Literary Birthday – 31 May – Saint-John Perse

Saint-John Perse was born on 31 May 1887 and died on 20 September 1975.

Saint-John Perse Quotes

1. The only menace is inertia.
2. The poet is the one who breaks through our habits.
3. And it is enough for the poet to be the guilty conscience of his time.

Saint-John Perse was a French poet-diplomat. Perse studied law at the University of Bordeaux and published his first collection of poetry in 1911. In 1914 he joined the French diplomatic service and spent many years abroad in various countries. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1960 “for the soaring flight and the evocative imagery of his poetry which in a visionary fashion reflects the conditions of our time”. He wrote the epic poem, Anabasis.

Source for image: Unknown, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Saint-John_Perse_1960.jpg

by Amanda Patterson

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