Rikki Ducornet (; born Erica DeGre; April 19, 1943) is an American writer, poet, and artist. Her work has been described as "linguistically explosive and socially relevant," and praised for "deploy ngtactics familiar to the historical avant-garde, including an emphasis on gnosticism, cosmology, diablerie, bestiary, eroticism, and revolution, to produce an astounding body of work, cogent and ethical in its beauty and spirit."

Biography

Rikki Ducornet was born in Canton, New York. Gerard DeGré, Ducornet's father, was a professor of social philosophy, and her mother Muriel hosted community-interest programs on radio and television. Ducornet was raised in a multicultural household as her father was Cuban and her mother was Russian-Jewish. Ducornet's father encouraged her to read books by authors such as

Albert Camus Albert Camus ( ; ; 7 November 1913 – 4 January 1960) was a French philosopher, author, dramatist, journalist, world federalist, and political activist. He was the recipient of the 1957 Nobel Prize in Literature at the age of 44, the s ...

and

Lao Tzu Laozi (), also romanized as Lao Tzu #Name, among other ways, was a semi-legendary Chinese philosophy, Chinese philosopher and author of the ''Tao Te Ching'' (''Laozi''), one of the foundational texts of Taoism alongside the ''Zhuangzi (book) ...

, and to pursue an exploration of knowledge. ''Alice in Wonderland'' was an especially formative book, and inspired her 1993 novel ''The Jade Cabinet'', in which

Lewis Carroll Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, poet, mathematician, photographer and reluctant Anglicanism, Anglican deacon. His most notable works are ''Alice ...

is a major character. Ducornet's father also taught her rumba at the age of ten. Ducornet spent part of her childhood in Egypt, the setting for her 2003 novel ''Gazelle'', after her father received an invitation to teach at the University of Cairo. Ducornet also spent two years in Algeria in the mid-1960s after the Algerian war of Independence. Ducornet grew up on the campus of

Bard College Bard College is a private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. The campus overlooks the Hudson River and Catskill Mountains within the Hudson River Historic District ...

in Annandale-on-Hudson, in New York, earning a B.A. in Fine Arts there in 1964. While at Bard she met

Robert Coover Robert Lowell Coover (February 4, 1932 – October 5, 2024) was an American novelist, Short story, short story writer, and T. B. Stowell Professor Emeritus in Literary Arts at Brown University. He is generally considered a writer of fabulation ...

and Robert Kelly, two authors who shared Ducornet's fascination with

metamorphosis Metamorphosis is a biological process by which an animal physically develops including birth transformation or hatching, involving a conspicuous and relatively abrupt change in the animal's body structure through cell growth and different ...

and provided early models of how fiction might express this interest. In 1972 she moved to the Loire Valley in France with her then husband, Guy Ducornet, where she lived for the next eighteen years. As a young girl, Ducornet dreamed of being a visual artist and it wasn't until she moved to France with her husband that she began to seriously think about writing. Being in Europe brought out something new: as Ducornet explained, "I was acutely aware of language". It was in France too, that she raised her son, Jean-Yves Ducornet, who later became a noted composer/arranger/producer. In 1988 she won a Bunting Institute fellowship at Radcliffe, and in 1989 accepted a teaching position in the English Department at the

University of Denver The University of Denver (DU) is a private research university in Denver, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1864, it has an enrollment of approximately 5,700 undergraduate students and 7,200 graduate students. It is classified among "R1: D ...

. In 2007, she replaced retired Dr. Ernest Gaines as Writer in Residence at the

University of Louisiana at Lafayette The University of Louisiana at Lafayette (UL Lafayette, University of Louisiana, ULL, or UL) is a Public university, public research university in Lafayette, Louisiana, United States. It has the largest enrollment within the nine-campus Universi ...

. Ducornet currently lives in Port Townsend, Washington. Ducornet is the subject of the

Steely Dan Steely Dan is an American rock band formed in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, in 1971 by Walter Becker (guitars, bass, backing vocals) and Donald Fagen (keyboards, lead vocals). Originally having a traditional band lineup, Becker and Fagen cho ...

song " Rikki Don't Lose That Number." Steely Dan singer

Donald Fagen Donald Jay Fagen (born January 10, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter and musician who is the co-founder, lead singer, co-songwriter, and keyboardist of the rock band Steely Dan, formed in the early 1970s with musical partner Walter Becker ...

had met her while both were attending Bard College. Ducornet says they met at a college party, and even though she was married at the time, he gave her his number. Ducornet was intrigued by Fagen and was tempted to call him, but she decided against it. She later told an interviewer, "Philosophically it's an interesting song; I mean I think his 'number' is a cipher for the self."

Writing

Ducornet is known for her writing characterized by motifs of nature,

Eros Eros (, ; ) is the Greek god of love and sex. The Romans referred to him as Cupid or Amor. In the earliest account, he is a primordial god, while in later accounts he is the child of Aphrodite. He is usually presented as a handsome young ma ...

, abusive authority, subversion, and the creative imagination. Ducornet hand writes the drafts of her books with pen and ink and when writing, Ducornet does not begin with a set plot but rather derives her stories from the hearts of her subjects. In Ducornet's first book, ''The Butcher’s Tales'', she dealt with ideas of "conveying moral understanding, a visceral need to confront abusive Authority in its many forms, and to fully engage the beautiful", all themes that reoccur in her later work. In addition to being known as a writer, Ducornet also works in the mediums of painting and printmaking. Ducornet has illustrated books by

Jorge Luis Borges Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo ( ; ; 24 August 1899 – 14 June 1986) was an Argentine short-story writer, essayist, poet and translator regarded as a key figure in Spanish literature, Spanish-language and international literatur ...

, Forrest Gander, Kate Bernheimer, and Anne Waldman among others. A collection of Ducornet's papers, including prints and drawings, are in the permanent collection of the Ohio State University Rare Books and Manuscripts Library, with further papers at the University of California San Diego library. In 2017, Ducornet partnered with multimedia artist Margie McDonald in a collaborative installation show at the Northwind Arts Center in Port Townsend. The show exhibited a series of 25-foot-long painted scrolls hand painted by Ducornet and multimedia wire sculptures by Margie McDonald. These scrolls were painted during a month long residency at the Vermont Studio Center prior to Ducornet and McDonald's collaboration. Her art has also been exhibited in Amnesty International’s travelling exhibit "I Welcome," in support of the world’s refugees. Ducornet uses themes of nature and magic in many of her works. Ducornet’s Tetralogy of Elements was influenced by the ancient idea of the

four elements The classical elements typically refer to earth, water, air, fire, and (later) aether which were proposed to explain the nature and complexity of all matter in terms of simpler substances. Ancient cultures in Greece, Angola, Tibet, India, a ...

: earth, fire, water, and air. Each of the four elements are featured in '' The Stain'' (1984), ''Entering Fire'' (1986), ''The Fountains of Neptune'' (1989), and ''The Jade Cabinet'' (1993), respectively. Ducornet’s book ''Phosphor In Dreamland'', is sometimes included alongside the original tetralogy as presenting a fifth element, being light or dream. Ducornet was influenced by

surrealism Surrealism is an art movement, art and cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists aimed to allow the unconscious mind to express itself, often resulting in the depiction of illogical or dreamlike s ...

and has written about the movement. She wrote the foreword to Penelope Rosemont’s ''Surrealist Experiences: 1001 Dawns, 221 Midnights'' (Black Swan Press, 2000). In addition, Ducornet is a contributor to (on "Imagination") and the subject of an entry in the three-volume ''International Encyclopedia of Surrealism''; for her entry in the latter, Ducornet told critic Michelle Ryan-Sautour that she did not know "what it means to ‘do’ surrealism. I do know, however, that my process is informed by, energized by, sparked . . . by memory, dreams, reflection AND HAZARD and intuition, EROS above all. . . . Surrealism has been an embodiment of some kind, a luminous . . . haunting. It is the name of the country where I was born."

Awards

* Arts and Letters Award in Literature,

American Academy of Arts and Letters The American Academy of Arts and Letters is a 300-member honor society whose goal is to "foster, assist, and sustain excellence" in American literature, Music of the United States, music, and Visual art of the United States, art. Its fixed number ...

(2008) * Lannan Literary Award for Fiction (2004) * Charles Flint Kellogg Award in Arts and Letters (1998) * Critics Choice Award (1995) * Lannan Literary Award for Fiction (1993)

Bibliography

Novels * The ''Elements'' tetralogy: ** '' The Stain'',

Chatto & Windus Chatto & Windus is an imprint of Penguin Random House that was formerly an independent book publishing company founded in London in 1855 by John Camden Hotten. Following Hotten's death, the firm would reorganize under the names of his busines ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

(1984);

Grove Press Grove Press is an American publishing imprint that was founded in 1947. Imprints include: Black Cat, Evergreen, Venus Library, and Zebra. Barney Rosset purchased the company in 1951 and turned it into an alternative book press in the United S ...

, New York (1984); revised edition

Dalkey Archive Press Dalkey Archive Press is an American publisher of fiction, poetry, foreign translations and literary criticism specializing in the publication or republication of lesser-known, often avant-garde works. The company has offices in Funks Grove, Il ...

, Normal IL (1995) ** '' Entering Fire'',

, London (1986);

City Lights ''City Lights'' is a 1931 American synchronized sound film, sound romance film, romantic comedy drama, comedy-drama film written, produced, directed by, and starring Charlie Chaplin. While the film has no audible dialog, it was released with a ...

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

(1986) **'' The Fountains of Neptune'', McClelland & Steward,

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

(1989); Dalkey Archive Press, Normal, Illinois (1992) ** '' The Jade Cabinet'', Dalkey Archive Press, Normal, Illinois (1993) * '' Phosphor in Dreamland'', Dalkey Archive Press, Normal, Illinois (1995) * '' The Fan-Maker's Inquisition'', Henry Holt, New York (1999) * ''Gazelle'', Alfred A. Knopf, New York (2003) * ''Netsuke: a novel'', Coffee House Press, Minneapolis (2011) * ''Brightfellow: a novel'', Coffee House Press, Minneapolis (2016) * ''Trafik: A Novel in Warp Drive'', Coffee House Press, Minneapolis (2021) * ''The Plotinus,'' Coffee House Press, Minneapolis (2023) Short fiction collections * ''The Butcher's Tales'' (1980) * ''The Complete Butcher's Tales'' (1994) * ''The Word 'Desire (1997) * ''The One Marvelous Thing'' (2008) Poetry * '' From The Star Chamber'' (as "Rikki") Fiddlehead Poetry Books, Fredericton NB (1974) * '' Wild Geraniums'' Actual Size Press, London (1975) * '' Bouche a Bouche'' by Guy Ducornet & Rikki, Soror,

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

(1975) * ''Weird Sisters'' (as "Rikki") Intermedia,

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

(1976) * '' Knife Notebook'' (as "Rikki") Fiddlehead Poetry Books, Vancouver (1977) * '' The Illustrated Universe'' (as "Rikki") Aya Press, Toronto (1979) * '' The Cult of Seizure'' The Porcupine's Quill, Erin, Ontario (1989) Essays * '' The Monstrous and the Marvelous'' City Lights, San Francisco (1999) * ''The Deep Zoo'' Coffee House Press, Minneapolis (2015) Anthologies edited * '' Shoes & Shit: Stories for Pedestrians'' edited by Geoff Hancock & Rikki Ducornet, Aya Press, Toronto (1984) Children's books * ''The Blue Bird'' Adaptation of Mme. D'Aulnoy's old French fairy tale, Alfred A. Knopf, New York (1970) * ''Shazira Shazam and the Devil'' by Erica and Guy Ducornet,

Prentice-Hall Prentice Hall was a major American educational publisher. It published print and digital content for the 6–12 and higher-education market. It was an independent company throughout the bulk of the twentieth century. In its last few years it ...

, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey (1972) Illustrations * ''Spanking the Maid'' by

(1981) * '' Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius'' by

(1983) * ''Torn Wings and Faux Pas'' by Karen Elizabeth Gordon (1997) * ''Horse, Flower, Bird'' by Kate Bernheimer (2010) Forewords *''Surrealist Experiences: 1001 Dawns, 221 Midnights,'' by Penelope Rosemont. Black Swan Press (2000) *''Hum'', by Michelle Richmond. Fiction Collective Two (2014)

References

External links