Daniel Maximin

{{Short description|French novelist, poet, and essayist}} {{Infobox writer|image=File:Daniel_Maximin_BM_Croix_ROuge_32100.jpg| caption=Daniel Maximin in 2017|occupation=writer|awards={{hlist|[[Prix littéraire des Caraïbes]] (1987)|Prix Hervé Deluen (2017)|knight of the [[Légion d'honneur]] (1993)}}|birth_date=9 April 1947|birth_place=[[Saint-Claude, Guadeloupe|Saint-Claude]], Guadeloupe|genre={{hlist|novels|poetry|essays}}|notable_works=''L'Isolé Soleil''}}

'''Daniel Maximin''' (born 9 April 1947, [[Saint-Claude, Guadeloupe|Saint-Claude]], Guadeloupe) is a French novelist, poet, and essayist. He moved to France in 1960. From 1980 to 1989, Maximin served as literary director of the journal ''[[Présence Africaine|Présence africaine]]''. He returned to Guadeloupe in 1989 as Regional Director of Cultural Affairs. He was named a knight of the [[Légion d'honneur]] in 1993.

==Biography==

Daniel Maximin was born on 9 April 1947 in Saint-Claude, Guadeloupe, at the foot of the [[La Grande Soufrière|Soufrière]] volcano, which he describes as "my native fire". As a child, he experienced his first hurricane at age seven and witnessed his first volcanic eruption at age nine, recalling the lava and ash as a "joyful firework display".<ref name=BFM>{{cite web |title=Biographie de l'auteur Maximin |url=http://www.bm-limoges.fr/espace-auteur/maximin/auteur-biographie.php |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161222202703/http://www.bm-limoges.fr/espace-auteur/maximin/auteur-biographie.php |archive-date=2016-12-22 |website=Bibliothèque francophone multimédia de Limoges |date=3 June 2025 |access-date=2025-06-29 |url-status=bot: unknown }}</ref>

His family moved to Paris in 1960. In Paris, he studied at the [[Lycée Voltaire (Paris)|Lycée Voltaire]] and wrote his first poem at age 15. After earning his baccalaureate in 1964, he studied literature at the Sorbonne for five years.<ref name=BFM/>

In the early 1970s, Maximin began his career as a writer while working as a lecturer at the Institute of Social Studies in [[Lausanne]] and as a literature teacher in [[Orly]]. He also participated in early experimental theatre projects.<ref name=BFM/>

In 1981, he published his first novel, ''L'Isolé Soleil''. From 1981 to 1989, he served as literary director at ''Présence africaine'' and produced the radio program ''Antipodes'' on [[France Culture]]. In 1989, he returned to Guadeloupe to become Regional Director of Cultural Affairs.<ref name=BFM/>

Maximin was named a knight of the Legion of Honour in 1993 and a knight of Arts and Letters in 1995. In 1997, he was appointed to organise France’s national commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the abolition of slavery.<ref name=BFM/>

In addition to novels, Maximin is known for his poetry and essays. His poetry collection ''L’Invention des désirades'' won the Arc-en-ciel Prize in 2000. He published his autobiographical work ''Tu, c’est l’enfance'' in 2004, which received the Grand Prix Maurice Genevoix and the Prix Tropiques AFD. His essay ''Les Fruits du cyclone: une géopoétique de la Caraïbe'' was published in 2006.<ref name=BFM/>

In January 2010, he was named Commissioner General of ''2011, Year of the Overseas Territories''.<ref>{{cite web |title=2011, année des Outre-mer : une manifestation pour aller au-delà des préjugés |url=https://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/index2.php?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.outre-mer.gouv.fr%2F%3F2011-annee-des-outre-mer-une-manifestation-pour-aller-au-dela-des.html |website=Ministère des Outre-mer (archived) |date= |access-date=2025-06-29}}</ref>

He has also worked as an advisor on [[Francophonie]] at the [[French Ministry of Culture]] and held roles related to literature and education for the Francophone Festival in France.<ref name=BFM/> Maximin is considered one of the major contemporary writers of the French Caribbean.<ref name=BFM/>

==Works== * "Sartre Listening to Savages". [http://www.telospress.com ''Telos''] 44 (Summer 1980). New York: Telos Press. * ''[[L'Isolé soleil]]'' (novel), 1981 * ''[[Soufrières]]'' (novel), 1987 * ''[[Lone Sun]]'', 1989 * ''[[L'Invention des désirades]]'' (poetry), 2000 * ''[[L'Ile et une nuit]]'' (novel), 2002 * ''[[Tu, c'est l'enfance]]'', 2004 (awarded the [[Prix Maurice Genevoix]]) * ''[[Les Fruits du cyclone : Une géopoétique de la Caraïbe]]'', 2006

[[Image:Maximin.jpg|thumb|300 px|Daniel Maximin in at the ''salon'' Livre Amerigo Vespucci (''Festival international de géographie'' at [[Saint-Dié-des-Vosges]] in 2006)]]

==Bibliography== *Chaulet-Achour, Christiane. ''La Trilogie caribéenne de Daniel Maximin : Analyse et contrepoint''. Paris, Karthala, 2000. *Kaufman, Janice Horner. ''Daniel Maximin, Hélène Cixous and Aimé Césaire : Creolization, Intertextuality, and Coiled Myth.'' New York, Peter Lang, 2006.

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== *{{in lang|fr}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20071010055940/http://guadeloupe.rfo.fr/article19.html Un entretien avec Daniel Maximin sur RFO Guadeloupe en 2004] *{{cite web|author=Angela Last|title=Maximin, Daniel|website=Global Social Theory|url=https://globalsocialtheory.org/thinkers/maximin-daniel/}} {{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maximin, Daniel}} [[Category:1947 births]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:People from Saint-Claude, Guadeloupe]] [[Category:Guadeloupean novelists]] [[Category:University of Paris alumni]] [[Category:20th-century French novelists]] [[Category:21st-century French novelists]] [[Category:Guadeloupean poets]] [[Category:Knights of the Legion of Honour]] [[Category:French people of Guadeloupean descent]] [[Category:Prix Maurice Genevoix winners]] [[Category:French male essayists]] [[Category:French male poets]] [[Category:French male novelists]] [[Category:20th-century French essayists]] [[Category:21st-century French essayists]] [[Category:Guadeloupean essayists]] [[Category:20th-century French male writers]] [[Category:21st-century French male writers]]