David Ball

A native of Brooklyn NY, David Ball earned his Doctorat en Littérature Générale et Comparée from the Université de Paris-III (Sorbonne Nouvelle) in 1971, his Licence ès Lettres from the Université de Paris (Sorbonne) in 1964, and retired from Smith College as Professor Emeritus of French and Comparative Literature in 2002.
Since then, he has published articles on writing in France under German occupation (one in French, in Raison Présente); on a contemporary British poet (Tom Raworth) and an American one (Anne Sexton); and on francophone literature (the latter with Nicole Ball.) His translations of poetic work by James Sacré, Pablo Picasso, and Abdourahman A. Waberi have appeared in various journals and anthologies, and his own poetry in two small literary magazines. He has published three books of translations since retirement, two by Pierre Loti and one (with Nicole Ball) by Jean-Michel Geneste, Tristan Hordé, Chantal Tanet, preface by Philippe Dagen: Lascaux: A Work of Memory. With Nicole Ball, he is translating a novel by Abdourahman A. Waberi, Aux États-Unis d’Afrique / In the United States of Africa: awarded a grant by the Cultural Service of the French Embassy, it will appear in their new “French Voices” series in 2008 (University of Nebraska Press.) Also forthcoming is his translation of Alfred Jarry’s Ubu roi, which will be included in the WW Norton anthology of world drama. He was President of the American Literary Translators Association from 2003-05 and is currently a member of the Executive Board.

 Phone: 413-585-3341

Building: Tilly 205

E-mail: dball@smith.edu