Saint-John Perse

Alexis Leger, known as Saint-John Perse, born May 31, 1887 in Pointe-à-Pitre and died September 20, 1975 in Hyères, is a French poet, writer and diplomat, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1960.

See the excellent periodized biography and the biographical approaches of Saint-John Perse on the poet's website.

Resources

Images and portraits

The Saint-John Perse site

The Saint-John Perse Foundation website

A century of writers - Saint-John Perse - video

A life, a work - Saint-John Perse

Biography of Saint-John Perse - video

Saint-John Perse – Biography of the poet (France 3, 1982)

Reading “To celebrate a childhood” by Laurent Terzieff

Saint-John Perse or the enigmas of modernity

Saint-John Perse, a masked poet

Exegeses - Jean Paulhan, the ferryman

Saint-John Perse, the immarcescible - France Culture

"Stopovers in the work" of Saint-John Perse - France Culture

Honor to Saint-John Perse, Gallimard

Nobel Prize: speech by Saint-John Perse (Stockholm, 1960)

Saint-John Perse, a masked poet - Fabula

Saint-John Perse resources - André Breton site

Saint-John Perse, fifty years later…

Correspondance : Saint-John Perse & Jean Paulhan, 1925-1966

Exhibitions :

• Hommage à Commerce : lettres et arts à Paris, 1920-1935

See also, by Jean Paulhan :

• Lettres à Marthe de Fels
• Introduction à Honneur à Saint-John Perse
• Énigmes de Perse

Bibliography of texts published in the NRF

The texts below, published in La Nouvelle Revue Française, are grouped into four main sets: texts by Saint-John Perse, notes and columns by the author, texts about the author, and, when available, translations by the author.

Texts by Saint-John Perse

1. Poème, 1922-04-01
2. Anabase, 1924-01-01
3. Amers (I), 1953-01-01
4. Amers (II), 1953-02-01
5. Étroits sont les vaisseaux..., 1956-07-01
6. Poésie, 1961-01-01
7. Oiseaux, 1962-12-01
8. Léon-Paul Fargue, Poète, 1963-08-01
9. Léon-Paul Fargue, Poète (Fin), 1963-09-01

Notes by Saint-John Perse

These texts by Saint-John Perse may include reading notes, mood notes, performance reviews, miscellaneous pieces, or previously unpublished texts. They appeared in NRF sections such as Chronique des romans, L'air du mois, Le temps comme il passe, etc., or in tribute issues.

1. Midi, ses fauves, ses famines..., 1953-05-01, Les revues
2. Silence pour Claudel, 1955-09-01, Hommages
3. Larbaud ou L'honneur littéraire, 1957-09-01, Présentation de Valery Larbaud
4. Hommage à la mémoire de Rabindranath Tagore, 1961-11-01, Chroniques

Texts about Saint-John Perse

These texts may include thematic studies about the author, correspondence, reading notes on works by or about the author, interviews conducted by the author, or works edited by the author.

1. Anabase, par Saint-John Perse (Éditions de la N. R. F.), by Agnel Portail, 1927-07-01, Notes : la poésie
2. Rencontres avec Saint-John Perse, by Pierre Guerre, 1959-12-01, articles
3. Saint-John Perse ou Le vertige de la plénitude, by Cioran, 1960-12-01, Chroniques

Chronological distribution of texts published in the NRF (1908-1968)

This chart shows the chronological distribution of texts across the four categories defined above: Texts, Notes, Translations, and Texts about the author.

Bibliography of texts published in the journal Commerce

The texts below, published in the journal Commerce, are grouped into two sets: texts by Saint-John Perse and texts translated by the author.

Texts by Saint-John Perse

1. Amitié du prince (p. 105-119), été 1924 [158 p.]
2. Chanson (p. 7), hiver 1924 [258 p.]

Translated texts by Saint-John Perse

1. Thomas Stearns Eliot, Poème (p. 10-11), hiver 1924 [258 p.]
2. Hugo von Hofmmansthal, Émancipation du lyrisme français (p. 7-11), été 1929 [216 p.]

Bibliography of texts published in Les Cahiers de la Pleiade

The texts below, published in Les Cahiers de la Pleiade, are grouped into three sets: texts by Saint-John Perse, texts translated by the author, and texts about the author.

Texts by Saint-John Perse

1. Poème, printemps 1948 [184 p.]
2. Et vous, mers…, été-automne 1950 [188 p.]
3. Poème pour Valery Larbaud, été-automne 1950 [188 p.]
4. Lettre privée à Archibald Mac Leish, été-automne 1950 [188 p.]
5. Réponse à une allocution américaine, été-automne 1950 [188 p.]
6. Message pour Valery Larbaud, automne 1951-printemps 1952 [204 p.]

Texts about

These texts may include thematic studies about the author, correspondence, reading notes on works by or about the author, or works translated by the author.

1. À Saint-John Perse by René Char, été-automne 1950 [188 p.]
2. Un poème de Saint-John Perse : "Vents" by Paul Claudel, été-automne 1950 [188 p.]