Aurelia Lassaque (1983) is a bilingual poet in French and Occitan, the language of the medieval troubadours, endangered today. Interested in the interaction between various forms of art, she often cooperates with visual artists, video makers, dancers and particularly musicians. Her books have been translated into a dozen languages. She has been performing her poetry along with songs all over Europe, North and South America, Africa, Indonesia, India and China. Advocate of linguistic diversity, she acts as literary advisor for festivals in France, Italy and Africa. Aurélia Lassaque also collaborates as a screenwriter for the cinema with the director Giuseppe Schillaci: in 2019 their artistic colaboration - poetic short film Transhumance, was presented at the 76th Venice Film Festival.
ORPHEUS DREAMS
In the nether worlds, where men
Are only shadows,
Inside your body, I will become shadow.
I will build cities of sand
To swallow the river from which none return.
We will dance on towers invisible to our eyes.
I will be your tongue torn out that cannot lie.
And we’ll curse the love that betrayed us.
Translation by Madeleine Campbell