Youenn Gwernig
Youenn Gwernig was a French-American poet, writer, singer and TV presenter on the French channel France 3.
Early life
He was born on 10 May 1925 in the town of Scaër, in Brittany, France.He first worked as a wood sculptor. In the early 1950s he met the Breton poet and singer Glenmor, with whom he set a music band called Breizh a gan which was the first cultural Breton band after World War II. This band set an operetta called Genovefa.
Life
He moved to the United States in 1957 with his two daughters.From 1961, he regularly visited the West Side neighbourhood of New York City and met the Beat Generation writers there. He became a friend of Jack Kerouac and lived in the Bronx, where he wrote some bilingual poems in Breton and in English about New York or his nostalgy of Brittany in an American big city, as Un dornad plu or War ribl ar stêr Harlem. In 1968, he wrote a poems' collection called New York City blues.
In the 1997's Al Liamm edition of Un dornad plu, Youenn Gwernig explained why he used to write his poems in Breton and to translate them in English :
"Meeting with Jack Kerouac in 1965, for instance, was a decisive turn. Since he could not speak Breton he asked me : "Would you not write some of your poems in English, I'd really like to read them !..." So I wrote an Diri Dir - Stairs of Steel for him, and kept on doing so. That's why I often write my poems in Breton, French and English."
He used to send his poems to the Breton magazine Al Liamm.
He returned to Brittany in 1969 with his wife and his daughters. He moved to Locmaria-Berrien and worked with Patrick Ewen and Gérard Delahaye.
In 1972, he published a collection of poetry called An Toull en nor.
He released the album Distro ar Gelted in 1974. He became famous with his song E-kreiz an noz.
He wrote a novel in French in 1982, La grande tribu, where he described his life in the USA.
In 1990 his album Emañ ar bed va iliz was released.
He died in 2006.
Discography
[Image:Youenn Gwernig.jpg|thumb|upright|Youenn Gwernig singing]- 1971 : Les bougnoules - Gavotte du joint
- 1973 : Ni hon unan! - Tap da sac'h
- 1974 : Distro ar Gelted, LP Arfolk
- 1975 : E-kreiz an noz, LP Velia
- 1979 : Youenn Gwernig, Private People, LP
- 1990 : Emañ ar bed va iliz, CD
- 1994 : Foeter Bro / Just a traveller / Compagnon de route, CD
- 2003 : Identity, Coop Breizh