A Test of Solitude

Emmanuel Hocquard was born in 1940. Several of his volumes have been translated into English, most recently Theory of Tables (trans. Michael Palmer, o-blek editions), This Story is Mine (trans. Norma Cole, Instress), and his prize-winning novel Aerea in the Forests of Manhattan (trans. Lydia Davis, Marlboro). He has published many American poets in his presses "Orange Export," "Un bureau sur l'Atlantique," and the anthologies 21+1 Poètes américains d'aujourd hui (Delta, 1986), and 49+1 (Royaumont, 1991).

Rosmarie Waldrop's recent books of poems are Reluctant Gravities (New Directions), Split Infinites (Singing Horse Press), and Another Language: Selected Poems (Talisman House).

"Emmulating Wittgenstein, who repaired to an isolated cabin in Norway to write and reflect, Hocquard takes up his own test of solitude on a farm not far from Bordeaux. What he writes there are unconventional sonnets that arrive at their stipulated line-count by an ingenious variety of means. They record with deceptive simplicity daily accounts and experiences. At the same time, an inquiry is being conducted, a test of solitude that is also a test of poetry."
– Steve Evans, Notes to Poetry