Burkina Faso/Cours privé Elisa de Saaba: 25 students learn poetry through "literary writing training residencies".
On the initiative of the association Littérature Sans Frontière (LSF), the Cours privé Elisa in Saaba (on the eastern outskirts of the capital) hosted "literary writing training residencies" on May 15 and 16, 2025, with a focus on the poetry genre. This first initiative, which generated a great deal of interest, culminated in a presentation of the best texts by the auditors (participants in the residencies) at the closing ceremony (Friday, May 16).
These "training residencies in literary writing" involved 25 listeners, all students from 6e to Terminale, from the private Elisa course. The theme was "Literature and environmental protection: words to heal nature".
According to Issaka Ouédraogo, President of the association Littérature Sans Frontière (LSF), the initiator of the event, the general objective is to encourage the production of literary works that protect the environment.is to encourage the production and dissemination of literary works committed to environmental protection. Specifically, the aim was to strengthen the poetic writing skills of 25 students; contribute to the production of poetic workstic works for the protection of the environment and the clean-up of the living environment; contribute to raising awareness of environmental protection and the living environment within the school community.
To achieve this, the approach consisted in holding an inaugural conference on the above-mentioned themeThis was followed by workshops to produce poetic texts, and a plenary session to present the results.
"The poem, to start with; because we also said to ourselves that a novel is complicated, it's more demanding. But generally speaking, in our high schools, our schools, students already try their hand at poems. So, for us, the idea is to start with this literary genre and then move on to the others, which are not necessarily accessible to students. (...). All those who took part will be supported, not just the winners; those who improve their production and distinguish themselves will be retained with a view to publishing a collection of poems. A group has already been set up, to enable everyone to keep in touch, interact and seek advice from the trainers", presented Issaka Ouédra.said Issaka Ouédraogo, admitting that he was surprised by the enthusiasm for the activity and the level of commitment shown by the audience.
"We chose the theme based on the context, which is climate precariousness, where nature is taking a beating. We feel that we can already combine the useful with the pleasurable, by training in a literary genre and helping to raise awareness of the issue of protecting our living environment"The president of LSF explains, urging those of good will to support initiatives and associations promoting literature and reading.
In the opinion of the trainer, Constant David Guiré, writer, novelist, poet, jurist-tax specialist and head of the Éveil Livres group, such initiatives should be duplicated, to support the formation of human capital. "We were amazed. We've been running these training courses since 2020, but I have to say that this is one of the times we've been really enchanted by the receptiveness of the audience. This was reflected in the quality of the texts produced. The training focused on an introduction to poetic writing: an introduction to poetry, the technical foundations of poetry (the rules of versification, prose writing, poetic language, figures of speech, etc.)", confides Mr. Guillemot.)," confides Mr. Guiré, author of the collection "Une goutte de poèmes".
At the end of this first initiative of its kind at the Cours privé Elisa, the five best listeners received encouragement from the promoters. In addition to the certificates of participation awarded to all participants, these winners received literary works.
In order of merit, the winners were Yasmine Bationo, 1st year A4; Fatimata Diallo, 2nd year A; Sabine Sawadogo, Terminale A4; Zoubeidatou Compaoré, 2nd year C and Landry Dipama, 1st year D.
A test run, a master stroke, we'd say, given the comments made at the closing by all those involved, including the beneficiary students. Hence the satisfaction expressed by Judicaël Sanou, Director of Studies at Cours privé Elisa, who expressed the school's gratitude to the LSF association for this important partnership, which forms part of its training vision. "Training necessarily involves reading; students who like to read do better at school. All knowledge is in the book, so we need to give them a love of reading, so they can develop intellectually. We want well-trained children who avoid shortcuts," says Mr. Sanou, congratulating the head of the LSF association: "You work with passion. You bring a lot to our country. You are the VDP of literature".
The Director of Studies took the opportunity to urge all those involved, especially parents, to support their children's efforts, in particular through home revision, learning opportunities and other assistance.
He also urged pupils to be diligent and concentrate, "because success comes with effort".
Source: lefaso.net/
