Toward a New Poetics: Contemporary Writing in France

A quiet revolution is taking place in avant-garde French poetry and prose. In this collection of twelve interviews with some of France’s most important poets and writers, Serge Gavronsky introduces readers to these new developments. As Gavronsky explains, a neolyricism is now replacing the formalism of the 1960s, 70s and 80s. In his introduction, Gavronsky notes how the ideological definition of writing (ecriture) has given way to more open forms of writing. Human experiences of the most ordinary kinds are finding a place in the text. These interviews offer a view of the poets’ and writers’ creative processes and range over such topics as current literary theory, the impact of American poetry in France, and the place of feminism in contemporary French writing. Each interview is accompanied by samples of the writer’s work in French and in Gavronsky’s English translations. Toward a New Poetics aims to provide a highly informative cultural and critical perspective on contemporary writing in France, introducing us to works which are now transforming the idea of literature itself.