Claire Malroux (3 September 1925 – 4 February 2025) was the pen name of French poet, essayist and translator Josette Andrée Malroux. Malroux published a dozen poetry collections and also served as the French translator for notable American poets such as Emily Dickinson and Wallace Stevens.[1] Malroux's own poetry has been translated into English by Marilyn Hacker.[2]
Background
Malroux was born on 3 September 1925 in France in Albi, Tarn département.[3] She studied at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris. Malroux was a teenager during World War II. Her father was Augustin Malroux, a socialist, teacher and member of the French Resistance, which led to his arrest, deportation and death during the war.[4]
Malroux died in Sèvres on 4 February 2025, at the age of 99.[5]
Career
Malroux published 12 volumes of poetry, in addition to two "hybrid prose works." Four of those volumes (Edge, A Long-Gone Sun, Birds and Bison and Daybreak) have been translated into English by Hacker.[4][6] Her 1998 work Soleil de jadis: recit poeme tells the story of World War II from a child's perspective through poetry.[4]
Malroux translated the works of numerous English-language poets into French, but cited Emily Dickinson as one of the most impactful, describing it as the "awakening of a personal affinity."[4] In 1999, she was awarded the title of Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur for her translation work.[7]
References
- ^ "Claire Malroux". Poetry Foundation. Retrieved 8 August 2022.
- ^ "Claire Malroux". New York Review of Books. Retrieved 8 August 2022.
- ^ "Claire Malroux". Babelio. Retrieved 6 December 2022.
- ^ a b c d Hacker, Marilyn (9 November 2020). "How Claire Malroux's Translations of Emily Dickinson Shaped Her Own Poetry". Lit Hub. Retrieved 8 August 2022.
- ^ "Josette Andree Malroux". MatchID. Retrieved 19 March 2025.
- ^ "Claire Malroux". Plume Poetry. Retrieved 8 August 2022.
- ^ "Décret du 31 décembre 1999 portant promotion et nomination". Legifrance. Retrieved 8 August 2022.
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