Come and hear Emilia Petrakis’s performance reading, accompanied by music from Mel Malonga, centered on her novel Bagarre, published by Les Avrils in February 2026!
"Sara, 38, lives for MMA. Her club, Alpha Team, is her refuge and her whole world. But after losing a decisive fight, the end of her career looms, shaking her certainties, while an unexpected message draws her back to a father from whom she has long been estranged. As her body begins to resist less, her entire way of being is put to the test. An ode to this often-maligned combat sport, which she herself practices, Bagarre, by Emilia Petrakis, brings her characters’ doubts, hopes, and private fractures together inside the octagon. The novel asks what it means to keep fighting when the very reasons for holding on and taking the blows must be reinvented." (see Festival Hors Limites 2026) ; Credits: © Chloé Vollmer-Lo Emilia Petrakis Emilia Petrakis writes poetry and competes in amateur Mixed Martial Arts. With Bagarre, her first novel, she offers a sensitive and energetic reflection on finding freedom through sport, as well as a moving, cliché-free tribute to a little-known community. ; Credits: © Aurore Vinot Mel Malonga Mel Malonga is a performer, bassist, multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, and arranger, and is behind a cultural venue currently under development in Brazzaville. He has collaborated with numerous musicians, including Zao, Fatoumata Diawara, Meiway, and Ali Farka Touré; created the show "Le vol du Boli" in 2020 with Damon Albarn and Abderrahmana Sissako at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris; and worked with directors and choreographers such as Dieudonné Niangouna, Etienne Minoungou, and Séverine Chavrier, for whom he composed the music for her show "Absalon Absalon" for the 2024 Festival d'Avignon. -> The event will be followed by drinks and a book signing with the Nouvel Équipage bookstore.
Source: paris.fr — photo: ZenFab