Renée Vivien (1877–1909)

Woman of the Wolf and Other Stories is a collection of short stories with an obvious agenda: Men are the bane of women and life is way better off without them. I don't blame Vivien a bit--being a lesbian in the 1900s was probably rife with annoying men, be it from the terrible misogyny or inability to understand female sexuality. The stories are mostly in the vein of men pursuing women with no interest to them; it's (hilariously) written in their point of view of these men baffled and overreaching in their goal of basically obtaining these women, and Vivien's analysis is spot on. We never get the women's point of view, and it shows that her writing was for women who could relate to these persistent men.

Another story I loved was "Prince Charming", a story told in fairly tale style with a fabulous twist ending, and the story "The Jewel(?)" with the gorgeous Madame pulling a knife on a man forcing himself on her was BADASS. Vivien writes female characters not as complex as some feminist writers do, but in roles earlier denied them. The women in her stories are martyrs: they die for what they believe in, the are stronger than the men that balk to their roles, and they are otherworldly in power and beauty. They fight for their autonomy and won't shrink from their passion. It's crazy cool.

Anyways, it's gorgeous, but hell did Vivien hate men. I don't blame her living in the time that she did, but its virulence does make me laugh--her writing can be ridiculous. 4/5 stars because I thought too many of the stories were too similar and the female characters were not particularly "deep". There wasn't much character in them other than their goal of putting men in their place.… (more)

A lovely little selection of Vivien's work. I particularly loved "Words to a Lover", "You for Whom I Wrote", and "The Touch". This publication has two translators (occasionally including the same poems), with the first have carried by Margaret Porter and the latter by Catherine Kroger. Both have very different styles of translations, with Porter creating an English rhyme scheme to mimic Vivien's, while Kroger adhering more to a literal one. I'll illustrate with "You for Whom I Wrote:

Songerez-vous, parmi le désordre charmant
De vos cheveux épars, de vos robes défaites :
« Cette femme, à travers les sanglots et les fêtes,
A porté ses regards et ses lèvres d’amant. » (original)

Will you sit dreaming, amid the charming disarray
Of disheveled hair, open robes, of hers you never discover
Wherever you look: "Whether on day of mourning or festival day,
This woman wore always her glance, her lips of a lover." (Porter)

Will you dream, amongst the charming disorder
Of your scattered hair, and your undone robes:
"This woman, through tears and joy
Maintained her gaze and her lover's lips." (Kroger)

I really loved Catherine Kroger's translations—conservative while still enamoring, all while keeping Vivien's original French flavor we've all come to love (though I must forworn I am a literalist when it comes to translations). And just in case you're not reading with translation difficulties in mind or want to show a friend a poem that's probably more readable than Kroger's, Porter is still there to savor and pin-up without looking like a tasteless academic freak.

I recommend for people interested in Vivien's work to check out A Crown of Violets first, especially the new 2017 edition as it contains so many poems with the advantage of the dual French-English format for reference (and because I know how hard it is to get a copy of this if you don't want to pay an exorbitant sum). Very lovely little gem of queer female history I am so proud to own and enjoy!… (more)