Anonymous of Troy

by Didier Coste

Following a long creative practice of the sonnet (La Lecon d'Otilia, 1995), Anonymous of Troy inaugurates a new exploration of doubleness and overlay in terms of place, time and feeling, sustained by an equal doubleness in terms of form and language. The scene is Canakkale, Turkey, facing Gelibolu on the other shore of the Dardanelles. But Gallipoli is a piece of ANZAC peering through the mirror of Port Jackson. The scene is Abydos facing Sestos, where Hero is still waiting for Leander. But the scene is also Truva, facing the infinite a few miles south, where Johnny Anadolu got the better of Achilles Johnson. The worldwide scene is then, thousands of years ago, as primitive as Parramatta today, the girl of both times will recognise herself in the TV commercial. Isolettric verse, sound play, anagrams, are cadenced to protect modernity against its ageing. "Coste's novel Days in Sydney is a work demanding certain critical acclaim. Bilingual, in direct touch with Australian creative writing, it brings to the latter a contribution of the highest distinction." - Robert Pickering "The poems are very accomplished. One doesn't usually encounter such a range of learning in poems these days and Coste manages to be highly evocative, too, drawing upon classical themes in a modern setting." - Paul Kane"

70 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2015

About the author

Didier Coste, a Professor Emeritus of Comparative Literature (U. Bordeaux Montaigne) and a Fellow of JNIAS (JNU, New Delhi), has taught in 9 countries across the world, specialising in Poetics, Aesthetics, Narrative Theory and Translation Theory. A poet, novelist, translator, critic and theorist in French, English and Spanish, his many articles appeared in journals of France, the USA, India, Spain and Australia and in edited collections and encyclopedias. He was awarded the Grand Prix of the Société des Gens de Lettres for Literary Translation in 1977. His best-known theory book is Narrative as Communication (Minnesota UP, 1989). His latest novel is Days in Sydney (2005); latest published book of poetry: Anonymous of Troy (Sydney 2015). Forthcoming: 4 collections of poetry in English and a French translation of Pandavapuram by Sethumadhavan. In progress: Conversations with Hanuman: Essays in Indian and Comparative Literature; a bilingual anthology of León de Greiff; a translation of Goddess Poems by Annie Finch, and more