Soirée spéciale En l’absence de Leïla Chahid et Rima Poésie Club

Les Nouvelles Rencontres d’Averroès pay tribute to Leïla Chahid, a major Palestinian voice who had taken part in the event. A diplomat and tireless defender of the rights of the Palestinian people, a cultural bridge-builder and passionate reader, she devoted her life to a political commitment inseparable from a profound attachment to justice and dialogue.

Through the words of those close to her, fellow activists and friends, archival images and musical interludes, this tribute will capture the many facets of a woman whose thought, elegance and generosity compel us to look to the future.

Evening hosted by Brigitte Curmi. Music by Sary Khalifé and Walid Ben Salim. Featuring onstage and on video: Suad Amiry, Majed Bamya, Simone Bitton, Dominique Eddé, Thierry Fabre and Mohamed El Khatib.

The tribute is followed at 9:30 p.m. by the Rima Poésie Club (combined ticket for the evening): Poetry as a way to stand up to the chaos of the world.

Founded in 2023 by former Culture Minister Rima Abdul Malak, the Rima Poésie Club has become a quarterly event in Paris, a fiery, vibrant stage where the voices of contemporary poetry resonate. A place for listening, inspiration and resistance in the face of the world's chaos.

For its first event outside Paris, on the occasion of this exceptional edition of Les Nouvelles Rencontres d’Averroès, it brings together poets from the Arab world: Maram Al Masri, a Syrian poet exiled in France and winner of the 2026 Ganzo Prize; Walid Ben Selim, a Moroccan singer and poet; Sofía Karámpali Farhat, a poet from southern Lebanon; Mohammed Al Qudwa, a poet from Gaza; and Sary Khalifé, a French-Lebanese cellist.

To read Maram Al-Masri, Je te menace d’une colombe blanche, Éditions Bruno Doucey, 2026. Maram Al-Masri, Elle va nue la liberté, Éditions Bruno Doucey, 2026. Sofía Karámpali Farhat, Zaatar, Éditions Bruno Doucey, 2023.

To listen to Walid Ben Selim, Here and Now (Live at City Club), Nuun Music, 2024. Sary Khalifé, Ayad Khalifé, Soobia, 2018.