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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, short story writer and essayist. He broke with existing literary forms and developed a new type of semi-autobiographical novel that blended character study, so ...
,
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 pa ...
, and Anaïs Nin.


Life and works

Born in
Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
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 *Czech (surnam ...
Jewish parents, Perlès struggled as a writer in
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
during his early 1930s, where he worked for a while for the Paris office of the ''
Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...
''. In 1933, American writer
Henry Miller Henry Valentine Miller (December 26, 1891 – June 7, 1980) was an American novelist, short story writer and essayist. He broke with existing literary forms and developed a new type of semi-autobiographical novel that blended character study, so ...
- 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''. 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 Maria Joseph Paul Artaud (; ; 4September 18964March 1948), better known as Antonin Artaud, was a French artist who worked across a variety of media. He is best known for his writings, as well as his work in the theatre and cinema. Widely ...
, 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 (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
the group broke apart, as Miller moved on to
Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...
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 Big Sur () is a rugged and mountainous section of the Central Coast of the U.S. state of California, between Carmel Highlands and San Simeon, where the Santa Lucia Mountains rise abruptly from the Pacific Ocean. It is frequently praised fo ...
, 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 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 of Kyrenia has been populated before, ...
,
Northern Cyprus Northern Cyprus, officially the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), is a ''de facto'' state that comprises the northeastern portion of the Geography of Cyprus, island of Cyprus. It is List of states with limited recognition, recognis ...
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 City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Somerset, located on the southern edge of the Mendip Hills, south-east of Weston-super-Mare, south-west of Bath, Somerset, Bath a ...
from where they made regular visits to the
Cotswolds The Cotswolds ( ) is a region of central South West England, along a range of rolling hills that rise from the meadows of the upper River Thames to an escarpment above the Severn Valley and the Vale of Evesham. The area is defined by the bedroc ...
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