Bernard Delvaille (1 December 1931 – 18 April 2006) was a French poet, essayist, translator and anthologist. A graduate from the Institut d’Études Politiques, he entered the publishing business in the early 1950s as a reader for

Éditions Denoël Éditions Denoël is a French publishing house founded in 1930. Acquired by Éditions Gallimard in 1951, it publishes collections spanning fiction, non-fiction and comic books. It published some of the most important French authors of the interwar ...

, before collaborating with in 1956, where he did various editorial work. From 1962 on, he worked with Pierre Seghers on the collection "Poètes d'aujourd'hui" until

Robert Laffont The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

bought the editions in 1969. He then managed the collection until 1989. His involvement in publishing was reinforced by his participation in the Centre national des Lettres from 1975 to 1983 in the commissions "Poésie" and "Revue". His literary knowledge led him to become a literary critic and give lectures for the Alliances Françaises and in several universities like Brussels, Lisbon, Rome or Toronto. In addition to these oratorical exercises, he was the author of numerous articles in magazines such as '' Combat'', ', ''

Les Lettres Françaises ''Les Lettres Françaises'' ( French for "The French Letters") is a French literary publication, founded in 1941 by writers Jacques Decour and Jean Paulhan. Originally a clandestine magazine of the French Resistance in German-occupied territor ...

'', '' Le Figaro Littéraire'', '' Le Magazine Littéraire'' and '' La Revue des Deux Mondes''. Finally, he was one of the juries of the

Prix Guillaume Apollinaire The prix Guillaume Apollinaire is a French poetry prize first awarded in 1941. It was named in honour of French writer Guillaume Apollinaire. It annually recognizes a collection of poems for its originality and modernity. Members of the jury The ...

and the Prix Max Jacob, was a member of the

Académie Mallarmé The Académie Mallarmé is a French literary academy of writers and poets, founded in 1937. Since 1976, the Académie has awarded the Prix Mallarmé literary prize at the Brive book fair. Founding members include Paul Valéry, Édouard Dujardin ...

and held the post of President of the "Association internationale des Amis de Valery Larbaud". He won the Prix Valery Larbaud in 1985 for his entire body of work. His first book was devoted to

Valery Larbaud Valery Larbaud (29 August 1881 – 2 February 1957) was a French writer and poet. Life He was born in Vichy, the only child of a pharmacist. His father died when he was 8, and he was brought up by his mother and aunt. His father had been owner ...

and awarded the

prix Sainte-Beuve The Prix Sainte-Beuve, established in 1946, is a French literary prize awarded each year to a writer in the categories "novels" (or "poetry") and "essays" (or "critics"); it is named after the writer Charles-Augustin Sainte-Beuve. The founding jury ...

in 1963. This work was followed by other studies on Johannes Brahms,

Samuel Taylor Coleridge Samuel Taylor Coleridge (; 21 October 177225 July 1834) was an English poet, literary critic, philosopher, and theologian who, with his friend William Wordsworth, was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lake ...

Théophile Gautier Pierre Jules Théophile Gautier ( , ; 30 August 1811 – 23 October 1872) was a French poet, dramatist, novelist, journalist, and art and literary critic. While an ardent defender of Romanticism, Gautier's work is difficult to classify and rema ...

Paul Morand Paul Morand (13 March 1888 – 24 July 1976) was a French author whose short stories and novellas were lauded for their style, wit and descriptive power. His most productive literary period was the interwar period of the 1920s and 1930s. He was mu ...

and Mathieu Bénézet, where one could notice an attraction for the romanticism and modernity of the early twentieth century. In addition to these monographs, his work was distinguished as that of an anthologist, since he was the author of three works that have become classics and hailed as such by critics: ''La Poésie symboliste'' (Bernard Delvaille will be rewarded with the Prix Henri-Mondor in 1983 for his work on symbolism and Mallarmé), ''La Nouvelle poésie française'', which drew up an inventory of poetic hopes in the mid-1970s and ''Mille et cent ans de poésie française'', a sum of more than a thousand pages listing the great poets from the eleventh to the mid-twentieth. Delvaille was the author of a poetic work published in 2006 in which he developed the themes of journey, wandering, happiness and death.

Poetry

*1951: ''Blues'', Paris, éditions Escales *1955: ''Train de vie'', Paris, éditions Paragraphes *1957: ''Enfance, mon amour'', Rodez, éditions Subervie *1958: ''Tout objet aimé est le centre d’un paradis'', Paris, éditions Millas-Martin *1967: ''Désordre'', Seghers *1976: ''Faits divers'', Seghers *1978: ''Le Vague à l’âme de la Royal Navy'', Paris, La Répétition *1980: ''Blanche est l’écharpe d’Yseut'', Mont-de-Marsan, Cahiers des Brisants *1980: ''La Dernière légende lyrique'', Mauregny-en-Haye, Cahiers de Mauregny *1982: ''Poèmes (1951–1981)'', Seghers *1989: ''Panicauts ou le voyage d'été'', Vitry-sur-Seine, éditions Monologue *2006: ''Œuvre poétique'', Paris,

La Table ronde LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note * "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figur ...

Stories, novels, diary

*1971: ''La Saison perdue'', Paris,

Éditions Gallimard Éditions Gallimard (), formerly Éditions de la Nouvelle Revue Française (1911–1919) and Librairie Gallimard (1919–1961), is one of the leading French book publishers. In 2003 it and its subsidiaries published 1,418 titles. Founded by Ga ...

*1982: ''Les Derniers outrages'', Paris, Flammarion, *1988: ''Séparés, on est ensemble'', followed by ''Le Plus Secret Amour'', Montpellier, Fata Morgana *1989: ''Le Plaisir solitaire'', 1st ed., Paris, Le Temps qu'il fait, 2005 *1995: ''Le Temps provisoire'', Paris, Salvy, *2000: ''Journal, tome 1 : 1942-1962'', La Table Ronde *2001: ''Journal, tome 2 : 1963-1977'', La Table ronde, *2003: ''Journal, tome 3 : 1978-1999'', La Table ronde,

Essays

*1963: ''Essai sur Valery Larbaud'', Seghers *1963: ''Coleridge'', Seghers *1965: ''Johannes Brahms'', Seghers *1966: ''Paul Morand'', Seghers *1968: ''Théophile Gautier'', Seghers. Reprint Rouen, tirages limités, 2003 *1980: ''Paris, ses poètes, ses chansons'', Paris, Robert Laffont *1981: ''Le Piéton de Paris. Passages et galeries du 19e siècle, with photos by

Robert Doisneau Robert Doisneau (; 14 April 1912 – 1 April 1994) was a French photographer. From the 1930s, he photographed the streets of Paris. He was a champion of humanist photography and with Henri Cartier-Bresson a pioneer of photojournalism. Dois ...

'', Paris, éditions ACE *1983: ''Londres'', Seyssel, Champ Vallon *1984: ''Mathieu Bénézet'', Paris *1985: ''Bordeaux'', Seyssel, Champ Vallon *2004: ''Pages sur le livre'', Paris, Éditions des Cendres *2006: ''Duchamp libre'', Paris, L'Échoppe *2007: ''Vies parallèles de Blaise Cendrars & de Charles-Albert Cingria'', Paris, La Bibliothèque

Anthologies

*1971: ''La Poésie symboliste'', Seghers *1974: ''La Nouvelle poésie française'', Seghers *1991: ''Mille et cent ans de poésie française'', Paris, Robert Laffont, Bouquins, *2004: ''Le Goût de Londres'', Paris,

Mercure de France The was originally a French gazette and literary magazine first published in the 17th century, but after several incarnations has evolved as a publisher, and is now part of the Éditions Gallimard publishing group. The gazette was published ...

External links

''Bernard Delvaille, poète et critique'' (obituary)
on ''

Le Monde ''Le Monde'' (; ) is a French daily afternoon newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average circulation of 323,039 copies per issue in 2009, about 40,000 of which were sold abroad. It has had its own website si ...

'' (24 April 2006)
''Bernard Delvaille : Oeuvre poétique''
on INA.fr (30 March 2006)
Bernard Delvaille
on the site of the Académie française
Bernard Delvaille
on Florilège {{DEFAULTSORT:Delvaille, Bernard 21st-century French writers 20th-century French essayists 21st-century French essayists 20th-century French poets French literary critics Sciences Po alumni French diarists Prix Sainte-Beuve winners 1931 births Writers from Bordeaux 2006 deaths 20th-century diarists