Baude, Jeannine 1946–

PERSONAL: Born October 18, 1946, in Eyguières, France; children: one son, one daughter.

ADDRESSES: Agent—c/o Author Mail, Éditions Rougerie, Route de Nouic 87330, Mortemart, France.

CAREER: Writer.

AWARDS, HONORS: Prix Antonin Artaud, 1993, for C'était un paysage.

WRITINGS:

POETRY COLLECTIONS

Les feux de l'été, Éditions Coíncidence (Bagnols-sur-Ceze, France), 1977.

Ouessanes, Sud (Marseilles, France), 1989.

Parabole de l'éolienne, Rougerie (Mortemart, France), 1990.

C'était un paysage, Rougerie (Mortemart, France), 1992.

Océan, Rougerie (Mortemart, France), 1995.

Concerto pour une roche, Rougerie (Mortemart, France), 1995.

Incarnat désir, Rougerie (Mortemart, France), 1998.

(Coauthor) Labiales, Alain Lucien Benoit, 2000.

Île corps océan, L'arbre à Paroles, 2001.

Venise, Venezia, Venessia, Laquet (Martel, France), 2001.

L'adresse à la voix, Rougerie (Mortemart, France), 2003.

OTHER

(With René Char) Correspondance, 1935–1970, Rougerie (Mortemart, France), 1993.

Contributor to Louis Guillaume: poète des songes vécus, Bibliothéque Historique de la Ville de Paris, 1997. Contributor to periodicals. Member of editorial board, Sud à Marseille; member of board of directors, Mai-son de la Poésie d'Amay.

SIDELIGHTS: French poet Jeannine Baude is known for writing verses that are typically concerned with the self, as expressed through her connection with nature. A frequently used image in her poems is the ocean, which, as Michael Bishop explained in a World Literature Today review of Océan, represents "both parable of teeming, churning meaning beyond designation, and parabola, elliptical yet coherent moving structure wherein parable may unfold—assuming self and self's language respond to the stimulus of what is endlessly given." "Baude's sensual closeness to things is perhaps initially the most striking feature of her poetics," commented Bishop in a review of C'était un paysage for World Literature Today. For the poet, Bishop continued, "entering the sea is a 'religious' experience." As for the poet's style, Bishop characterized it in a review of Île corps océan as "spare, compacted, enamored of that art bref Rene Char recognized as modernity's." In this collection, too, the critic pointed out in World Literature Today, the sea remains a powerful force, for it "highlights the self's proximity and its essential being-in-the-world." Though to some, Baude's poems might seem overly preoccupied with the self, Bishop asserted in his review of Incarnat désir that "there is great discretion, delicacy, fine reserve" in the poet's work.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

World Literature Today, autumn, 1993, Michael Bishop, review of C'était un paysage, pp. 775-776; spring, 1996, Michael Bishop, review of Océan, p. 355; winter, 2000, Michael Bishop, review of Incarnat désir, p. 116; April-June, 2003, Michael Bishop, review of Île corps océan, p. 124.