Philippe Jaccottet (Switzerland / writes in French)
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Beginning in 1945 with Trois poèmes aux demons, Jaccottet wrote over 30 volumes of poetry, along with translations, stories, essays (such as L’Entretien des muses of 1968), and other writings, establishing himself as one of the central literary figures of the age.
1925-2021
Born in Moudon, Switzerland, in the Canton of Vaud, on June 30, 1925, Philippe Jaccottet is one of the major living French language poets of his generation.
He was educated in Lausanne, and lived for several years in Paris, moving in 1953 to the town of Grignan in Provence.
Beginning in 1945 with Trois poèmes aux demons, Jaccottet wrote over 30 volumes of poetry, along with translations, stories, essays (such as L’Entretien des muses of 1968), and other writings, establishing himself as one of the central literary figures of the age.
He has translated numerous authors and poets into French, including Goethe, Hölderlin, Mann, Mandelstam, Góngora, Leopardi, Musil, Rilke, Homer and Ungaretti. He was awarded the German international Petrarca-Preis in 1988 for his poetry.
In 2014, Jaccottet became the 15th author to be published while still living in the prestigious Bibliothèque de la Pléiade, and only the 4th Swiss writer to be included in the series. Over the years, Jaccottet has won numerous awards, including Prix des écrivains vaudois, 1958; Johann-Heinrich-Voß-Preis für Übersetzung, 1966; Prix Gottfried Keller (site officiel), 1981; Grand Prix de Poésie de la Ville de Paris, 1985; Petrarca-Preis, 1988; Grand Prix national de Poésie, 1995; and Prix Goncourt de la poésie, 2003.
Jaccottet died in Grignan, France in February 2021 at the age of 95.
BOOKS OF POETRY
Trois poèmes aux demons (Aux Portes de France, 1945); Requiem (Mermod, 1947); L'Effraie (Paris: Gallimard, 1953); L’Ignorant (Paris: Gallimard, 1958); L’Obscurité (Paris: Gallimard, 1961); La Semaison (Lusanne: Payot, 1963); Airs (Paris: Gallimard, 1967); Leçons (Lusanne: Payot, 1969); Paysages avec figures absentes (Paris: Gallimard, 1970, 1976); Chant d'en-bas (Lusanne: Payot, 1974); À travers un Verger (Paris: Fata Morgana, 1975); À la lumière d'hiver (Paris: Gallimarad, 1974); Les Cormorans (Marseille: Idumée, 1980); Pensées sous les nuages (1983); Une Transaction secrete (1987); Cahier de verdure (1990); Libretto (La Dogana, 1990 Requiem (1946) (Paris: Fata Morgana, 1991); Poésie, 1946-1967 (Paris: Gallimard, 1990); Cristal et fumée (Paris: Fata Morgana, 1993); À la lumière d’hiver/précédé de, Leçons/Chants d’en bas/Pensées sous les nuages (Paris: Gallimard, 1994); Après beaucoup d’années (Paris: Gallimard, 1994); Autriche (Éditions L’Age d’homme, 1994); Eaaux prodigies ( La Sétérée: J. Clerc, 1994); Observations et autres notes anciennes: 1947-1962 (Paris: Gallimard, 1998); Notes du ravin (Paris: Fata Morgana, 2001); E, néanmoins (Paris: Gallimard, 2001); Nuages (Paris: Fata Morgana, 2002); Cahier de verdure/Après beaucoup d’années (Paris: Gallimard, 2003); Israël, cahier bleau (Montpellier: Fata Morgana, 2004); Truinas (Genève: La Dogana, 2004); Un calme feu (Montpellier: Fata Morgana, 2007); Ce peu de bruits (Paris: Gallimard, 2008); Le Cours de la Broye: suite moudonnoise (Moudon: Empreintes, 2008); Couleur de terre (with Anne-Marie Jaccottet) (Montpellier: Fata Morgana, 2009); Œvres (Paris: Gallimard/Bibliothèque de la Pléide, 2014).
ENGLISH LANGUAGE TRANSLATIONS
Breathings: The Poems of Philippe Jaccottet, trans. by Cid Corman (New York: Grossman, 1974); Selected Poems, trans. by Derek Mahon (Winston-Salem, North Carolina: Wake Forest University Press, 1988); Words in the Air: A Selection of Poems, trans. by Derek Mahon (Lougherens, Oldcastle, Ireland: Gallery Press, 1998); And, Nonetheless: Selected Prose and Poetry, trans. by John Taylor (New York: Chelsea Editions, 2011)