PARISH, Nina; WAGSTAFF, Emma (eds.)
Writing The Real. A Bilingual Anthology of Contemporary French Poetry

Since the 1960s, poetry in French has been understood in terms of two competing approaches: searching for ‘présence’ on the one hand, ‘littéralité’ – refiguring the everyday – on the other. Contemporary forms of both are found in this anthology, from the ‘new lyricism’ of Bonhomme and Maulpoix to the refracted politics of ‘post-poetry’ in Tarkos and Gleize. The dichotomy, however, quickly breaks down and many poets refuse to be categorised in this way: recent publications include the interdisciplinary and collaborative work of poets such as Alferi, Chaton, Game and Macher; the focus on formal constraint in Métail and Espitallier; Portugal’s exploration of the impact of new technologies. Writing the Real features 18 key contemporary French-language poets alongside English translations by leading poets and translators, including Keston Sutherland and Joshua Clover. [publisher's note]

Published by Enitharmon Press, 2020
Anthologies / Poetry