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Charles Derennes (French pronunciation: [ʃaʁl dəʁɛn]; 4 August 1882 – 27 April 1930) was a French novelist, essayist and poet, the winner of the Prix Femina in 1924.

Biography

Derennes was born in Charente, the son of Gustave, a professor of history, and Marthe Cassan, the daughter of a baker. Charles spent his childhood in Villeneuve-sur-Lot. In 1892, he entered the lyceum of Talence in the suburbs of Bordeaux. There he met the poet Émile Despax from Dax, and Marcel Gounouilhou, future director of the daily La Petite Gironde with whom he would collaborate.

After graduating from the lyceum in 1899, he seemed destined for a career as a teacher by family tradition, and went to Paris to prepare for the entrance examination for the École Normale Supérieure at the Lycée Henri-IV and the Lycée Louis-le-Grand, from which he was expelled.

He attended classes at the Sorbonne, obtained a bachelor's degree in letters in 1903, and frequented literary salons such as that of Anna de Noailles and the poetry evenings of the magazine La Plume at the Caveau du Soleil d'Or.

On 11 May 1909, in Paris, he married Rosita Finaly, one of the daughters of Hugo Finaly, founder of the Banque de Paris et des Pays-Bas, which ended in divorce on 19 January 1911. During the Great War, he was a military nurse in southwestern France. He married a second time in Paris on 23 March 1916, with Christiane. In 1917, Derennes settled temporarily in the Landes. From 1905, he was part of the group of writers, including Rosny jeune, Paul Margueritte, and Maxime Leroy, which, at the beginning of the 20th century, made Hossegor known and where he stayed regularly until the early 1920s.

On 10 December 1924, he obtained the Prix Femina for Émile et les autres, the third volume of the series Bestiaire sentimental. Appointed a knight of the Legion of Honour on 4 January 1925, he died on 27 April 1930, and was buried in Villeneuve-sur-Lot.

Literary work

Derennes began a literary career at a young age, but success came gradually. He published more than fifty books in the twenty-five years of his career, and collaborated at the same time in numerous newspapers and magazines. Critics often praised his work

He is known for his collections of poems: L'Enivrante Angoisse, La Tempête, La Chanson des Deux Jeunes Filles or Perséphone. He is also the author of a volume of poems, Romivatge, of the Occitan language, a language he had practised since his youth.

After L'Amour fessé and Le Peuple du pôle, he published "Parisian" before the war and novels that were published originally in the weekly magazine La Vie Parisienne: Les Caprices de Nouche, Le Béguin des Muses, Le Miroir des pécheresses, Nique et ses cousines. Subsequently, he published other novels, among which are La Nuit d'été, Cassinou va-t-en guerre, La Petite Faunesse, Le Renard bleu, Mon Gosse..., Ouily et Bibi, Amours basques, Le Pauvre et son chien.

Le Bestiaire sentimental, which was a favourite with the public, comprises three volumes: Vie de Grillon, La Chauve-Souris and Émile et les autres. In these stories, he gave tender attention to animals such as crickets, bats, cats, and frogs.

Works

Poems

1904: L'Énivrante angoisse, Librairie Paul Ollendorff

1906: La Tempête, Ollendorff

1918: La Chanson des deux Jeunes Filles, À la Belle Édition

1920: Perséphone, Garnier

1921: Le Livre d'Annie, François Bernouard

1923: La Fontaine Jouvence, Garnier

1924: La Princesse, "Les Amis d'Edouard"

1924: Romivatge, Samatan, Editorial Occitan, "Amics del Libre Occitan", (poems in Occitan language).

1925: Premières poésies, Albert Messein, (with L'Énivrante angoisse and La Tempête).

Essays and novels

1906: L'Amour fessé, Mercure de France, novel

1907: Le Peuple du Pôle, Mercure de France, novel (translated into English by Brian Stableford as The People of the Pole, Black Coat Press, 2008 ISBN 978-1-934543-39-9 )

1907: La Vie et la Mort de M. de Tournèves, Éditions Grasset, novel

1908: La Guenille, Louis-Michaud, novel

1909: Les Caprices de Nouche, Éditions de la Vie Parisienne, novel

1912: Le Béguin des Muses, Éditions de la Vie Parisienne, novel

1912: Le Miroir des Pécheresses, Louis-Michaud, novel

1913: Les Enfants sages, Louis-Michaud, novel

1914: Nique et ses Cousines, Louis-Michaud, novel

1914: La Nuit d'été, L'Édition, novel

1917: Cassinou va-t-en guerre, L'Édition française illustrée, novel

1918: Leur tout petit cœur, La Renaissance du Livre, novel

1918: Le Pèlerin de Gascogne, L'Édition française illustrée, tales and narrations

1918: La Petite Faunesse, L'Édition, novel

1919: Les Conquérants d'idoles, L'Édition française illustrée (illustrations by Charles Genty), then Georges-Crès, novel

1919: Les Bains dans le Pactole, Albin Michel, novel

1920: L'Aventure de Roland Ombreval, poète – 1830, Société anonyme d'édition et de librairie, novel

1920: Vie de Grillon, Albin Michel, essay

1921: Le Renard bleu, Albin Michel, novel

1921: Le Beau Max, Ferenczi, novel

1922: La Chauve-Souris, Albin Michel, essay

1923: Le Pou et l'Agneau, Ferenczi, novel

1923: Mon Gosse..., Baudinière, novel

1924: Bellurot, Éditions du Monde moderne, novel

1924: Émile et les autres, Albin Michel, essay

1925: L'Enfant dans l'herbe, Ferenczi, novel

1925: Ouily et Bibi, Albert Messein, novel

1925: Le Mirage sentimental, Éditions de la Nouvelle Revue critique, (with La Vie et la Mort de M. de Tournèves and L'Aventure de Roland Ombreval, poète).

1925: Gaby, mon amour, Albin Michel, novel (reprint of La Nuit d'été)

1925: Les Petites alliances, Albin Michel, novel

1926: La Fortune et le Jeu. Le jeu, les jeux et l'activité humaine, Ed. Georges Anquetil, essay

1926: Mouti, chat de Paris, Albin Michel, novel

1927: Amours et Crimes, Éditions de France, historical essay

1927: Mouti, fils de Mouti, Éditions de la Nouvelle Revue critique, novel

1927: Les Cocus célèbres, Éditions de France, historical essay

1928: Amours basques, Nouvelle Société d'Édition, novel

1928: La Mort du Prince impérial, Hachette, historical essay

1928: Les Noces sur la banquise, Éditions de la Nouvelle Revue critique, novel