Arland, Marcel

▪ French writer

born July 5, 1899, Varennes-sur-Amance, France

died Jan 12, 1986, Brinville, near Fountainebleau

      French writer who first achieved wide literary recognition in 1929 when his novel L'Ordre earned him the prestigious Prix Goncourt.

      Arland received his baccalauréat in 1918 and attended classes at the Sorbonne, where he earned a licence-ès-lettres (equivalent to a B.A.) before giving up his formal studies. In the early 1920s he and André Maurois (Maurois, André) were partners in the launching of two literary reviews, Aventure and Dés, and in 1925 Arland began a long association with La Nouvelle Revue Française (NRF). For many years before and after World War II, Arland shared direction of the NRF with Jean Paulhan. After Paulhan died in 1968, Arland served as sole director until 1977.

      Arland termed some of his novels récits (récit) (after André Gide). His wide-ranging output included such récits as Terres étrangères (1923; “Foreign Lands”) and Zélie dans le désert (1944; “Zélie in the Desert”); such short stories as “L'Eau et le feu” (1956; “Water and Fire”) and “À perdre haleine” (1960; “Out of Breath”); and numerous collections of essays and critical studies, among them Marivaux (1949) and La Grâce d'écrire (1955; “The Gift of Writing”). Lumière du soir (1983; “Evening Light”) was the last work published in his lifetime. Arland was elected to the French Academy in 1968.

* * *