About Jean-Christophe Bailly
Born 1949. Jean-Christophe Bailly is a French writer, poet, playwright, prose writer, art historian and philosopher.
Jean-Christophe Bailly (; 3 May 1949) is a French writer, poet and playwright. Born in Paris, he has written on painting and photography and has been active in contemporary art.
Biography Bailly was born in Paris. Very early on, he decided to devote himself to writing. His book Tuiles detachées explains this decision, Close to surrealism when he entered literature, he moved away from it. His thought constitutes the modern continuity of certain ideas of German romanticism: the idea of a sense without borders and moving forms, in the spirit of what Novalis calls the "Encyclopedia".
He founded and directed the magazines Fin de siècle (with for four issues between 1974 and 1976 ) and Aléa (for nine issues between 1981 and 1989). He also directed the series "Détroits" at Éditions (with and Philippe Lacoue-Labarthe) and "35-37" at Hazan.
A holder of a doctorate degree in philosophy, Bailly has been teaching at the in Blois, of which he has been directing the publication Les Cahiers de l’École de Blois since 2003. 1971: Au-delà du langage : essai sur Benjamin Péret, Éric Losfeld 1973: Jean-Pierre Duprey, 1976: La Légende dispersée : Anthologie du romantisme allemand, 1978: Wozu ? : à quoi bon des poètes en un temps de manque ? (codirected with ), Le Soleil Noir 1980: Le Vingt janvier, Bourgois 1989: Le Paradis du sens, Bourgois 1990: L’Atelier bleu, La Pionnière 1991: La Fin de l’hymne, Bourgois 1991: La Comparution (politique à venir) (with Jean-Luc Nancy), Bourgois 1992: La Ville à l’œuvre, Bertoin 1993: Adieu : essai sur la mort des dieux, La Tour-d'Aigues, 1997: Le Propre du langage, voyages au pays des noms communs, Paris, Éditions du Seuil 2000: Panoramiques, Bourgois 2005: Le Champ mimétique, Seuil, 2005 2006: Rimbaud parti (with Jacqueline Salmon), Paris, Éditions Marval 2007: Le Versant animal, Bayard 2008: L’Instant et son ombre, Seuil 2009: Le Temps fixé, Bayard 2011: La Véridiction sur Philippe Lacoue-Labarthe, Bourgois 2012: "L'action solitaire du poème", in Toi aussi tu as des armes - Poésie et politique, collective work, Paris, La Fabrique éditions, 2013: Le Parti pris des animaux, Seuil 2013: La Phrase urbaine, Seuil
Narratives 1985: Beau fixe, Paris, Bourgois 1990: Phèdre en Inde, Paris, Plon 1992: , Bourgois, Prix France Culture 2004: Tuiles détachées, Paris, Mercure de France 2010: Dans l'étendu (Colombie-Argentine), Lyon, Fage 2011: , Le Seuil - Prix Décembre 2011.
Texts on art 1976: Max Ernst : apprentissage, énigme, apologie (with Henri-Alexis Baatsch and Alain Jouffroy), Bourgois and Éditions étrangères 1977: Hommage à Caspar David Friedrich (with Jacques Monory), Bourgois 1979: Monory, Paris, Maeght 1984: Duchamp, Paris, Éditions Hazan 1988: Piotr Kowalski, Hazan 1989: Mine de rien, Paris, Galerie de France 1992: Regarder la peinture, Hazan 1993: Kurt Schwitters, Hazan 1997: L'Apostrophe muette : essai sur les portraits du Fayoum, Hazan 2000: Jacques Monory, Neuchâtel, Ides et calendes 2005: Gilles Aillaud, Marseille, André Dimanche 2007: L'Atelier infini: 30.000 ans de peinture, Hazan 2012: Bernard Moninot, André Dimanche 2013: Dead Cities, Guillaume Greff, Kaiserin Editions, Reykjavík 2014: Col Treno, photographs by Bernard Plossu, ,
Poetry 1973: Les îles de la Sonde, in De la déception pure, manifeste froid (with , Serge Sautreau, and André Velter), Paris, 10/18 1973: L'Astrolabe dans la passe des Français, Seghers 1973: Le Gramme des sursauts, Paris, Éditions étrangères 1975: Défaire le vide, Éditions étrangères et Bourgois 1979: L'Étoilement, Montpellier, Éditions Fata Morgana 1983: Per modo di vestigio (with Hervé Bordas), Copal 1985: Pluie douce (with ), Marseille, André Dimanche 1991: L'Oiseau Nyiro, Geneva, La Dogana 1999: Blanc sur noir, Bordeaux, William Blake and Co. 2000: Basse continue, Seuil
Theatre 1983: Les Céphéides, Bourgois 1987: Le Régent, Bourgois 1989: La Medesima strada (with Gilles Aillaud and K. M. Grüber), Bourgois 1992: Pandora, Bourgois 1995: Lumières (with M. Deutsch, J.-F. Duroure and G. Lavaudant), Bourgois 2003: El Pelele, Bourgois 2003: Poursuites, Bourgois 2005: Villeggiatura (with ), Nantes, 2006: Une nuit à la bibliothèque followed by Fuochi sparsi, Bourgois
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Important facts
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Frequently asked questions
Who is Jean-Christophe Bailly?
French writer, poet and playwright
When was Jean-Christophe Bailly born?
Jean-Christophe Bailly was born on 3 May 1949 in Paris.
What is Jean-Christophe Bailly's occupation?
Jean-Christophe Bailly is a writer, poet, playwright, prose writer, art historian and philosopher.
What nationality is Jean-Christophe Bailly?
Jean-Christophe Bailly is French.
Sources & further reading
· Wikipedia: Jean-Christophe Bailly
· DBpedia: Jean-Christophe Bailly
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APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Jean-Christophe Bailly. https://biography.guide/jean-christophe-bailly/
MLA: "Jean-Christophe Bailly." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/jean-christophe-bailly/.
Chicago: "Jean-Christophe Bailly." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/jean-christophe-bailly/.
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