Poets

Eugene Guillevic (5 August 1907 – 19 March 1997) is one of the most significant French poets from the second half of the 20th century. Professionally, he went under just the single name “Guillevic”. He was born in Carnac, Brittany. After a BA in mathematics, he was placed in the Administration of Registration in Alsace, and later on he was a part of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs. He became a communist sympathizer during the Spanish Civil War, which lead him in 1942 to become an active member of the Communist Party. There he joined with Paul Eluard. He remained faithful to the party until 1980. In his work, Guillevic remains true to his concepts of the world. After a period of resistance, of rebellion against the social order, he starts his attempt to tame the world and its silence. He rejected the mataphysical approach towards the creative work and he writes concisely, honestly, passionately and suggestively. He uses almost no metaphores. In Guillevic’s poetry their place is taken over by comparisons. In 1976 Guillevic won the Grand Award for Poetry of the Académie française, and he was awarded with a national recognition of this character in 1984. His poetry is tough, dense and soaked in great love for people, plants, animals, for the basic life substances (fire, light, tide). Works: 31 Sonnets, 1954, Carnac, 1961; Spheres, 1963; Amphibians, City, Euclidic etc.