Jean Follain (29 August 1903 – 10 March 1971) was a French writer, poet and corporate lawyer. In the early days of his career he was a member of the "Sagesse" group.
Follain was a friend of Max Jacob, André Salmon,

Jean Paulhan Jean Paulhan (2 December 1884 – 9 October 1968) was a French writer, literary critic and publisher, director of the literary magazine ''Nouvelle Revue Française'' (NRF) from 1925 to 1940 and from 1946 to 1968. He was a member (Seat 6, 1963–68 ...

, Pierre Pussy, Armen Lubin, and Pierre Reverdy. He was a contributor to many journals, such as ''La Nouvelle Revue française'', ''Commerce'', ''Europe'', ''Le Journal des Poètes'' and ''Les Cahiers des Saisons''. In 1970, he was awarded the Grand Prize of Poetry from L' Académie française for his life's work. A small part of his archives is conserved at the Musée des Beaux-Arts de

Saint-Lô Saint-Lô (, ; br, Sant Lo) is a commune in northwest France, the capital of the Manche department in the region of Normandy.

in France.prixjeanfollain
/ref> ''Prix littéraire Jean Follain de la Ville de Saint Lô'' is a literary award honouring his name and contributions to French literature. He studied law in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 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), ma ...

and became a judge. He died in 1971 in a car accident.

Life

Jean Follain was born in the small town of

Canisy Canisy () is a commune in the Manche department in Normandy in north-western France. On 1 January 2017, the former commune of Saint-Ébremond-de-Bonfossé was merged into Canisy.Manche Manche (, ) is a coastal French département in Normandy, on the English Channel, which is known as ''La Manche'', literally "the sleeve", in French. It had a population of 495,045 in 2019.Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popula ...

in a vain attempt to improve his English, and in 1921 he began studying law at Faculté de Caen. For health reasons he was exempted from

military service Military service is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, air forces, and naval forces, whether as a chosen job ( volunteer) or as a result of an involuntary draft (conscription). Some nations (e.g., Mexico) require ...

. In 1927 he passed his

bar exam A bar examination is an examination administered by the bar association of a jurisdiction that a lawyer must pass in order to be admitted to the bar of that jurisdiction. Australia Administering bar exams is the responsibility of the bar associat ...

s in Paris and started attending the meetings of the group "Sagesse" ("Wisdom") where he made the acquaintance of André Salmon, Pierre Reverdy,

Pierre Mac Orlan Pierre Mac Orlan, sometimes written MacOrlan (born Pierre Dumarchey, February 26, 1882 – June 27, 1970), was a French novelist and songwriter. His novel '' Quai des Brumes'' was the source for Marcel Carné's 1938 film of the same name, starring ...

and Max Jacob. In 1933 he published his first collection with Eugène Guillevic and Pierre Albert-Birot. In 1934 he married painter Madeleine Dinès, a daughter of the Nabi artist

Maurice Denis Maurice Denis (; 25 November 1870 – 13 November 1943) was a French painter, decorative artist, and writer. An important figure in the transitional period between impressionism and modern art, he is associated with ''Les Nabis'', symbolism, a ...

. In 1939 he received the Mallarmé Prize. Jean Follain received the

Prix Blumenthal The Prix Blumenthal (or ''Blumenthal Prize'') was a grant or stipend awarded through the philanthropy of Florence Meyer Blumenthal (1875–1930) – and the foundation she created, ''Fondation franco-américaine Florence Blumenthal (Franco-Amer ...

in 1941, awarded to poets who refused to collaborate with the

Vichy Government Vichy France (french: Régime de Vichy; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was the fascist French state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. Officially independent, but with half of its terr ...

. In 1951 he gave up his career as a business lawyer and was appointed to the post of judge (magistrate) of the High Court in

Charleville Charleville can refer to: Australia * Charleville, Queensland, a town in Australia **Charleville railway station, Queensland France * Charleville, Marne, a commune in Marne, France *Charleville-Mézières, a commune in Ardennes, France ** ...

. In 1949 he became a member of the Board of the "Pen Club". In 1957, he travelled to

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

and Japan, and in 1958 he received the International Award of Capri. In 1960 he travelled to

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, Peru and Bolivia and in 1966 to the United States. He also visited Côte d'Ivoire and

Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 ...

in 1967. He resigned from the bench in 1961, to participate in the cultural Decades of

Cerisy-la-Salle Cerisy-la-Salle () is a commune in the Manche department in Normandy in north-western France.Canisy Canisy () is a commune in the Manche department in Normandy in north-western France. On 1 January 2017, the former commune of Saint-Ébremond-de-Bonfossé was merged into Canisy.L'Académie Française. He died in Paris on 10 March 1971 when, returning from a banquet given by the Boat Touring Club, he was run over by a car shortly after midnight at the outlet of the tunnel of the Quai des Tuileries. He was buried on the 16th of March in Canisy. The "Reading Association at Saint-Lô" and the city of Saint-Lô, with the assistance of the Regional Direction of Cultural Affairs of the Lower Normandy Regional Centre of Letters and the General Council of France, organise a biannual literary prize in his name: ''Jean Follain Prize in the city of Saint-Lô''.

Poetry

*Usage du temps (1943) *Exister (1947) *Tout instant (1957) *Appareil de la terre (1964) *Transparence of the World (1969) (

Copper Canyon Press Copper Canyon Press is an independent, non-profit small press, founded in 1972 specializing exclusively in the publication of poetry. It is located in Port Townsend, Washington. Copper Canyon Press publishes new collections of poetry by both pop ...

, 2003) (translated and selected by

W. S. Merwin William Stanley Merwin (September 30, 1927 – March 15, 2019) was an American poet who wrote more than fifty books of poetry and prose, and produced many works in translation. During the 1960s anti-war movement, Merwin's unique craft was thema ...

) *Espaces d'instants (1971) *Death of the Ferret''New York Review of Books''
Death of the Ferret Volume 13, Number 3 · 21 August 1969 *The Black Insect *Habit *Empire *Face the Animal *From Elsewhere (2014, The Gallery Press) (translated and selected by

Ciaran Carson Ciaran Gerard Carson (9 October 1948 – 6 October 2019) was a Northern Ireland-born poet and novelist. Biography Ciaran Carson was born in Belfast into an Irish-speaking family. His father, William, was a postman and his mother, Mary, w ...

, plus poetic meditations by Carson on the subject poems)

Prose

*Paris (1935) *Canisy (1942) *Chef-Lieu (1950) *Transparence of the World *D'Après Tout

Awards

*Mallarmé Prize (1939) *International Prize of Capri (1958) *Grand Prize of Poetry (L'Académie française 1970) *

(1941)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Follain, Jean 1903 births 1971 deaths Prix Blumenthal 20th-century French poets French male poets 20th-century male writers 20th-century French male writers