Claire Olirencia Deville

Author, Artist, Feminist

Dancer, author and feminist, Claire Olirencia Deville (she/they) has lived in Brussels since 2008. Graduating with a Masters in Literature and specializing in Argentine tango, in 2013, Deville participated and won the Libération’s APAJ competition for young writers with “Dernier tango à Bruxelles.” After moving to Buenos Aires, they wrote and published their first novel Les Poupées Sauvages (Délirium, 2014) and won critical and public success. Les Citrons (Editions Murmure des Soirs, 2017), their second novel, was published with a discovery grant from the Wallonia-Brussels Federation later ; she also wrote Contes défaits, performed at the Théâtre National’s MAD Festival (2023). Her poetic monologue He Ate the Sun was performed at Fabrique de théâtre Festival (2023) again with the support FWB, SCAM, and Camilo Cordoba’s musical accompaniment. Later, her first poetry book Since It's the End of the World (angry poems because how can you not be) (Double Punctuation, 2023) was perfomed at Maison Poème as a slam play (DEMAIN) directed by Joëlle Sambi and accompanied by DJ Yasmina Tayoub/Gem&I. They are also collaborating with Joëlle on a new idea “La plage avant” with Passa Porta, Maison Poème, and Bellone. And Claire's next novel La nuit Berlin is slated to be published in May 2024 by Double Punctuation.

In 2024, she also joins the Women* Writing Berlin Lab, as regularly featured artist, workshop collaborator and leader. Claire Olirencia Deville regularly gives workshops in places such as Les Allié.e.s, Danses en Fête festival, the National Theatre, La Bellone, Les Midis de la Poésie or That’s What X Said art gallery. The main focus of her workshops is to return writing to those to whom it belongs. They believe that workshops, “grant yourself this simple act of personal, intimate, poetic, political writing, in a space that is safe and inclusive enough so that everyone can finally feel OK to express themselves.”

Website: CLAIRE OLIRENCIA DEVILLE, FAIRY TALES AND TANGO

Instagram: @claireolirenciadeville