world poetry.

 

Let us first listen to him reading Book One of Omeros:

 

 

On the Open Street Map below the red dot is St Lucia and the green one is Toulouse, to help you place Walcott's world.

 

You can learn more about Derek Walcott in this interview by a young Melvyn Bragg (one of Britain's most brilliant cultural interviewers, still going strong on Radio 4 with his In our Time program).

 

 

You might also enjoy this short video where Walcott discusses painting and poetry. His comments on light are most .... illuminating (!?)

 

 

In the Poetry Exchange, there's a lovely reading of another Walcott poem, "For Sigrid" with a nice discussion after.

 

And finally, you might have fun checking out Saint M, Walcott's grandson, who's trying to break out as a rap singer.