Report an issue
Tell us what's wrong and we'll take a look.
Thanks – we got it. We'll review and follow up if needed.
Bringing together four entire collections of the prose poems and short stories of the lesbian Symbolist "Renée Vivien" (Pauline Mary Tarn, 1877-1909), the current volume is compromised predominately of works which have never before appeared in English. It is as much by virtue of her idiosyncrasies as because of her considerable artistry that Pauline Tarn/Renée Vivien was, and remains, an extremely interesting figure. She had the rare privilege of combining a very considerable technical skill and intellectual brilliance with a vivid and versatile imagination and a literary standpoint that was unique in its day. That standpoint remains unusual even now, although historical circumstances have become much more hospitable to its potential appreciation in the last quarter of a century and her work is certainly more likely to find a sympathetic and understanding audience today than ever before.
The four collections in this volume are: Fjord Mists, From Green to Violet, The She-Wolf Lady, and Christ, Aphrodite and Monsieur Pépin.
Renée Vivien
Renée Vivien (1877-1909) was a British-born poet who wrote almost exclusively in French, becoming one of the most striking voices of the fin-de-siècle Paris literary scene. Born Pauline Mary Tarn in London, she moved to Paris as a young woman and reinvented herself as a poet steeped in classical antiquity, openly writing of love between women at a time when doing so took real courage. A devoted admirer of Sappho, she taught herself ancient Greek to translate the poet's surviving fragments, publishing her landmark Sapho in 1903. Vivien died at just 32, leaving behind a body of work that helped lay the foundation for openly lesbian literature in the twentieth century.
More by Renée Vivien
Brian M. Stableford
Translated by
Brian Stableford lives in Reading, England.
Why Readwise Books?
Readwise Books is an ebook & audiobook platform that automatically logs how much you and your friends read, making it fun and easy to read more. Learn more →