List of poets who have written in the French language:

A

Céline Arnauld (1885-1952) * Louise-Victorine Ackermann (1813–1890) *

Adam de la Halle Adam de la Halle (1245–50 – 1285–8/after 1306) was a French poet-composer '' trouvère''. Among the few medieval composers to write both monophonic and polyphonic music, in this respect he has been considered both a conservative and pro ...

(v.1250 – v.1285) * Dominique Aguessy (1937– ) * Pierre Albert-Birot (1876–1967) *

Anne-Marie Albiach Anne-Marie Albiach (9 August 1937 – 4 November 2012) was a contemporary French poet and translator. Overview Anne-Marie Albiach's was a renowned French poet and writer born in Saint -Nazaire, France on 9 August 1937. Anne- Marie Albiach ...

(1937–2012) * Pierre Alféri (1963) *

Marc Alyn Marc Alyn (Alain-Marc Fécherolle), (born 18 March 1937 in Reims) is a French poet. Life He was mobilized to Algeria in 1957. He lived far from Paris, a farmhouse in Uzès, Gard. He traveled in the Middle East to the ruins of the Phoenician ci ...

(1937) * Catherine d'Amboise (1475–1550) * Jean Amrouche (1906–1962) *

Guillaume Apollinaire Guillaume Apollinaire (; ; born Kostrowicki; 26 August 1880 – 9 November 1918) was a French poet, playwright, short story writer, novelist and art critic of Poland, Polish descent. Apollinaire is considered one of the foremost poets of the ...

(1880–1918) *

Louis Aragon Louis Aragon (; 3 October 1897 – 24 December 1982) was a French poet who was one of the leading voices of the Surrealism, surrealist movement in France. He co-founded with André Breton and Philippe Soupault the surrealist review ''Littératur ...

(1897–1982) *

Jacques Arnold Jacques Arnold DL (born 27 August 1947) is a Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom. He was the member of parliament (MP) for Gravesham in Kent from 1987, when he succeeded Tim Brinton, until he lost his seat in the landslide 19 ...

(1912–1995) *

Hans Arp Hans Peter Wilhelm Arp (; ; 16 September 1886 – 7 June 1966), better known as Jean Arp in English, was a German-French sculptor, painter and poet. He was known as a Dadaist and an abstract artist. Early life Arp was born Hans Peter Wilhelm Ar ...

(1887–1966) *

Antonin Artaud Antoine Maria Joseph Paul Artaud (; ; 4September 18964March 1948), better known as Antonin Artaud, was a French artist who worked across a variety of media. He is best known for his writings, as well as his work in the theatre and cinema. Widely ...

(1896–1948) *

Théodore Agrippa d'Aubigné Théodore is the French version of the masculine given name Theodore. Given name * Théodore Caruelle d'Aligny (1798–1871), French landscape painter and engraver * Théodore Anne (1892–1917), French playwright, librettist, and novelist * Théo ...

(1552–1630) * Jacques Audiberti (1899–1965) * Pierre Autin-Grenier (1947–2014)

B

Jean-Antoine de Baïf Jean Antoine de Baïf (; 19 February 1532 – 19 September 1589) was a French poet and member of the '' Pléiade''. Life Jean Antoine de Baïf was born in Venice, the natural son of the scholar Lazare de Baïf, who was at that time French amb ...

(1532–1589) * Luisa Ballesteros Rosas (born 1957) *

Théodore de Banville Théodore Faullain de Banville (; 14 March 1823 – 13 March 1891) was a French poet and writer. His work was influential on the Symbolist movement in French literature in the late 19th century. Biography Banville was born in Moulins in Allier ...

(1823–1891) *

Jules Barbey d'Aurevilly Jules-Amédée Barbey d'Aurevilly (2 November 1808 – 23 April 1889) was a French novelist, poet, short story writer, and literary critic. He specialised in mystery tales that explored hidden motivation and hinted at evil without being explicitl ...

(1807–1889) * Henri Auguste Barbier (1805–1882) *

Natalie Clifford Barney Natalie Clifford Barney (October 31, 1876 – February 2, 1972) was an American writer who hosted a salon (gathering), literary salon at her home in Paris that brought together French and international writers. She influenced other authors thro ...

(1876–1972) * Linda Maria Baros (1981) * Guillaume de Salluste Du Bartas (1544–1590) *

Henry Bataille Félix-Henri "Henry" Bataille (4 April 1872, in Nîmes – 2 March 1922, in Rueil-Malmaison) was a French dramatist and poet. His works were popular between 1900 and the start of World War I. Bataille's parents died when he was young. He attend ...

(1872–1922) * Henry Bauchau (1913–2012) *

Charles Baudelaire Charles Pierre Baudelaire (, ; ; 9 April 1821 – 31 August 1867) was a French poet, essayist, translator and art critic. His poems are described as exhibiting mastery of rhythm and rhyme, containing an exoticism inherited from the Romantics ...

(1821–1867) * Marcel Béalu (1908–1993) * Philippe Beck (1963) *

Samuel Beckett Samuel Barclay Beckett (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish writer of novels, plays, short stories, and poems. Writing in both English and French, his literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal, and Tragicomedy, tra ...

(1906–1989) *

Joachim du Bellay Joachim du Bellay (; – 1 January 1560) was a French poet, critic, and a founder of '' La Pléiade''. He notably wrote the manifesto of the group: '' Défense et illustration de la langue française'', which aimed at promoting French as a ...

(1522–1560) * Rémy Belleau (1528–1577) * Charles Beltjens (1832–1890) * Tahar Ben Jelloun (1944) *

Isaac de Benserade Isaac de Benserade (; baptized 5 November 161310 October 1691) was a French poet and playwright. Born in Lyons-la-Forêt, Normandy, his family appears to have been connected with Richelieu, who bestowed on him a pension of 600 ''livres''. On R ...

(1612–1691) * Annie Bentoiu (1927–2015) *

Pierre-Jean de Béranger Pierre-Jean de Béranger (; 19 August 1780 – 16 July 1857) was a prolific France, French poet and Chansonnier (singer), chansonnier (songwriter), who enjoyed great popularity and influence in France during his lifetime, but faded into obscurity ...

(1780–1857) * Christian Bernard (1950) *

Béroul Béroul (or Beroul; Norman ) was a Norman or Breton poet of the mid-to-late 12th century. He is usually credited with the authorship of ''Tristran'' (sometimes called ''Tristan''), a Norman language version of the legend of Tristan and Iseult, o ...

(12th century) *

Louky Bersianik Louky Bersianik (14 November 1930 – 3 December 2011) was the pen name of Lucile Durand, a French-Canadian novelist. She studied French literature at the Université de Montréal, the University of Paris, Sorbonne, and the Centre d'études de ra ...

(1965) *

Aloysius Bertrand Louis Jacques Napoléon Bertrand, better known by his pen name Aloysius Bertrand (20 April 1807 — 29 April 1841), was a French Romantic poet, playwright and journalist. He is famous for having introduced prose poetry in French literature,Stuar ...

(1807–1841) *

Gérard Bessière Gérard Bessière (; 27 January 1928 – 8 December 2024) was a French diarist, poet, priest of the Diocese of Cahors, onetime national chaplain for the teaching staff of university parish, journalist of the weekly magazine '' La Vie'', and aut ...

(1928) *

Maurice Blanchot Maurice Blanchot ( ; ; 22 September 1907 – 20 February 2003) was a French writer, philosopher and literary theorist. His work, exploring a philosophy of death alongside poetic theories of meaning and sense, bore significant influence on pos ...

(1907–2003) *

Blondel de Nesle Blondel de Nesle () – either Jean I of Nesle (c. 1155 – 1202) or his son Jean II of Nesle (died 1241) – was a French trouvère. The name 'Blondel de Nesle' is attached to twenty-four or twenty-five courtly songs. He was identified in 1942 ...

(12th–13th centuries) * Christian Bobin (1951–2022) *

Jean Bodel Jean Bodel (c. 1165 – c. 1210), also spelled Jehan Bodel, was an Old French -4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ... poet who wrote a number of '' chanso ...

(1165–1210) *

Étienne de La Boétie Étienne or Estienne de La Boétie (; ; 1 November 1530 – 18 August 1563) was a French magistrate, classicist, writer, poet and political theorist, best remembered for his friendship with essayist Michel de Montaigne. His early political trea ...

(1530–1563) *

Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux (; 1 November 1636 – 13 March 1711), often known simply as Boileau (, ), was a French poet and critic. He did much to reform the prevailing form of French poetry, in the same way that Blaise Pascal did to reform the ...

(1636–1711) *

Bonaventure Des Périers Bonaventure des Périers (1544) was a French writer. Biography He was born of a noble family at Arnay-le-duc in Burgundy at the end of the fifteenth century. The circumstances of his education are sketchy, but it is known that he was attache ...

(1500–1544) *

Yves Bonnefoy Yves Jean Bonnefoy (24 June 1923, Tours – 1 July 2016, Paris) was a French poet and art historian. He also published a number of translations, most notably the plays of William Shakespeare which are considered among the best in French. He was a ...

(1923–2016) * Pétrus Borel (1809–1859) *

Bertran de Born Bertran de Born (; 1140s – by 1215) was a baron from the Limousin in France, and one of the major Occitan troubadours of the 12th-13th century. He composed love songs (cansos) but was better known for his political songs (sirventes). He ...

(1150–1215 ?) *

Robert de Boron Robert de Boron (also spelled in the manuscripts "Roberz", "Borron", "Bouron", "Beron") was a French poet active around the late 12th and early 13th centuries, notable as the reputed author of the poems and ''Merlin''. Although little is known of ...

(12th–13th centuries) *

Théodore Botrel Jean-Baptiste-Théodore-Marie Botrel (14 September 1868 – 28 July 1925) was a French singer-songwriter, poet and playwright. He is best known for his popular songs about his native Brittany, of which the most famous is ''La Paimpolaise''. Dur ...

(1868–1925) *

André du Bouchet André — sometimes transliterated as Andre — is the French and Portuguese language, Portuguese form of the name Andrew and is now also used in the English-speaking world. It used in France, Quebec, Canada and other French language, French-spe ...

(1924–2001) *

Daniel Boulanger Daniel Boulanger (24 January 1922 – 27 October 2014) was a French novelist, playwright, poet and screenwriter. He has also played secondary roles in films and was a member of the Académie Goncourt from 1983 until his death. He was born in Comp ...

(1922–2014) * Stéphane Bouquet (1967) *

Joë Bousquet Joë Bousquet (; 19 March 1897 – 28 September 1950) was a French poet. Bousquet was born in Narbonne. Wounded on 27 May 1918 at Vailly near the Aisne battlelines at the end of the First World War, he was paralysed for the rest of his life, and ...

(1897–1950) * Georges Brassens (1921–1981) *

Jacques Brault Jacques Brault (29 March 1933 – 20 October 2022) was a French Canadian poet and translator who lived in Cowansville, Quebec, Canada. He was born to a poor family, but received an excellent education at the Université de Montréal and at the ...

(1933–2022) *

André Breton André Robert Breton (; ; 19 February 1896 – 28 September 1966) was a French writer and poet, the co-founder, leader, and principal theorist of surrealism. His writings include the first ''Surrealist Manifesto'' (''Manifeste du surréalisme'') ...

(1896–1966) * Nicole Brossard (1943) *

Aristide Bruant Aristide Bruant (; 6 May 1851 – 11 February 1925) was a French cabaret singer, comedian, and nightclub owner. He is best known as the man in the red scarf and black cape featured on certain famous posters by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. He ...

(1851–1925) * Gace Brulé (c.1160 – after 1213) * Andrée Brunin (1937–1993) *

Michel Butor Michel Butor (; 14 September 1926 – 24 August 2016) was a French poet, novelist, teacher, essayist, art critic and translator. Life and work Michel Marie François Butor was born in Mons-en-Barœul, a suburb of Lille, the third of seven chil ...

(1926–2016)

C

* Louis Calaferte (1928–1994) * Susana Calandrelli (1901–1978) * Jean-Pierre Calloc'h (1888–1917) * Émile Cammaerts (1878–1953) *

Côtis-Capel Côtis-Capel (22 January 1915 – 30 October 1986) was the pen name of Albert Lohier, a Norman language poet. He was from La Hague and wrote in the Haguais dialect of Cotentinais Cotentinais () is the dialect of the Norman language spoken in ...

(1915–1986) * Placide Cappeau (1808–1877) *

Adolphe Joseph Carcassonne Adolphe Joseph Carcassonne (1826 – 22 September 1891) was a French poet and dramatist. A friend of Gaston Crémieux, he ruled the first Commune of his native Marseille (1870) His principal works are: * , a selection of poems (1852) * , ope ...

(1826–1891) * Francis Carco (1886–1958) * Maurice Carême (1899–1978) * Jean Cayrol (1911–2005) * Rose Celli (1895–1982) *

Blaise Cendrars Frédéric-Louis Sauser (1 September 1887 – 21 January 1961), better known as Blaise Cendrars (), was a Swiss-born novelist and poet who became a naturalized French citizen in 1916. He was a writer of considerable influence in the European ...

(1887–1961) *

Aimé Césaire Aimé Fernand David Césaire (; ; 26 June 1913 – 17 April 2008) was a French poet, author, and politician from Martinique. He was "one of the founders of the Négritude movement in Francophone literature" and coined the word in French. He ...

(1913–2008) *

Jean Chapelain Jean Chapelain (4 December 1595 – 22 February 1674) was a French poet and critic during the '' Grand Siècle'', best known for his role as an organizer and founding member of the . Chapelain acquired considerable prestige as a literary critic, ...

(1595–1674) * Maurice Chappaz (1916–2009) * René Char (1907–1988) *

Alain Chartier Alain Chartier (1430) was a French poet and political writer. Life Alain Chartier was born in Bayeux to a family marked by considerable ability. His eldest brother Guillaume became bishop of Paris; and Thomas Chartier became notary to the kin ...

(1385–1430) *

François-René de Chateaubriand François-René, vicomte de Chateaubriand (4 September 1768 – 4 July 1848) was a French writer, politician, diplomat and historian who influenced French literature of the nineteenth century. Descended from an old aristocratic family from Bri ...

(1768–1848) * Malcolm de Chazal (1902–1981) * Andrée Chedid (1920–2011) * Charles-Julien Lioult de Chênedollé (1769–1833) * François Cheng (1929) * André Chénier (1762–1794) * Jacques Chessex (1934–2009) *

Chrétien de Troyes Chrétien de Troyes (; ; 1160–1191) was a French poet and trouvère known for his writing on King Arthur, Arthurian subjects such as Gawain, Lancelot, Perceval and the Holy Grail. Chrétien's chivalric romances, including ''Erec and Enide'' ...

(c.1135 – c.1183) *

Paul Claudel Paul Claudel (; 6 August 1868 – 23 February 1955) was a French poet, dramatist and diplomat, and the younger brother of the sculptor Camille Claudel. He was most famous for his verse dramas, which often convey his devout Catholicism. Early lif ...

(1868–1955) * William Cliff (1940) *

Jean Cocteau Jean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau ( , ; ; 5 July 1889 11 October 1963) was a French poet, playwright, novelist, designer, film director, visual artist and critic. He was one of the foremost avant-garde artists of the 20th-c ...

(1889–1963) * Gabrielle de Coignard (1550–1586) * Louise Colet (1810–1876) * Danielle Collobert (1940–1978) * Claude Confortès (1928–2016) *

Conon de Béthune Conon () (before 443 BC – ) was an Athenian general at the end of the Peloponnesian War, who led the Athenian naval forces when they were defeated by a Peloponnesian fleet in the crucial Battle of Aegospotami; later he contributed significantly ...

(c.1150 – 1220) * Benoît Conort (1956) * François Coppée (1842–1908) *

Tristan Corbière Tristan Corbière (18 July 1845 – 1 March 1875), born Édouard-Joachim Corbière, was a French poet born in Coat-Congar, Ploujean (now part of Morlaix) in Brittany, where he lived most of his life before dying of tuberculosis at the age of ...

(1845–1875) *

Pierre Corneille Pierre Corneille (; ; 6 June 1606 – 1 October 1684) was a French tragedian. He is generally considered one of the three great 17th-century French dramatists, along with Molière and Racine. As a young man, he earned the valuable patronage ...

(1606–1684) * Charles Cotin (1604–1681) *

Gaston Couté Gaston Couté (23 September 1880 – 28 June 1911) was a French poet and singer, known for his pacifist and anarchist texts. Biography Couté was the son of a miller and went to the lycée Pothier in Orléans, but left before taking the bacca ...

(1880–1911) * Watriquet de Couvin (active 1319–1329) * Octave Crémazie (1827–1879) * René Crevel (1900–1935) * Charles Cros (1842–1888)

D

* Jean Daive (1941) * Léon-Gontran Damas (1914–1978) * René Daumal (1908–1944) * François David (1870–1939) * Anne-Marie de Backer (1908–1987) * Lise Deharme (1898–1979) * Lucie Delarue-Mardrus (1880–1945) * Yanette Delétang-Tardif (1902–1976) * Jacques Delille (1738–1813) * René Depestre (1926) * Tristan Derème (1889–1941) * Paul Déroulède (1846–1914) * Maryline Desbiolles (1959) *

Marceline Desbordes-Valmore Marceline Desbordes-Valmore (20 June 1786 – 23 July 1859) was a French Romanticism, French Romantic poet and novelist. Early life and education Desbordes-Valmore was born in Douai. Following the French Revolution, her father's business was ...

(1786–1859) * Émile Deschamps (1791–1871) *

Eustache Deschamps Eustache Deschamps (13461406 or 1407) was a French poet, byname Morel, in French "Nightshade". Life and career Deschamps was born in Vertus. He received lessons in versification from Guillaume de Machaut and later studied law at Orleans Universi ...

(1346–1406) *

Robert Desnos Robert Desnos (; 4 July 1900 – 8 June 1945) was a French poet who played a key role in the Surrealist movement. Early life Robert Desnos was born in Paris on 4 July 1900, the son of a licensed dealer in game and poultry at the '' Halles'' ma ...

(1900–1945) * Philippe Desportes (1546–1606) * Jean-Pierre Desthuilliers (1939–2013) * Bruno Destrée (1867–1919) * Léon Deubel (1879–1913) *

Souéloum Diagho Souéloum Diagho, the contemporary Tuareg poet, comes from Tessalit in the North of Mali. His father is a Tuareg people, Tuareg and his mother a Fula people, Fula.In ; in . He is married and lived for a time in Belgium. He is author and editor of t ...

Mohammed Dib Mohammed Dib (; 21 July 1920 – 2 May 2003) was an Algerian author. He wrote over 30 novels, as well as numerous short stories, poems, and children's literature in the French language. His work covers the breadth of 19th century Algerian history ...

(1920–2003) *

David Diop David Mandessi Diop (9 July 1927 – 29 August 1960) was a French West African poet known for his contribution to the Négritude literary movement. His work reflects his anti-colonial stance. Biography Diop was the son of Maria Mandessi Bel ...

(1927–1960) * Charles Dobzynski (1929–2014) * Jean Dorat (1508–1588) *

Hélène Dorion Hélène Dorion, (born 21 April 1958) is a Canadians, Canadian poet, and writer. Life Born in Quebec City, Quebec, Dorion taught literature before heading Publisher Noroît from 1991 until 2000. She also conducted a series of audio recordings of ...

(1958) * Christian Dotremont (1922–1979) * Minou Drouet (1947) * Caroline Dubois (1960) * Bernard Dubourg (1945–1992) * Georges Duhamel (1884–1966) *

Jacques Dupin Jacques Dupin (4 March 1927, Privas, Ardèche – 27 October 2012, Paris) was a French poet, art critic, and co-founder of the journal '' L'éphemère''. Dupin was born in the town of Privas in the South of France, where his father was a psychia ...

(1927–2012) * Jean-Pierre Duprey (1930–1959) * Marie Dauguet (1860–1942)

E

Paul Éluard Paul Éluard (), born Eugène Émile Paul Grindel (; 14 December 1895 – 18 November 1952), was a French poet and one of the founders of the Surrealist movement. In 1916, he chose the name Paul Éluard, a matronymic borrowed from his maternal ...

(1895–1952) *

Claude Esteban Claude Esteban (26 July 1935, Paris – 10 April 2006, Paris) was a French poet. Author of a major poetic œuvre of this last half-century, Claude Esteban wrote numerous essays on art and poetry and was the French translator, inter alia, of Jor ...

(1935–2006)

F

Nabile Farès Nabile Farès (25 September 1940 – 30 August 2016) was an Algerian-born French novelist. He was born in Collo, a part of Skikda Province, Algeria. Farès left his studies and prepared (in the camps in Tunisia) to fight against the French towar ...

(1940–2016) * Léon-Paul Fargue (1876–1947) *

Jean-Pierre Faye Jean-Pierre Faye (born 19 July 1925) is a French philosopher and writer of fiction and prose poetry. Life and career Faye was born in Paris. He was member of the editing committee of the avant-garde literary review '' Tel Quel'', and later of ' ...

(1925) *

Léo Ferré Léo Ferré (; 24 August 1916 – 14 July 1993) was a Monégasque poet and composer, and a dynamic and controversial live performer. He released some forty albums over this period, composing the music and the majority of the lyrics. He released ...

(1916–1993) * Jean Follain (1903–1971) * Xavier Forneret (1809–1884) *

Paul Fort Jules-Jean-Paul Fort (1 February 1872 – 20 April 1960) was a French poet associated with the Symbolist movement. At the age of 18, reacting against the Naturalistic theatre, Fort founded the Théâtre d'Art (1890–93). He also founded and edi ...

(1872–1960) *

Marie de France Marie de France (floruit, fl. 1160–1215) was a poet, likely born in France, who lived in England during the late 12th century. She lived and wrote at an unknown court, but she and her work were almost certainly known at the royal court of Kin ...

(1154–1189) *

Martin Le Franc Martin le Franc ( – 1461) was a French poet of the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance. Life and career He was born in Normandy, and studied in Paris. He entered clerical orders, becoming an prothonotary, apostolic prothonotary, and later bec ...

(1410–1461) * Frankétienne (1936) * Pauline Fréchette (1889–1943) * André Frédérique (1915–1957) *

Jean Froissart Jean Froissart ( Old and Middle French: ''Jehan''; sometimes known as John Froissart in English; – ) was a French-speaking medieval author and court historian from the Low Countries who wrote several works, including ''Chronicles'' and ''Meli ...

(v.1337-v.1410)

G

Pierre Gabriel Pierre Gabriel (1 August 1933 – 24 November 2015), also known as Peter Gabriel, was a French mathematician at the University of Strasbourg (1962–1970), University of Bonn (1970–1974) and University of Zürich (1974–1998) who worked on cat ...

(1926–1994) *

Serge Gainsbourg Serge Gainsbourg (; born Lucien Ginsburg; 2 April 1928 – 2 March 1991) was a French singer-songwriter, actor, composer, and director. Regarded as one of the most important figures in French pop, he was renowned for often provocative rel ...

(1928–1991) * Augièr Galhard (16th-century) * Pierre Gamarra (1919–2009) * Joachim Gasquet (1873–1921) * Armand Gatti (1924–2017) *

Théophile Gautier Pierre Jules Théophile Gautier ( , ; 30 August 1811 – 23 October 1872) was a French poet, dramatist, novelist, journalist, and art and literary critic. While an ardent defender of Romanticism, Gautier's work is difficult to classify and rema ...

(1811–1872) *

Jean Genet Jean Genet (; ; – ) was a French novelist, playwright, poet, essayist, and political activist. In his early life he was a vagabond and petty criminal, but he later became a writer and playwright. His major works include the novels '' The Th ...

(1910–1986) * Amélie Gex (1835–1883) * Henri Ghéon (1875–1644) * Roger Gilbert-Lecomte (1907–1943) *

Iwan Gilkin Iwan Gilkin (7 January 1858 – 28 September 1924) was a Belgian poet. Born in Brussels, Gilkin was associated with the Symbolist school in Belgium. His works include ''Les ténèbres'' (1892, featuring a frontispiece by Odilon Redon) and ''Le ...

(1858–1924) * Roger Giroux (1925–1974) * Jean-Marie Gleize (1946) * Edouard Glissant (1928–2011) * Guy Goffette (1947) * Claire Goll (1890–1977) * Yvan Goll (1891–1950) * Jean Ogier de Gombauld (1576–1666) *

Remy de Gourmont Remy de Gourmont (4 April 1858 – 27 September 1915) was a French symbolist poet, novelist, and influential critic. He was widely read in his era, and an important influence on Blaise Cendrars and Georges Bataille. The spelling ''Rémy'' de Go ...

(1858–1915) * Xavier Grall (1930–1981) * Benoît Gréan * Jean-Baptiste-Louis Gresset (1709–1777) *

Jacques Grévin Jacques Grévin (; – 5 November 1570) was a French playwright. Grévin was born at Clermont, Oise in about 1539, and he studied medicine at the University of Paris. He became a disciple of Ronsard, and was one of the band of dramatists who ...

(1538–1570) * Jean Grosjean (1912–2006) * Maurice de Guérin (1810–1839) *

Georges Guillain Georges Charles Guillain () (3 March 1876 – 29 June 1961) was a French neurologist born in Rouen. He studied medicine in Rouen and Paris, where he learned clinical education at several hospitals. He developed an interest in neurology, and his f ...

(1876–1961) *

Guillaume de Lorris Guillaume de Lorris () was a French scholar and poet from Lorris. He was the author of the first section of the . Little is known about him, other than that he wrote the earlier section of the poem around 1230, and that the work was completed f ...

(c.1200 – c.1238) * Pernette du Guillet (1520–1545) * Eugène Guillevic (1907–1997)

H

(1237–1288) * Anne Hébert (1916–2000) * Markus Hediger (1959) * Bernard Heidsieck (1928–2014) * Georges Henein (1914–1973) *

José-Maria de Heredia José-Maria de Heredia (22 November 1842 – 3 October 1905) was a Cuban-born French Parnassian poet. He was the fifteenth member elected for seat 4 of the Académie française in 1894. Biography Early years Heredia was born at Fortuna Ca ...

(1842–1905) * Antoine Héroet (d. 1567) *

Emmanuel Hocquard Emmanuel Hocquard (11 April 1940 – 27 January 2019) was a French poet. Life He grew up in Tangier, Morocco. He served as the editor of the small press ''Orange Export Ltd.'' and, with Claude Royet-Journoud, edited two anthologies of new Amer ...

(1940-2019) *

Michel Houellebecq Michel Houellebecq (; born Michel Thomas on 26 February 1956) is a French author of novels, poems, and essays, as well as an occasional actor, filmmaker, and singer. His first book was a biographical essay on the horror writer H. P. Lovecraft. H ...

(1958) *

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo, vicomte Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romanticism, Romantic author, poet, essayist, playwright, journalist, human rights activist and politician. His most famous works are the novels ''The Hunchbac ...

(1802–1885) * Marie Huot (1965)

I

* Jacques Izoard (1936–2008)

J

* Edmond Jabès (1912–1991) * Philippe Jaccottet (1925–2021) *

Max Jacob Max Jacob (; 12 July 1876 – 5 March 1944) was a French poet, painter, writer, and critic. Life and career After spending his childhood in Quimper, Brittany, he enrolled in the Paris Colonial School, which he left in 1897 for an artistic c ...

(1876–1944) *

Francis Jammes Francis Jammes (; 2 December 1868, in Tournay, Hautes-Pyrénées, Tournay – 1 November 1938, in Hasparren) was a French and European poet. He spent most of his life in his native region of Béarn and the Northern Basque Country, Basque Country ...

(1868–1938) * Amadis Jamyn (1538–1592) *

Alfred Jarry Alfred Jarry (; ; 8 September 1873 – 1 November 1907) was a French Artistic symbol, symbolist writer who is best known for his play ''Ubu Roi'' (1896)'','' often cited as a forerunner of the Dada, Surrealism, Surrealist, and Futurism, Futurist ...

(1873–1907) *

Sandra Jayat Sandra Jayat (13 May 1930 (?) – 19 February 2025) was a French writer and artist of Romani people, Romani descent. She left her Nomad, nomadic family at age 15. She travelled on her own to Italy and Paris. She became associated with the surviv ...

(c.1939) *

Georges Jean Georges Jean (16 September 1920 – 19 December 2011) was a French poet and essayist specializing in the fields of linguistics, semiology and children's literature. Career Georges Jean was born in Besançon, after studying philosophy, he enter ...

(1920–2011) * Jean de Meung (1250 – c.1305) *

Étienne Jodelle Étienne Jodelle, seigneur de Limodin (; 1532July 1573), French dramatist and poet, was born and died in Paris of a noble family. Member of La Pléiade, he will strive to revitalize the principles of ancient Greek and Roman theater during the R ...

(1532–1573) * Jean Joubert (1928–2015) *

Jacques Jouet image:Jacques Jouet salon du Livre 2012 (cropped).jpg, Jacques Jouet in 2012. Jacques Jouet (born 9 October 1947) is a French writer and has been a participating member of the Oulipo literary project since 1983. He is a poet, novelist, short stor ...

(1947) * Alain Jouffroy (1928–2015) * Pierre Jean Jouve (1887–1976) * Charles Juliet (1934)

K

Gustave Kahn Gustave Kahn (21 December 1859, in Metz – 5 September 1936, in Paris) was a French language, French Symbolism (arts), Symbolist poet and art critic. He was also active, via publishing and essay-writing, in defining Symbolism and distinguishin ...

(1859–1936) * Kama Sywor Kamanda (1952) * Abdelkebir Khatibi (1938–2009) *

Vénus Khoury-Ghata Vénus Khoury-Ghata (born 1937 in Bsharri, Lebanon) is a Lebanese people in France, French-Lebanese poet and writer. Early life Venus Khoury-Ghata was born into a Maronites, Maronite family, the daughter of a French-speaking soldier and a peasa ...

(1937) * Tristan Klingsor (1874–1966) * Anise Koltz (1928–2023) * Petr Kral (1941–2020) * Seyhan Kurt (1971)

L

* Abdellatif Laâbi (1942) * Louise Labé (1524–1566) * Pierre Labrie (1972) *

Jacques Lacarrière Jacques Lacarrière (; 2 December 1925 – 17 September 2005) was a French writer, born in Limoges. He studied moral philosophy, classical literature, and Hindu philosophy and Hindi literature, literature. Professionally, he was known as a prom ...

(1925–2005) *

Jean de La Fontaine Jean de La Fontaine (, ; ; 8 July 162113 April 1695) was a French Fable, fabulist and one of the most widely read French poets of the 17th century. He is known above all for his ''La Fontaine's Fables, Fables'', which provided a model for subs ...

(1621–1695) * Jules Laforgue (1860–1887) * Jean Lahor (1840–1909) *

Alphonse de Lamartine Alphonse Marie Louis de Prat de Lamartine (; 21 October 179028 February 1869) was a French author, poet, and statesman. Initially a moderate royalist, he became one of the leading critics of the July Monarchy of Louis-Philippe, aligning more w ...

(1790–1869) *

Bernard de La Monnoye Bernard de La Monnoye (15 June 1641, in Dijon – 15 October 1728) was a French people, French lawyer, poet, philology, philologue and critic, known chiefly for his Christmas carol, carol ''Noei borguignon'' (''Bourgogne, Borguignon Christmas''). ...

(1641–1728) * Jane de La Vaudère (1857–1908) * Valery Larbaud (1881–1957) * Josaphat-Robert Large (1942–2017) * Rina Lasnier (1910–1997) * Isidore Ducasse, comte de Lautréamont (1846–1870) *

Pierre-Antoine Lebrun Pierre-Antoine Lebrun (; 29 November 1785 – 27 May 1873) was a French poet. Biography Lebrun was born in Paris. An ''Ode à la grande armée'', mistaken at the time for the work of Écouchard Lebrun, attracted Napoleon's attention, and secur ...

(1785–1873) * Félix Leclerc (1914–1988) *

Leconte de Lisle Charles Marie René Leconte de Lisle (; 22 October 1818 – 17 July 1894) was a French poet of the Parnassian movement. He is traditionally known by his surname only, Leconte de Lisle. Biography Leconte de Lisle was born on the French overseas i ...

(1818–1894) *

Michel Leiris Julien Michel Leiris (; 20 April 1901, Paris – 30 September 1990, Saint-Hilaire, Essonne) was a French surrealist writer and ethnographer. Part of the Surrealist group in Paris, Leiris became a key member of the College of Sociology with Geor ...

(1901–1990) *

Jean Lemaire de Belges Jean Lemaire de Belges (c. 1473c. 1525) was a Walloon poet, historian, and pamphleteer who, writing in French, was the last and one of the best of the school of poetic 'rhétoriqueurs' (“rhetoricians”) and the chief forerunner, both in style a ...

(1473–1520) * Charles Le Quintrec (1926–2008) *

Jean-François Leriget de La Faye Jean-François Leriget de La Faye (1674, Vienne, Isère – 11 July 1731, Paris) was a French diplomat, wealthy landowner and art collector, poet,Moore, Susan (April 2017). Preview. '' Apollo: The International Magazine for Collectors'' 185 (652): ...

(1674–1731) * Alain Le Roux (c. 1040 – 1093) *

Hervé Le Tellier Hervé Le Tellier (; born 21 April 1957) is a French writer and linguistics, linguist, and a member of the international literary group Oulipo (Ouvroir de Littérature Potentielle, which translates roughly as "workshop of potential literature") ...

(1957) * Henry Jean-Marie Levet (1874–1906) *

Tristan L'Hermite :''See also François Tristan l'Hermite'' Tristan l'Hermite (died ) was a French political and military figure of the late Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to ...

(1601–1655) * Liska (1956–2011) *

(1200–1240) *

Pierre Louÿs Pierre-Félix Louÿs (; 10 December 1870 – 4 June 1925) was a Belgian poet and writer, most renowned for lesbian and classical themes in some of his writings. He is known as a writer who sought to "express pagan sensuality with stylistic perf ...

(1870–1925) * Mary Stanley Low (1912–2007) * Ghérasim Luca (1913–1994) *

Jean-Pierre Luminet Jean-Pierre Luminet (born 3 June 1951) is a French astrophysicist, specializing in black holes and cosmology. He is an emeritus research director at the CNRS ( Centre national de la recherche scientifique). Luminet is a member of the Laboratoir ...

(1951)

M

Guillaume de Machaut Guillaume de Machaut (, ; also Machau and Machault; – April 1377) was a French composer and poet who was the central figure of the style in late medieval music. His dominance of the genre is such that modern musicologists use his death to ...

(1300–1377) *

Maurice Maeterlinck Maurice Polydore Marie Bernard Maeterlinck (29 August 1862 – 6 May 1949), also known as Count/Comte Maeterlinck from 1932, was a Belgian playwright, poet, and essayist who was Flemish but wrote in French. He was awarded the 1911 Nobel Prize in ...

(1862–1949) *

François de Malherbe François de Malherbe (, 1555 – 16 October 1628) was a French poet, critic, and translator. Life He was born in Le Locheur (near Caen, Normandie), to a family of standing, although the family's pedigree did not satisfy the heralds in terms o ...

(1555–1628) *

Stéphane Mallarmé Stéphane Mallarmé ( , ; ; 18 March 1842 – 9 September 1898), pen name of Étienne Mallarmé, was a French poet and critic. He was a major French Symbolist poet, and his work anticipated and inspired several revolutionary artistic schools o ...

(1842–1898) * Pierre de Marbeuf (1595–1645) *

Clément Marot Clément Marot (23 November 1496 – 12 September 1544) was a French Renaissance poet. He was influenced by the writers of the late 15th century and paved the way for the Pléiade, and is undoubtedly the most important poet at the court of Fr ...

(1495–1544) *

Jean Marot Jean Marot (; Mathieu, near Caen, 1463 – c. 1526) was a French poet of the late 15th and early 16 century and the father of the French Renaissance poet Clément Marot. He is often grouped with the " Grands Rhétoriqueurs". Jean Marot seems ...

(1450–1526) * Anne de Marquets (1533–1588) * Fabien Marsaud (born 1977) *

Charles Maurras Charles-Marie-Photius Maurras (; ; 20 April 1868 – 16 November 1952) was a French author, politician, poet and critic. He was an organiser and principal philosopher of ''Action Française'', a political movement that was monarchist, corporatis ...

(1868–1952) *

Catulle Mendès Catulle Mendès (; 22 May 1841 – 8 February 1909) was a French poet and man of letters. Early life and career Of Portuguese Jewish extraction, Mendès was born in Bordeaux. After childhood and adolescence in Toulouse, he arrived in Paris in 1 ...

(1841–1909) * Élisa Mercœur (1809–1835) * Thierry Metz (1956–1997) *

Jean de Meun Jean de Meun (or de Meung, ) () was a French author best known for his continuation of the '' Roman de la Rose''. Life He was born Jean Clopinel or Jean Chopinel at Meung-sur-Loire. Tradition asserts that he studied at the University of Paris. ...

(1240–1304) *

Henri Michaux Henri Michaux (; 24 May 1899 – 19 October 1984) was a Belgian-born French poet, writer and painter. Michaux is renowned for his strange, highly original poetry and prose, and also for his art: the Paris Museum of Modern Art and the Guggenhei ...

(1899–1984) * Jean Michel (c. 1435–1501) * Jean Moréas (1856–1910) * Hégésippe Moreau (1810–1838) * Camille de Morel * Colin Muset *

Alfred de Musset Alfred Louis Charles de Musset-Pathay (; 11 December 1810 – 2 May 1857) was a French dramatist, poet, and novelist.His names are often reversed "Louis Charles Alfred de Musset": see "(Louis Charles) Alfred de Musset" (bio), Biography.com, 2007 ...

(1810–1857)

N

Marguerite de Navarre Marguerite de Navarre (, ''Marguerite d'Alençon''; 11 April 149221 December 1549), also known as Marguerite of Angoulême and Margaret of Navarre, was a princess of France, Duchess of Alençon and Berry, and Queen of Navarre by her second mar ...

(1492–1549) *

Émile Nelligan Émile Nelligan (December 24, 1879 – November 18, 1941) was a Canadian Symbolist poet from Montreal who wrote in French. Even though he stopped writing poetry after being institutionalized at the age of 19, Nelligan remains an iconic figur ...

(1879–1941) *

Gérard de Nerval Gérard de Nerval (; 22 May 1808 – 26 January 1855), the pen name of the French writer, poet, and translator Gérard Labrunie, was a French essayist, poet, translator, and travel writer. He was a major figure during the era of French romantici ...

(1808–1855)

O

* René de Obaldia (1918–2022) * Charles, duc d'Orléans (1394–1465)

P

Évariste de Parny Évariste Desiré de Forges, vicomte de Parny (6 February 17535 December 1814) was a French Rococo poet. Biography De Parny was born in Saint-Paul on the Isle of Bourbon (now Réunion); he came from an aristocratic family from the region of ...

(1753–1814) * Charles Péguy (1873–1914) * Benjamin Péret (1899–1959) * Louis Pergaud (1882–1915) *

Saint-John Perse Alexis Leger (; 31 May 1887 – 20 September 1975), better known by his pseudonym Saint-John Perse (; also Saint-Leger Leger), was a French poet, writer and diplomat, awarded the 1960 Nobel Prize in Literature "for the soaring flight and the ev ...

(1887–1975) *

Christine de Pizan Christine de Pizan or Pisan (, ; born Cristina da Pizzano; September 1364 – ), was an Italian-born French court writer for King Charles VI of France and several French royal dukes, in both prose and poetry. Christine de Pizan served as a cour ...

(1364–c. 1430) *

Francis Ponge Francis Jean Gaston Alfred Ponge (; 27 March 1899 – 6 August 1988) was a French poet. He developed a form of prose poem, minutely examining everyday objects. He was the third recipient of the Neustadt International Prize for Literature in 1974. ...

(1899–1988) *

Jacques Prévert Jacques Prévert (; 4 February 1900 – 11 April 1977) was a French poet and screenwriter. His poems became and remain popular in the French-speaking world, particularly in schools. His best-regarded films formed part of the Poetic realism, poetic ...

(1900–1977) * Guiot de Provins *

Sully Prudhomme René François Armand "Sully" Prudhomme (; 16 March 1839 – 6 September 1907) was a French poet and essayist. He was the first winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1901. Born in Paris, Prudhomme originally studied to be an engineer, bu ...

(1839–1907)

Q

Raymond Queneau Raymond Auguste Queneau (; ; 21 February 1903 – 25 October 1976) was a French novelist, poet, critic, editor and co-founder and president of Oulipo (), notable for his wit and cynical humour. Biography Queneau, the only child of Auguste Que ...

(1903–1976)

R

* Nicolas Rapin (1535–1608) * Henri de Régnier (1864–1936) * Pierre Reverdy (1889–1960) *

Arthur Rimbaud Jean Nicolas Arthur Rimbaud (, ; ; 20 October 1854 – 10 November 1891) was a French poet known for his transgressive and surreal themes and for his influence on modern literature and arts, prefiguring surrealism. Born in Charleville, he s ...

(1854–1891) *

Jules Romains Jules Romains (born Louis Henri Jean Farigoule; 26 August 1885 – 14 August 1972) was a French poet and writer and the founder of the Unanimism literary movement. His works include the play '' Knock ou le Triomphe de la médecine'', and a cyc ...

(1885–1972) *

Pierre de Ronsard Pierre de Ronsard (; 11 September 1524 – 27 December 1585) was a French poet known in his generation as a "Prince des poètes, prince of poets". His works include ''Les Amours de Cassandre'' (1552)'','' ''Les Hymnes'' (1555-1556)'', Les Disco ...

(1524–1585) * Claude Royet-Journoud (1941) * Jaufré Rudel (1113–1170) * Rutebeuf (1245–1285)

S

* Janou Saint-Denis (1930–2000) * Hector de Saint-Denys Garneau (1912–1943) *

Mellin de Saint-Gelais Mellin de Saint-Gelais (or ''Melin de Saint-Gelays'' or ''Sainct-Gelais''; c. 1491 – October 1558) was a French poet of the Renaissance and Poet Laureate of Francis I of France. Life He was born at Angoulême, most likely the natural ...

(1491–1558) * Jean François de Saint-Lambert (1716–1803) *

Benoît de Sainte-Maure Benoît de Sainte-Maure (; died 1173) was a 12th-century French poet, most probably from Sainte-Maure-de-Touraine near Tours, France. The Plantagenets' administrative center was located in Chinon, west of Tours. ''Le Roman de Troie'' His 40,000 ...

André Salmon André Salmon (4 October 1881, Paris – 12 March 1969, Sanary-sur-Mer) was a French poet, art critic and writer. He was one of the early defenders of Cubism, with Guillaume Apollinaire and Maurice Raynal. Biography André Salmon was born i ...

(1881–1969) * Albert Samain (1858–1900) *

Henriette Sauret Henriette Sauret (after marriage, Sauret-Arnyvelde; 1890-1976) was a French feminist author, and feminist pacifist journalist. As a feminist literary critic, her comments were less favorable about other feminist pacifist books than other experienc ...

(1890–1976) * Paul Scarron (1610–1660) *

Maurice Scève Maurice Scève ( – ) was a French poet active in Lyon during the Renaissance period. He was the centre of the Lyonnese côterie that elaborated the theory of spiritual love, derived partly from Plato and partly from Petrarch. This spiritual lov ...

(1501–1564) * Georges Schehadé (1907–1989) * Pierre Seghers (1906–1987) * Léopold Senghor (1906–2001) * Louisa Siefert (1845–1877) *Dominique Sorrente (born 1953) *Gabrielle Soumet (1814–1886) *Philippe Soupault (1897–1990) *André Spire (1868–1966) *Jules Supervielle (1884–1960)

T

*Taillefer (1001–1066) *Jean de La Taille (1535–1608) *Jean Tardieu (1903–1995) *Esther Tellermann (1947) *Thomas of Britain *Khal Torabully (born 1956) *Julien Torma (1902–1933) *Paul-Jean Toulet (1867–1920) *Roland Michel Tremblay (born 1972) *

*Doete de Troyes (1220-1265) *Pontus de Tyard (1521–1605) *Tristan Tzara (1896–1963)

V

*Paul Valéry (1871–1945) *Jean-Pierre Vallotton (born 1955) *Léonise Valois (1868–1936) *Jean Venturini (1919–1940) *Serge Venturini (born 1955) *Emile Verhaeren (1855–1916) *Paul Verlaine (1844–1896) *Francis Viélé-Griffin (1864–1937) *Boris Vian (1920–1959) *Claude Vigée (1921–2020) *Alfred de Vigny (1797–1863) *François Villon (1431–1463) *Roger Vitrac (1899–1952) *Vincent Voiture (1597–1648) *Voltaire (1694–1778)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:French-language poets French-language poets, * Lists of poets by language French poetry, *