Earth on fire and other poems

Joseph Rene Noyau (1911-84) was a Creolophone and Francophone Mauritian writer and poet who wrote under a number of pseudonyms including Jean Erenne which he used for the poems in this collection. Noyau lived and wrote at a crucial time in the history of the island of Mauritius. He was a passionately committed man of letters and a pioneer of personal and literary freedom in the march to an independent Mauritius. This book presents a selection of Noyau's poems in their original French and in English translation.

From Peter Pegnall:

'There are many reasons to be fascinated by Rene Noyau... He cannot be pigeonholed in any particular style or subject matter, moves from the earthy to the ethereal, often in the same poem. A devotee of the surreal image, exotic and startling, he is also capable of a raw clarity that hammers home his meaning. Like many true artists, Rene was not the best custodian or promoter of his work and his native land was not entirely ready for his force or originality. The current volume is an effort to reach an audience he might never have imagined, to be a recognition and a discovery for years to come, crossing age and cultural barriers.'

~

Joseph Rene Noyau (1911-84), ecrivain et poete mauricien, creolophone et francophone, utilisait un bon nombre de pseudonymes. Les poemes de ce recueil sont signes Jean Erenne. Il vivait et ecrivait a une epoque critique de l'histoire de l'ile Maurice. Homme de lettres engage, il etait passionnement devoue a la liberte d'expression tant sur le plan personnel que litteraire, dans la marche vers une ile Maurice independante. Ce livre contient une selection bilingue de poemes de Noyau dans leur langue d'origine, le francais, et leur traduction en anglais.