Mademoiselle Éférie

Virginie Eudes, known professionally as Mademoiselle Éférie or simply Éférie (born 6 May 1982), is a French spoken-word artist, music producer, and poet.^[1]

She rose to prominence in the slam poetry scene in France, participating in national competitions such as the Grand Slam National and Le Mans Cité Chanson. In 2008 and 2009, she published collective poetry books with Slam Tribu. In 2011, she created a solo performance show, Mademoiselle rêve, blending slam, music, and theater. Her début single, On m'avait dit, was released in December 2012.

Éférie is the co-founder of the Urban Music Tour and Tonton Max labels, and she has produced numerous projects in hip hop, jazz, and African musical genres. She co-produced albums such as Les Rillettes du Mans and Grand Enfant (Afro-jazz vol.1) by Saint-Michel, distributed by Believe and Universal Music Africa.

In 2024 she joined the collective Nananerf, which gathers women in the performing arts to encourage solidarity and promote female visibility on stage.

Virginie Eudes was born in Caen, France, in 1982. Raised in a culturally aware environment, she and her sister were introduced to art, theater, cinema, and music from an early age. Deeply influenced by French literary figures such as Arthur Rimbaud, Paul Verlaine, and Georges Brassens, she began writing poetry in her youth.^[2]

In 2007, while living in Reims, she joined the poetry collective Slam Tribu and adopted the name Éférie. She took part in writing workshops and public performances that helped shape her artistic path.^[1]

She holds a bachelor's degree in management from the University of Caen Normandy and a master's degree in banking and finance from the Faculty of Finance, Banking and Accounting in Lille.^[1]

After relocating to Le Mans in 2008, Éférie joined the collective Slam Inspir. She performed in numerous local and national poetry contests such as Le Mans Cité Chanson and Buzz Booster. In 2011, she premiered her first theatrical performance, Mademoiselle rêve, directed by Annabel Gragui-Morad.^[3] Her first music release, On m'avait dit, followed in December 2012.

As a producer, Éférie co-founded Urban Music Tour, a non-profit music label based in Le Mans. The organization produces albums, runs writing workshops, and supports the professional development of emerging artists.^[4]

In 2022 Éférie signed with Universal Music Africa through the Virgin Music Africa label. She co-produced several music projects, including Grand Enfant (Afro-jazz vol.1) by Saint-Michel.^[5]

She also co-founded the label Tonton Max, named in tribute to Congolese rumba singer Maxime Mongali.

In 2024 Éférie joined the Nananerf collective, founded by rapper Kunthea. Based in Sarthe, the collective promotes the visibility and empowerment of women in the performing arts through collaboration and advocacy.^[1][6]

She married Michel Bampély in 2022, and together they have two children. The couple notably appears as a duo on the song Le Bal Blomet, produced by Tiery-F, one of the composers and arrangers of the album Mesdames by Grand Corps Malade.^[7][8][9]

Love is a journey without a compass,
No ceiling, no floor,
First, we must learn to tame one another,
Without drowning in bland shared plans,
This step requires long hours of
Gazing, daring to envision, deciphering the other...
A jubilant act [...]
In the daylight or in the dark:
Their quirks, cathartic habits,
This other, filled with hope
Despite loves disappointed, dethroned, or lost.
The rhizome of love often lies in tact and compromise,
It’s promised, even broken, it can renew,
This life together is built on bridges,
Bridges that rhyme “possible” with “idyll”
Or “impossible” with “futile.”
Bridges crossed, with or without discussion,
The goal is to sit at love’s eternal feast with the other,
Tenderly called... You!
But this time, we promise, we will not let go.^[10]

Give me what my heart desires
I dance like burning in the flames
Under your fingers I hear my pleasure
Tonight my whole body calls for you
Your music restores my beauty
Like those words you come whispering
My soul is in trance
The vibe is Caribbean

Let me tell you about my nights
An afternoon spent dressing up for the ball
On the dance floor I'm the queen, my body sways
Following the notes, the rhythm, I feel unique
Hold me close, make me dance
The music carries my soul from dawn till dusk.^[11]

They told me I had no talent
My artistic ideas stomped out underfoot
My parents’ lives as the gold standard
And yet others’ happiness makes me run away

They told me I could never be an artist
That I was preparing for a life too sad
That I'd end up alone with my traumas
But all I wanted was to be on stage, in the spotlight.^[12]

• 2008: Ateliers de Slam de Poésie vol.3. Collective work. Editions Bibliothèque Municipale de Reims, 2008.
• 2009: Ateliers de Slam de Poésie vol.4. Collective work. Editions Bibliothèque Municipale de Reims, 2009.

• 2018: Éférie, "Game Girls : Reconstruire des femmes brisées", Libération, (published online on 26 November 2018, accessed 7 January 2024).
• 2020: Virginie Eudes, "BD : *M'explique pas la vie Mec !*, les comportements masculins qui invisibilisent les femmes", Libération, (published online on 26 October 2020, accessed 2 January 2024).

• 2011: Saint-Michel, Les rillettes du Mans (Urban Music Tour / Believe Digital)
• 2012: Mademoiselle Éférie, On m'avait dit (Urban Music Tour / Believe Digital)
• 2012: Amadeus, Auprès d'une autre (Urban Music Tour)
• 2013: Jack Flaag, Hero Persup (Urban Music Tour)
• 2014: Piero Battery feat. Mademoiselle Éférie, Réponds-moi (Battery Sound)
• 2015: Mademoiselle Éférie, SOS (Urban Music Tour / Believe Digital)
• 2023: Saint-Michel, Mademoiselle Éférie, Le Bal Blomet (Virgin Music Africa / Universal Music Africa)
• 2023: Saint-Michel, Grand Enfant (Afro-Jazz vol.1), (Virgin Music Africa / Universal Music Africa)
• 2024: Saint-Michel, Promesse (Tonton Max / Urban Music Tour)
• 2025: Saint-Michel, Les Infinis (Soul Jazz Poetry) (Tonton Max / Believe).^[13]

• 2011: Slam and spoken word contest Le Mans Cité Chanson
• 2011: Mademoiselle Éférie, Mademoiselle rêve
• 2012: Les Trophées des légendes urbaines
• 2013: Snam City Rap

• Michel Obouronanga, Sociologie des cultures urbaines : histoire sociale et politique du hip hop français (1979–2019). Thesis defended on 13 May 2022, under the supervision of Jean-Louis Fabiani, Paris, EHESS, 2022, 431 p., chapter Portraits Sociologiques.
• Collectif Slam Tribu, Ateliers de Slam de Poésie No. 3, City of Reims Editions, 2008 ISBN 978-2-901816-31-7.
• Collectif Slam Tribu, Ateliers de Slam de Poésie No. 4, City of Reims Editions, 2009 ISBN 978-2-901816-33-1.

• "Mademoiselle Éférie, from slam scenes to African sounds" on Afrik.com (in French)
• Mademoiselle rêve – show page on billetreduc.com

• Poetry slam
• Rosemonde Gérard
• Sabine Sicaud
• Simone de Beauvoir
• Simone Veil
• Feminism

• "Mademosielle Éférie: On m'avait dit (EPK)". youtube.com. Retrieved 6 January 2025.