Black Coat Press has just published translations of two of Louise Michel’s utopian novels, The Human Microbes (1887) and The New World (1888). They were part of a projected 6-volume science-fiction series. Brian Stableford, who also translated a collection of Han Ryner’s stories, The Superhumans, and who is well-known as a prolific author and translator, did the translations. I’ve read parts of The Human Microbes in French, and it’s a wild ride. I’m putting my order in for these two volumes right away.
Saint Ravachol
Louise Michel, Today or Tomorrow (1892)
Today or Tomorrow. Louise Michel Everything is good that strikes or stings. So much the better if these bandits have finished their work. The scaffold has started the party, and the fire will beat its wings over the apotheosis. The blood of Ravachol splashes, from his false collar to his cuffs, the cold man of the Élysée. The Élysée! That’s the spot that draws the looks! From it the grand finale, the final bouquet will rise into the air, and the cross of Our Lady of the Slaughter will be the streetlamp. The sun has risen red in the prologue, […]
Contr'un
Louise Michel, “The Claque-Dents” (IV-VI)
THE CLAQUE-DENTS [continued] IV There are two little-known islands on the coast of Morbihan. From a distance, Hœdik has the appearance of a seahorse; some bits of land, one having the appearance of bagpipes, the others stamped in the shape of the tail, surround it. Houat is a double star; reefs, where the waves and wind roar, border Hœdik and Houat. On these islands, and on their constellations of islets, live a population of fisher-folk who only know the sea. On the horizon, eating into the coasts of Quiberon and Penmarch, is the sea; between the two harbors, a first […]
Working Translations
Louise Michel, “A Final Thought” (1887)
[The New Era — VIII] [one_half padding=”0 10px 0 0px”] A Final Thought Diving into the past, we see it join with the future like the two extremities of a circular arc, and that circle, like a sound wave, awakens others, infinitely. Eaten away by the world (from ancient India to ourselves), will the lost sciences germinate or are they dead in the flower? Must we wait for new emanations for new beginnings? Will there be enough to return to the soil to provide the seeds of renewal and conditions proper to existence? How many civilizations have fallen, how many scientific […]