The Yale Anthology of Twentieth-Century French Poetry [Paperback]

Ms. Mary Ann Caws (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 9, 2008

Not since the publication of Paul Auster’s The Random House Book of 20th Century French Poetry (1984) has there been a significant and widely read anthology of modern French poetry in the English-speaking world. Here for the first time is a comprehensive bilingual representation of French poetic achievement in the twentieth century, from the turn-of-the-century poetry of Guillaume Apollinaire to the high modernist art of Samuel Beckett to the contemporary verse of scourge Michel Houellebecq. Many of the English translations (on facing pages) are justly celebrated, composed by eminent figures such as T.S. Eliot, Wallace Stevens, and John Ashbery; many others are new and have been commissioned for this book.
Distinguished scholar and editor Mary Ann Caws has chosen work by more than 100 poets. Her deliberately extensive, international selection includes work by Francophone poets, by writers better known for accomplishments in other genres (novelists, songwriters, performance artists), and by many more female poets than have typically been represented in past anthologies of modern French poetry. The editor has opted for a chronological organization that highlights six crucial “pressure points” in modern French poetry. Accompanying the selections are a general introduction, informative essays on each period, and short biographical notes—all prepared by the editor.

Editorial Reviews

Review

This eagerly anticipated volume is the first comprehensive bilingual representation of French poetic achievement in the twentieth century. Mary Ann Caws has selected the work of more than 100 poets, an international roundup that includes numerous Francophone poets and many more female poets than have appeared in previous anthologies. English translations accompany each poem.-->

"Let's raise a glass to Mary Ann Caws and the new Yale Anthology of Twentieth-Century French Poetry. Her scholarship, editorial skills, and brilliant army of poet-translators have produced the first fully comprehensive, panoramic, one hundred-year vision of everything Francophone: from Paris to Martinique, from Apollinaire to the Workshop of Potential Literature. It's all here, a fathomless case of champagne, deserving, as in Mallarmé's Salut, ‘of the white care of our sail.’”—Janet Hamill, author of Lost Ceilings

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From the Back Cover

"A monumental work that will serve as a point of reference for contemporary French studies for years to come. Reaching beyond canonical works and authors, it runs through culture at large with force and elegance. It will change the course of French studies."-Tom Conley, Harvard University --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 704 pages
• Publisher: Yale University Press (September 9, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300143184
• ISBN-13: 978-0300143188
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,243,111 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I like writing about all sorts of things, art and artists, poetry and poets, literatures of various sorts, and also about travel and cooking. And I love living in New York and Provence. My daughter created a great website for me: maryanncaws.com.