From Les heures longues Written by Colette Translated by Kate Palisay Saint-Malo, August 1914 War? Before the end of last month, this was only a word, enormous, spelled out by the headlines of newspapers in the daze of the summer. War? Maybe, yes, a long way away, on the other side of the earth,…Continue Reading The News
Written by Colette Translated by Kara Dobrolsky March 1915 “The bombing began immediately and without prior warning. One quarter, left unscathed, was pillaged and burned with oil. An old woman was looking after her paralytic husband there; they chased her with the butts of their rifles and set the bed of the ill man on…Continue Reading The Same Ones
Written by Léon Hugon Translated by Jamie Fesinstine Wounded by shrapnel during the first battle of the Marne on September 9, 1914, Léon Hugon was sent to the hospital at Tulle, where he died of tetanus on September 22, 1914, the day of his wife’s 25th birthday, Sylvanie, who was left alone with a small…Continue Reading Lettre du soldat Léon Hugon
Two short pieces from A Woman’s Voice in the Fray Written by Marcelle Capy Translated by Clay Somes A Country of Death Why these macabre scenes that depict with satisfaction certain writers who have had the privilege of roaming, curious, the battlefield, after the action? Why pester the dead until they rest? Why this joy before their…Continue Reading A Country of Death & The Death of a Precursor: Léon Bonneff
From In Slavery: The Journal of Two Deportees Published by Henriette Celarié Translated by Brandy Shrawder with help from Dr. Lynn Palermo “Hickel put his plan into effect. Nearly every day, under the pretext of making his rounds, he comes to the Hamlet of V, and, frequently, he comes to ‘Chalet lillois.’ “As soon as I…Continue Reading Hickel’s Visits
Written by Désiré Edmond Renault Translated by Amanda DuCharme The son of a laundress and a laborer, Désiré Edmond Renault was born May 12, 1891 in Esmans, in the Montereau section in Seine-et-Marne. He was a baker and was mobilized for his military service for three years. Then, during the war, he was a member…Continue Reading Lettres du soldat Désiré Edmond Renault