Alfred Jarry
(1873 - 1907) France
Writer
Saint-Brieuc, then in 1888 in Rennes. Jarry moved to Paris in 1891 and began publishing in 1893. Between 1893 and 1895 he had a brief and passionate friendship with a fellow student from the Lycée Henri IV, the future poet Léon-Paul Fargue. This is Jarry's only known homosexual relationship.
Jarry became famus through his play Ubu roi (1896). This play is considered the inauguration of the theatre of the absurd. Homosexual characters and themes appear in a number of Jarry's writings, including Les jours et les nuits (Days and Nights, 1897), L'amour en visite (Love Goes Visiting, 1898), Messaline (The Garden of Priapus, 1899), and Le surmâle (The Supermale, 1902).
Jarry was not able tu sustain his literary reputation during his lifetime. He died young, a heavy drinker renowned for his eccentric behaviour.
Source: excerpts from: Gabriele Griffin, Who's Who in Lesbian and Gay and Writing, Routledge, London, 2002
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