Youenn Gwernig (10 May 1925 – 29 August 2006; born in Scaër, Douarnenez) was a French- American

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles, genres and techniques to communicate ideas, to inspire feelings and emotions, or to entertain. Writers may develop different forms of writing such as novels, short sto ...

singer Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define singi ...

and TV presenter on the French channel

France 3 France 3 () is a French free-to-air Public broadcasting, public television network. The second flagship network of France Télévisions, it broadcasts a wide range of general and specialized programming. France 3 is structured as a Region ...

Early life

He was born in 1925 in the town of Scaër. He first worked as a wood sculptor. In the early 1950s he met the Breton poet and singer Glenmor, with whom he set a music band called ''Breizh a gan'' which was the first cultural Breton band after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. This band set an operetta called ''Genovefa''.

Life

He moved to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in 1957 with his two daughters. From 1961, he regularly visited the West Side neighbourhood of

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and met the Beat Generation writers there. He became a friend of Jack Kerouac and lived in the

Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

, where he wrote some bilingual poems in Breton and in English about New York or his nostalgy of Brittany in an American big city, as ''Un dornad plu'' ("A handful of feathers", 1961) or ''War ribl ar stêr Harlem'' ("On the bank of Harlem river", August 1963). In 1968, he wrote a poems' collection called ''New York City blues.'' In the 1997's Al Liamm edition of ''Un dornad plu'', Youenn Gwernig explained why he used to write his poems in Breton and to translate them in English : ''"Meeting with Jack Kerouac in 1965, for instance, was a decisive turn. Since he could not speak Breton he asked me : "Would you not write some of your poems in English, I'd really like to read them !..." So I wrote an Diri Dir - Stairs of Steel for him, and kept on doing so. That's why I often write my poems in Breton, French and English."'' He used to send his poems to the Breton library Al Liamm. He returned to Brittany in 1969 with his wife (Suzig) and his daughters (Annaïg, Gwenola and Marie). He moved to Locmaria-Berrien and worked with Patrick Ewen and Gérard Delahaye. In 1972, he published a collection of peosie called An Toull en nor. He released the album ''Distro ar Gelted'' ("Come back the Celtic people") in 1974. He became famous with his song ''E-kreiz an noz'' ("In the middle of the night"). He wrote a novel in French in 1982, ''La grande tribu'' ("The great tribe" in French language), where he described his life in the USA. In 1990 his album ''Emañ ar bed va iliz'' ("The world is my church") was released. He died in 2006.

Discography

* 1971 : ''Les bougnoules - Gavotte du joint'' ("The Arabs - The Joint's dance" in french) * 1973 : ''Ni hon unan! - Tap da sac'h'' ("We, ourselves ! - Get your bag" in Breton) * 1974 : ''Distro ar Gelted'' ("Come back the Celt people" in Breton), LP Arfolk * 1975 : ''E-kreiz an noz'' ("In the middle of the night" in Breton), LP Velia * 1979 : ''Youenn Gwernig'', Private People, LP * 1990 : ''Emañ ar bed va iliz'' ("The world is my church" in Breton), CD * 1994 : ''Foeter Bro / Just a traveller / Compagnon de route'', CD * 2003 : ''Identity'', Coop Breizh (Best of)

Books

* ''An toull en nor'' (bilingual breton-english, litt. ''The door's hole''), Ar Majenn éditions, 1972. * ''An diri dir / Les escaliers d’acier / Stairs of steel'' (trilingual Breton-French-English), Ar Majenn éditions, 1976. * ''La grande tribu'', (French, ''The great Tribe'') Grasset,1982. * ''Un dornad plu / A handful of feathers'' (Breton and English), Al Liamm, 1997. * ''Appelez-moi Ange'' (French, ''Call me angel'') ), Blanc Silex, 2002.Youenn Gwernig's books on Amazon
/ref> * ''Kerouac city blues'' with Jacques Josse, Daniel Biga, Alain Jégou...

Notes

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gwernig, Youenn 1925 births Writers from Brittany Poets from Brittany 2006 deaths People from Finistère American people of Breton descent Breton-language singers Breton language activists French male poets 20th-century French poets 20th-century French male singers 20th-century French male writers French emigrants to the United States