Alfred Perlès (1897–1990) was an Austrian writer (in later life a British citizen), who was most famous for his associations with

Henry Miller Henry Valentine Miller (December 26, 1891 – June 7, 1980) was an American novelist. He broke with existing literary forms and developed a new type of semi-autobiographical novel that blended character study, social criticism, philosophical ref ...

Lawrence Durrell Lawrence George Durrell (; 27 February 1912 – 7 November 1990) was an expatriate British novelist, poet, dramatist, and travel writer. He was the eldest brother of naturalist and writer Gerald Durrell. Born in India to British colonial pare ...

, and

Anaïs Nin Angela Anaïs Juana Antolina Rosa Edelmira Nin y Culmell (February 11, 1903 – January 14, 1977; , ) was a French-born American diarist, essayist, novelist, and writer of short stories and erotica. Born to Cuban parents in France, Nin was the d ...

Life and works

Born in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

in 1897, to

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places * Czech, ...

Jewish parents, Perlès struggled as a writer in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

during his early 1930s, where he worked for a while for the Paris office of the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

''. In 1933,

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

writer

- not yet known - took an apartment with Perlès in Clichy. Miller wrote of this experience in his book '' Quiet Days in Clichy'' (1956, orig. written 1940), in which the character "Carl" is based on Perlès. Other Miller works about Perlès in Paris include his early ''What Are You Going To Do About Alf?'', and a letter to Perlès in ''

Aller Retour New York ''Aller Retour New York'' is a novel by American writer Henry Miller, published in 1935 by Obelisk Press in Paris, France. Published after his breakthrough book ''Tropic of Cancer'', ''Aller Retour New York'' takes the form of a long letter from ...

''. By 1936, Perlès was part of a vibrant Parisian literary scene that included Miller, Lawrence Durrell, and Anaïs Nin, as well as

Antonin Artaud Antoine Marie Joseph Paul Artaud, better known as Antonin Artaud (; 4 September 1896 – 4 March 1948), was a French writer, poet, dramatist, visual artist, essayist, actor and theatre director. He is widely recognized as a major figure of the E ...

, Michael Fraenkel, Hans Reichel and others. Anaïs Nin writes that she first met Alfred Perlès in April, 1932.''Diaries, Volume I, 1931 - 1934'', 1966, p. 62. Miller and Durrell often referred to Perlès as "Joe" or "Joey". Some of these writers were featured in a magazine called ''The Booster'', which Perlès co-published in 1936, along with Miller, Durrell, and Nin. In 1939, with the start of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

the group broke apart, as Miller moved on to

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

and Perlès fled to England (where he applied for, and was granted, British citizenship). A few years later, Perlès wrote a piece about this pre-War circle in ''Henry Miller at Villa Seurat'' (featured in ''The Happy Rock'' anthology, 1945, and republished by the Village Press as a chapbook in 1973). Perlès and Miller maintained a lifelong friendship. Miller visited Perlès in the UK and Perlès visited Miller in Big Sur, California, where he wrote ''My Friend Henry Miller'' (written in 1954/55). Miller wrote a tribute to Perlès in the memoir ''Joey''. Later in life, he lived with his Scottish wife Ann, in a borrowed house in

Kyrenia Kyrenia ( el, Κερύνεια ; tr, Girne ) is a city on the northern coast of Cyprus, noted for its historic harbour and castle. It is under the ''de facto'' control of Northern Cyprus. While there is evidence showing that the wider region ...

Northern Cyprus Northern Cyprus ( tr, Kuzey Kıbrıs), officially the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC; tr, Kuzey Kıbrıs Türk Cumhuriyeti, ''KKTC''), is a ''de facto'' state that comprises the northeastern portion of the Geography of Cyprus, isl ...

but they were forced to leave at the time of the Turkish invasion in 1974 moving to England, where they lived in a modest house on a redbrick housing estate in the town of

Wells, Somerset Wells () is a cathedral city and civil parish in the Mendip district of Somerset, located on the southern edge of the Mendip Hills, south-east of Weston-super-Mare, south-west of Bath and south of Bristol. Although the population recorde ...

from where they made regular visits to the

Cotswolds The Cotswolds (, ) is a region in central-southwest England, along a range of rolling hills that rise from the meadows of the upper Thames to an escarpment above the Severn Valley and Evesham Vale. The area is defined by the bedrock of Jur ...

to meet the poet and writer P.J. Kavanagh and the artist Laurence Whitfield, Kavanagh dedicating a poem to him, "Quieter than Clichy (for Fred Perles)", An Enchantment, Carcanet 1991. He changed his name to Alfred Barret. He died in 1990.

Other works

*''Sentiments limitrophes'' (1936) *''Le quatuor en ré majeur'' (1938) *''The Renegade'' (1943) *''Alien Corn'' (1944) *''Round Trip'' (1946) *''Rathausplatz no. 16'' (by Hedwig Borgner, Trans. Perlès, 1957) *''Art And Outrage'' (with Lawrence Durrell, 1959) *''Reunion in Big Sur'' (1959) *''My Friend Lawrence Durrell'' (1961) *''Scenes From A Floating Life'' (1968) *''My Friend Alfred Perlès: Coda to an Unfinished Autobiography'' (1973)

Footnotes

External links

A Miller chronology, with references to PerlèsAlfred Perlès fonds
at University of Victoria, Special Collections {{DEFAULTSORT:Perles, Alfred Austrian male writers British writers 1897 births 1990 deaths Writers from Vienna Czechoslovak emigrants to France French emigrants to the United Kingdom