Jacques Jouetis a poet, novelist, playwright, and essayist. He joined the Oulipo in 1983 after having attended a workshop run by Paul Fournel, Georges Perec and Jacques Roubaud. His recent novels include Mon bel autocar (2003), La république de Mek-Ouyes (2001), Une réunion pour le nettoiement (2001) and Fins (1999). His poetic works include Poèmes avec partenaires (2002), Poèmes de métro, (2000), and Navet, linge, œil-de-vieux (1998). He is the author of the play Vanghel (2003). A special edition of the journal SubStance (# 96, 2001) is devoted to his work and an English translation of his second novel, Mountain R, appeared in 2004.
Like François Caradec and Hervé Le Tellier, Jacques Jouet regularly contributes and performs for the radio program “Les Papous dans la tête” on France Culture. His serial novel La république de Mek Ouyes has been simulateously disséminated on the web and the radio, and has recently been adapted for the theatre. He also enjoys cooking and practices collage. For further reading about Jouet see the Center for Book Culture.
Curator’s Note:
Translations do not all obey all levels of constraints here (rhyme scheme, metrics, etc.) — Jean-Jacques Poucel