Georges Schehadé and the golden age of francophone Lebanese poetry

Georges Schehadé was many things - a private man, an esteemed poet, the author of a body of work filled with mysterious and dazzling bursts of genius, and a playwright whose works were staged by some of the most respected directors of his generation, not least Jean-Louis Barrault. Anyone who has had the pleasure of seeing his oeuvre in action will attest to how unforgettable it is. It falls within a remarkable moment for francophone Lebanese literature, a time when poetry held a central place in Beirut. Encouraged and supported by the great critic Gabriel Bounoure, this golden age gave Lebanon a group of poets - Georges Schehadé along with Etel Adnan, Andrée Chédid, Vénus Khoury-Ghata, Fouad Gabriel Naffah, Salah Stétié, Nadia Tuéni, and others - who rank among the greatest authors in the canon of francophone literature.

A literary critic for L'Orient Littéraire, Farès Sassine must be the most authoritative commentator on the work of Georges Schehadé and his contemporaries. There is no-one better than him to talk about this era.