Paul Fournel

{{Short description|French writer, poet, publisher and cultural ambassador}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2021}} [[File:Paul Fournel salon du Livre 2012.jpg|thumb|Fournel in 2012]] '''Paul Fournel''' (born 20 May 1947 in [[Saint-Étienne]]) is a French writer, poet, publisher, and cultural ambassador.

== Biography == He was educated at the [[École normale supérieure]] of Saint-Cloud (1968–1972). Fournel wrote his master's thesis on [[Raymond Queneau]] and published the first book-length study of the [[Oulipo]], ''Clefs pour la littérature potentielle'' ("Keys to potential literature"). He joined the [[Oulipo]], first as "slave," then (in 1972) as a full member, and he currently serves both as the Provisionally Definitive Secretary and the President of that group. He is also a regent of the College of [['Pataphysics]].

Fournel has worked at various publishing houses, notably Hachette, Honoré Champion, Ramsay, and Seghers. From 1996 to 2000 he was director of the [[Alliance Française]] in San Francisco, and from 2000 to 2003 he was the French cultural attaché in [[Cairo]]. He has been France's cultural attaché in London.

==Honors== *1989: [[Prix Goncourt de la Nouvelle]], ''Les Athlètes dans leur tête''

== Publications ==

* ''Clefs pour la littérature potentielle'', 1972 * ''L’Equilatère'', 1972 * ''L’histoire véritable de Guignol'', 1975 * ''Les petites filles respirent le même air que nous'', 1978 * ''Les grosses rêveuses'', 1981 * ''Les aventures très douces de Timothée le rêveur'', 1982 * ''Un rocker de trop'', 1982 * ''Superchat contre Vilmatou, 1985'' * ''Les Athlètes dans leur tête'', 1988 * ''Un homme regarde une femme'', 2009 * ''Le jour que je suis grand'', 1995 * ''Guignol, les Mourguet'', 1995 * ''Pac de Cro détective'', 1997 * ''Toi qui connais du monde'', poems, 1997 * ''Alphabet Gourmand'', 1998, with [[Harry Mathews]] and Boris Tissot * ''Foraine'', 1999, * ''Besoin de vélo'', essays, 2001; [https://books.google.com/books?id=bLUZsguUfZcC Need for the Bike], trans. Allan Stoekl * ''Timothée dans l'arbre'', 2003 * ''Poils de cairote'', 2004 * ''Chamboula'', 2007 * ''Les animaux d'amour'', 2007

== External links == *[http://www.paulfournel.net Fournel's web site (French)] *[http://www.oulipo.net/oulipiens/PF Fournel's page in the official Oulipo web site (French)] *[http://drunkenboat.com/db8/oulipo/feature-oulipo/oulipo/texts/fournel/45yrs_en.html "Oulipo at 45" by Paul Fournel] *[http://drunkenboat.com/db8/oulipo/feature-oulipo/oulipo/texts/fournel/mistake_en.html "Our Mistake" by Paul Fournel] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20080219055736/http://www.uprightdown.com/aroundthebush.html A short play by Paul Fournel at UpRightDown]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fournel, Paul}} [[Category:Writers from Saint-Étienne]] [[Category:1947 births]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:ENS Fontenay-Saint-Cloud-Lyon alumni]] [[Category:20th-century French poets]] [[Category:French children's writers]] [[Category:Commandeurs of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres]] [[Category:Oulipo members]] [[Category:Pataphysicians]] [[Category:Lycée Henri-IV alumni]] [[Category:French male poets]] [[Category:Prix Goncourt de la nouvelle recipients]] [[Category:French expatriates in the United States]] [[Category:French expatriates in Egypt]] [[Category:20th-century French male writers]] [[Category:French male non-fiction writers]] [[Category:Cycling writers]] [[Category:Cultural attachés]] [[Category:Prix Renaudot des lycéens winners]]