Anne Portugal (born March 29, 1949) is a French
poet
A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...
who lives and works in Paris. She was born in
Angers
Angers (, , ) is a city in western France, about southwest of Paris. It is the prefecture of the Maine-et-Loire department and was the capital of the province of Anjou until the French Revolution. The inhabitants of both the city and the prov ...
(
Maine-et-Loire
Maine-et-Loire () is a department in the Loire Valley in the Pays de la Loire region in Western France. It is named after the two rivers, Maine and the Loire. It borders Mayenne and Sarthe to the north, Loire-Atlantique to the west, Indre-e ...
) and attended
Paris 8 University
Paris 8 University Vincennes-Saint-Denis (french: Université Paris 8 Vincennes-Saint-Denis) is a public university in Paris, France. Once part of the historic University of Paris, it is now an autonomous public institution.
It is one of the th ...
in the suburbs of Paris.
Her work is influenced by, and often references,
Jacques Roubaud
Jacques Roubaud (; born 5 December 1932 in Caluire-et-Cuire, Rhône) is a French poet, writer and mathematician
Life and career
Jacques Roubaud taught Mathematics at University of Paris X Nanterre and Poetry at EHESS. A member of the Oulipo gr ...
as well as contemporary sources such as instruction booklets and video games.
Her recent work ''Définitif bob'' (translated both by
Jennifer Moxley
Jennifer Moxley (born 12 May 1964) is an American poet, editor, and translator (French) who was born in San Diego, California. She got her GED at 16, took college courses while working in her father's shop, spent a year as an au pair in Paris at ag ...
as ''absolute bob'' as well as by
Norma Cole
Norma Cole (born May 12, 1945) is a Canadian poet, visual artist, translator, and curator. An Anglophone Canadian by birth, Cole learned French at an early age, and went on to translate the works of French poets Emmanuel Hocquard, Danielle Collo ...
as ''Virtual bob'' ) has been the subject of considerable critical and popular interest. It is speculated that bob is short for ''bobine'', a French word meaning "coil" and the origin of the English word "
bobbin
A bobbin or spool is a spindle or cylinder, with or without flanges, on which yarn, thread, wire, tape or film is wound. Bobbins are typically found in industrial textile machinery, as well as in sewing machines, fishing reels, tape measure ...
". bob (lower-case is mandatory) is a character (a minuscule joker) who lives in a television set (''la télé où il est mais dedans à l'envers'', ''the telly where he is but inside the wrong way round'') who is a specialist in the ''mission serrée horizontale'' (''close-fought horizontal mission'' is one possible translation).
A recurring motif is ''bob il peut comme ça'' (untranslatable, perhaps ''bob, just like that, ...''). Another notable feature is the absence of punctuation in the 24 sections of the 128 page book involving the reader in the construction of its meaning.
Works
* Valentina Gosetti, Andrea Bedeschi, Adriano Marchetti, eds. ''Donne. Poeti di Francia e Oltre. Dal Romanticismo a Oggi'' (translated by Valentina Gosetti). Giuliano Ladolfi Editore, 2017.
* Writing the Real: A Bilingual Anthology of Contemporary French Poetry (translated by
Jennifer Moxley
Jennifer Moxley (born 12 May 1964) is an American poet, editor, and translator (French) who was born in San Diego, California. She got her GED at 16, took college courses while working in her father's shop, spent a year as an au pair in Paris at ag ...
), 2016.
Enitharmon Press
Enitharmon Press is an independent British publishing house specialising in artists’ books, poetry, limited editions and original prints.
The name of the press comes from the poetry of William Blake: Enitharmon was a character who represented ...
* Mise en scène de Eric Vautrin, P.O.L, 2003.
* Définitif bob, P.O.L, May 2002.
** Eric Vautrin has created a theatrical 'version', presented at the Théâtre des Ateliers, Lyon. A performance is described at some length i
Définitif Bob ou la poésie contemporaine... (in French)* Et les gens contents de se baigner, RUP&RUD, 2001.
* Voyer en l'air. Editions de l'attente, "Week-end", 2001.
* Dans la reproduction en 2 parties égales des plantes et des animaux, P.O.L, 2001. (in collaboration with
).
* La réalité en face/la quoi ?, Al Dante/RROZ, 1999. (in collaboration with
Caroline Dubois)
* Le plus simple appareil, P.O.L, 1992.
** A modern re-telling of the biblical story of Susannah and the elders, translated as Nude by
Norma Cole
Norma Cole (born May 12, 1945) is a Canadian poet, visual artist, translator, and curator. An Anglophone Canadian by birth, Cole learned French at an early age, and went on to translate the works of French poets Emmanuel Hocquard, Danielle Collo ...
, Kelsey St., 2001.
* Fichier, Éditions Michel Chandeigne, 1992.
* Souris au lait, Messidor-la Farandole : 01-Bellegarde, Impr. SADAG, 1989,
* De quoi faire un mur, P.O.L, 1987.
* Les Commodités d'une banquette, P.O.L, 1985.
* La Licence, qu'on appelle autrement parrhésie, Gallimard, 1980.
External links
Professor Agnès Disson's article ''The Duracell Bunny'', (in French)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Portugal, Anne
1949 births
Living people
French poets