Jacques Bens (25 March 1931 – 26 July 2001) was a French writer and poet.
Biography
Cadolive where Jacques Bens was bornOrnithogalum umbellatum or Dame d'onze heures, of which Jacques Bens made the title of one of his books in 1994
Born of teacher-parents at Cadolive, Jacques Bens spent his childhood and his youth in Marseilles, where his studies in zoology were interrupted in 1951 for health reasons. He became the son-in-law of Célestin Freinet, collaborated with the Freinet Modern School Movement and worked at the Coopérative de l'enseignement secaire (CEL).
In 1963, Jacques Bens returned to the Alpes-Maritimes, where he was responsible for various publishing works and then relations with the press of the Théâtre de Nice (1972–1975). In 1975 he returned to Paris and took part in Jacques Duchateau's Panorama of France Culture and other programmes such as Bertrand Jérôme [fr]Des Papous dans la tête [fr].
Jacques Bens himself collected his books under different sections: « prose rimée » (poetry), « prose romanesque » (novels), « prose méditative » (reflexions), « prose didactique » (essays), « prose dramatique » (theatre and radio) and « prose secrétariale » (séessuibs of the Oulipo). He is also the author of the introduction of the collection of the pedagogical works of his famous father-in-law, Célestin Freinet. (Œuvres pédagogiques de Célestin Freinet, Éditions du Seuil, 1994.)
1987: Geoffroy Tête noire à Ventadour, Festival de la Luzège
1989: Une si jolie maison dans le soleil levant, Radio France
1989: La Guerre aux étangs, Festival de la Luzège
« Prose secrétariale » (sessions of the Oulipo).
1980: Oulipo, 1960-1963, Christian Bourgois ; L'Oulipo, genesis of the Oulipo, 1960-1963, revised and expanded edition, presented by Jacques Duchateau, Le Castor astral [fr], 2005 ISBN2859205934
Jacques Bens, textes inédits [Raymond Queneau et la littérature potentielle, Pour une potentialité nouvelle], in Cahiers Raymond Queneau, Association des amis de Valentin Brû, éditions Calliopées, Clamart, 2011, (p. 49-64)
Bibliography
Camille Bloomfield, Un Oulipo potentiel : quand Queneau corrige Bens, dans Ouvroirs, Revue d'études sur Raymond Queneau, (p. 56-57), Association des amis de Valentin Brû, December 2009, (pp. 43–56)
