Henri Michaux

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Henri Michaux (24 May 1899 - 18 October 1984) was a highly idiosyncratic Belgian poet, writer and painter who wrote in the French language. Michaux is best known for his esoteric books written in a highly accessible style, and his body of work includes poetry, travelogues, and art criticism. Michaux travelled widely, tried his hand at several careers, and experimented with drugs, the latter resulting in two of his most intriguing works, Miserable Miracle and The Major Ordeals of the Mind and the Countless Minor Ones.

In 1930-1931 Henri Michaux visited Japan, China and India. The result of this travel is the book A Barbarian in Asia. Oriental culture became one of his biggest influences (the philosophy of Buddhism and the Oriental calligraphy later became the principal subject of many of his poems).

Later he traveled to Africa and then to the American continent, where he visited Ecuador and published there the book Ecuador. His travels across the Americas finished in Brazil in 1939, and he stayed there for two years.

Michaux is best known for his stories about Plume - "a peaceful man" - perhaps the most unenterprising hero in the history of literature, and his many misfortunes.

In 1955 he became a citizen of France, and he lived the rest of his life there along with his family. In 1965 he won the National Prize of Literature, which he refused to accept.

• Müller-Yao, Marguerite Hui: Der Einfluß der Kunst der chinesischen Kalligraphie auf die westliche informelle Malerei, Diss. Bonn, Köln 1985. ISBN 3-88375-051-4
• Müller-Yao, Marguerite: Informelle Malerei und chinesische Kalligrafie, in: Informel, Begegnung und Wandel, (hrsg von Heinz Althöfer, Schriftenreihe des Museums am Ostwall; Bd. 2), Dortmund 2002. ISBN 3-611-01062-6
• Rolf Wedewer, Die Malerei des Informel. Weltverlust und Ich-Behauptung, Deutscher Kunstverlag, München, 2007. ISBN 3-422-06560-1

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Henri Michaux

• Kirjasto's Author Calendar, Henri Michaux biography
• littlebluelight.com, Introduction to Michaux
• Reelyredd's Poetry Pages, French text of Michaux poem "Ma Vie" with English translation