CREED: Art is more than an aesthetic pursuit—it is a bridge to the deeper realms of human understanding, where emotion and intellect are aligned with wisdom. At its core, creativity grants us access to the most profound aspects of our being, those sp...

CREED: Art is more than an aesthetic pursuit—it is a bridge to the deeper realms of human understanding, where emotion and intellect are aligned with wisdom. At its core, creativity grants us access to the most profound aspects of our being, those spaces where empathy flourishes and meaning emerges. The act of making, of bringing something into existence, is the purest expression of our humanity. It is here, in the act of creation, that we transcend the ordinary and touch something universal. Art captures those undercurrents of feeling, distills them into form, and submits them as insight--offering not just beauty but a profound way of seeing the world. A return to making things is the way out of the miasma of modern life. In all balanced and functional societies, the poet has been entrusted with the role of seer—the one who perceives, interprets, and illuminates the world for others. To restore this role is to reclaim wisdom, vision, and the essential place of art in shaping a more harmonious society. BIO: Maryama Antoine, the creator and host of Poet on Song, is a poet, novelist, and English literature teacher. Originally from New York City, she has lived in Paris for more than twenty years. A finalist for the Ruth Lilly Poetry Fellowship, selections from her two books of poems have been read on WQXR, New York City’s classical music station, and published in Spark Magazine, Éditions sans Plumes, Dotting the Eye, Spectrum, and elsewhere. She is the author of two novels, The Day the Leaf Falls and The Decree, and is currently at work on a third novel, Father Campion. Her fiction explores how displacement, faith, and cultural inheritance continually reframe our understanding of human identity. She is also the curator of The Shakespeare Project, Paris’ largest Shakespeare club, which brings together experts, aficionados, and the curious to explore Shakespeare, his contemporaries, and the continuing life of his work.