The New French Poetry

This anthology captures the excitement of one of the most challenging developments in contemporary French writing, the new metaphysical poetry which has become an influential strand in recent French literature. It is a rigorously ontological poetry concerned with the very being of things, and with the nature of poetic language itself. This is not the only kind of poetry being written in France today, but it is an extremely significant development, not only in French poetry, but also in French writing as a whole. Indeed, some of the writers included in this book, notably Édmond Jabès and Gérard Macé, have been influential in the subversion of conventional genres, by the play between poetry, narrative and essay, which has been an important aspect of recent French literature. This anthology brings together writers of different generations, from Gisèle Prassinos and Joyce Mansour, through Jacques Dupin and Bernard Noël, to Frank-André Jamme and André Velter. It represents those who are major figures in France and already have some reputation in Britain and America, alongside writers who are still relatively unknown to English readers. Much of the poetry shows an affinity with the work of Henri Michaux. The book also reflects the range of poetry published by the innovative French imprint Éditions Fata Morgana, as well as the lists of leading French publishers such as Gallimard, Éditions du Seuil and Mercure de France.