Olive leaves: A poetic and literary anthology

No tree in the world has inspired poets more than the olive tree. And even today, no tree inspires more literature than the olive tree – our anthology published in October 2004 under the title Fleurs d’olivier provided, we believe, an initial eloquent demonstration of this. Since then, we have not stopped gleaning. In our personal archives, on the shelves of bookshops and public libraries, and even in the bins of record stores, we’ve still unearthed works by writers, poets, scholars and popular artists, as well as ancient and contemporary songs celebrating the olive tree, its olives and its “oil of a hundred virtues”.

Friends have sent us texts they had researched for us. Better still, others wrote some especially for us and offered them to us. What gifts! So here’s the second batch of our collected goodies, with a bonus of proverbs and sayings, axioms and maxims inherited from the Mediterranean tradition and bearing the wisdom and humour of our peoples.
And now, let’s get on with the party! With our book under our arm, we’re going to travel through our olive groves again and again, meeting new people, making new friends and sharing the joys of our discoveries. In the meantime, read and savour this little anthology to the glory of our tree, ever reborn and a beacon of hope, and in praise of all the marvels exuded by its sweet fruit and exalted by its golden oil.