Poetry day at the French House
Nicolas Pesquès
At this years annual event, we have the honor to welcome, for his third visit, Nicolas Pesquès (French), accompanied by Antonio Riccardi (Italian) who is making his first trip to Madison.
Nicolas Pesquès was born in France in 1946, and has been publishing poetry since 1971. His most recent books include Trois poèmes (Three Poems) from Edition du Limon, 1995, and La face nord de Juliau un, deux, trois, and quatre (The North Face of Juliau One, Two, Three, and Four), all published by Andre Dimanche Editeur in 1988, 1997, and 2000. His volumes translated into English include Juliology and Physis. Pesques also writes literary and art criticism, and has published books on the work of visual artists Gilles Aillaud, Anne Deguelle, Jan Voss, and Aurelie Nemours, and on the poet Jacques Dupin. He divides his time between Paris and the Ardeche.
Lorine Niedecker
Mr. Pesquès and his wife, Maïtreyi Pesquès have just finished the first French translation of a volume of poems by the Fort Atkinson poet, Lorine Niedecker. Many see Niedecker is Wisconsin’s greatest poet but is perhaps known more widely outside Wisconsin than inside our state. Mr. Pesquès will read a few of his French translations of Niedecker’s poems along with a graduate student from the Deptartment of English who will be reading the original poems in English.
Antonio Riccardi
Antonio Riccardi is the winner of the 1996 “Eugenio Montale” Poetry Award with his first collection of poems, Il profitto domestico (Milan: Mondadori, 1996).