ABOUT THIS BOOKPhilippe Jaccottet’s newest work follows in some ways the approach of Seedtime, his recent two-volume collection of notebooks. Similarly comprising on-the-spot jottings, philosophical reflections, literary commentary, dream narratives and sundry “notes,” this book nonetheless differs from the preceding volumes in that the Swiss poet includes more personal material than ever before. Drawing on unpublished notebooks from the years 1952–2005, Jacottet offers here passages about his family, the death of his father-in-law and of his mother, his encounters with other major poets—such as René Char, Francis Ponge, Jean Tardieu, and his friends Yves Bonnefoy and André du Bouchet—and his trips abroad, as well as, characteristically, his walks in the countryside around the village of Grignan, in the south of France, where he has lived since 1953. For a poet who has been notoriously discreet about his life, this book offers unexpected glimpses of the private man. Above all, the entries in this notebook show how one of the greatest European poets grapples with the discouraging elements of existence, counterbalancing them by recording fleeting perceptions in which “something else,” almost like a threshold, seems present.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHYBorn in Switzerland and a long-time resident of France, Philippe Jaccottet is a celebrated European poet. In 2014, Jaccottet’s collected writings were published in Gallimard’s prestigious Pléiade series. He has been awarded several European literary prizes, including the Grand Prix Suisse de littérature, the highest Swiss literary distinction. John Taylor has translated many French and Francophone poets, including, for Seagull Books, Catherine Colomb, Pierre Chappuis, Georges Perros, and Philippe Jaccottet. He has been awarded prizes and grants from the Sonia Raiziss Charitable Foundation, the Academy of American Poets, and the National Endowment for the Arts. His most recent collection of poetry is Remembrance of Water /Twenty-Five Trees, as well as a ‘double book’ co-authored with Pierre Chappuis, A Notebook of Clouds / A Notebook of Ridges.