Sollers, Philippe

(1936- )

   writer

   Born in bordeaux, Philippe Soller (the pen name of Philippe Joyaux) wrote his first work, "Le Défi," a short story, in 1957 and was then recognized for his psychological account, "une curieuse solitude" (1958), which was praised by François mauriac and andré breton for its elegant style. In 1960, the revue Tel Quel was founded, to which Sollers's name remains attached. Sollers wrote Le Parc (1961), which won the prix Médicis; l'Intermédiare (1963); Drames (1965); Logiques (1968); and Lois (1972), works that show both a psychological tone and a political orientation to Marxism. After 1976, following an experimental period, Sollers seems to have gone toward a type of romantic epic of which H (1973) and Paradis (1981) constitute the best examples. With Femmes (1983), he wrote a baroque novel filled with contemporary happenings. Sollers wrote an autobiographical work, Portrait de joueur (1984), and, as a moralist, tried in his later novels to present a progressivist viewpoint and a defense of civilization (Le Cours absolu, 1987; Les Folies françaises, 1988; Le Lys d'or, 1989; La Fête à Venise, 1991; Le Secret, 1993).