6

1981–2002:

Young Poetry at the End of the

Millennium

Pierre Alféri, Tahar Bekri, Olivier Cadiot, Jean Frémon, Liliane

Giraudon, Guy Go√ette, Michel Houellebecq, Franck André Jamme,

Jean-Michel Maulpoix, Robert Melançon, Pascalle Monnier, Nathalie

Quintane, Valérie-Catherine Richez, Amina Saïd, Christophe Tarkos,

André Velter

I

n the last two decades of the twentieth century, the explo-
sion of new poetries was nothing short of remarkable. The
pre-1966 heritage was far from forgotten; rather, it was cap-
italized upon in ever more ingenious ways. From Emmanuel Hocquard
to the youngest writer included here, Pierre Alféri, the entire range of
poetic possibilities has a distinctly optimistic tinge—perhaps for the rea-
son that the darkest chapters of the century now lay fully two generations
behind—though the era of rapid globalization has brought its own set of
problems and challenges.
Poetic exchange remains the transatlantic currency for French, British,
and American poets of various ages. Michel Deguy and Jacques Roubaud’s
anthology Vingt poètes américains (1980) is a testament to the power and
importance of this exchange between like-minded poets working in dif-
ferent languages. Also in the 1980s, Emmanuel Hocquard and Raquel set
up their Orange Export Ltd. In 1986, Hocquard edited, with Claude Royet-
Journoud, 21 + 1: Poètes américains d’aujourd’hui and, in 1991, 49 + 1:
Nouveaux poètes américains, further indications of a new openness to
cross-Atlantic translation.