Alfred-Maurice de Zayas - Literary Endeavors

Literary Endeavors

De Zayas has published poetry in English, French, German, Spanish, and Dutch, translated Rainer Maria Rilke into English, French, and Spanish, and translated Joseph von Eichendorff and Hermann Hesse into English.

As a member of the International Rainer Maria Rilke Society (Sierre, Switzerland), he published the first English-language translation of Rilke's "Larenopfer", 90 poems dedicated to Rilke's homeland of Bohemia, and hometown of Prague (with a historical commentary, Red Hen Press, Los Angeles, 2005, second revised and enlarged edition 2008 with a preface by Professor Ralph Freedman; The new book of George C. Schoolfield "Young Rilke and his Time", Camden House 2009, refers favourably to de Zayas' pioneering translation). With this book, de Zayas opened a new facet of Rilke research: Rilke as Heimatdichter or poet of the homeland, poète du terroir - spanning Rilke's early poetry characterized by enthusiasm for the beauties and the history of his homeland through Rilke's final poetic testament – more than 400 poems in French, dedicated to the Valais in Switzerland (Quatrains Valaisains, Roses, Fenetres, Vergers), Rilke's "Wahlheimat", where he spent the last years of his life at the Château de Muzot in Sierre and where he is buried in nearby Raron. Hitherto, Rilke had been understood primarily as a metaphyscial poet, as a poet's poet, but never seen as a homeland poet. Zayas has lectured and published on Rilke's search for a sense of belonging and his grateful attachment to a landscape and to the real people who live there. De Zayas has lectured on Rilke in Austria, Germany, Switzerland and Canada. On 2 May 2011 he delivered a lecture at the Salon du Livre de Genève (Geneva bookfair) on "Rilke, poète de la Heimat"

He has also published in the literary journal of the PEN Club Suisse romande "L'Escarpe" (renamed 2008 "Pages Littéraires) in 2007 and 2008. A member of International PEN since 1989, he was secretary-general of the Centre Swiss romand of PEN PEN Club in 2002-06, and its president 2006-2010; since then he remains a member of the Centre's executive committee. De Zayas was coordinator of the three Swiss PEN Centres Switzerland since 2008-10.

De Zayas served for 15 years as president of the United Nations Society of Writers (Geneva). De Zayas was the founder of the UN literary review Ex Tempore ISSN 1020-6604, which has published 22 issues. In October 2011 he was reelected editor-in-chief of Ex Tempore. On 21 January 2011 the 15th annual Ex Tempore salon was held in Geneva. In honour of the Whistler Olympics de Zayas read out his poem Skiing, also published in the February 2010 UN Special. and in the Spring 2010 issue of the UBC literary Journal "Esoteric".