Ito Naga

Ito Naga is the nom de plume of a prominent French astrophysicist living in Paris. He is the author of three books, all published in France by Cheyne éditeur: NGC 224 (2013); Iro mo ka mo, la couleur et le parfum (2010), now in its third printing; and Je sais (2006), now in its seventh printing. He also contributes regularly to the Italian journal Sud.

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I Know (Je sais)

“No need for an expert to tell us that we don’t know much about the world, ourselves, or others. All the same, there are those—biologists, astrophysicists, writers—who don’t give up hope of knowing more. That’s the case with the author of I Know (Je sais). His method? That of the scientist, and similar to that of the poet and philosopher: an intense lying-in-wait that puts whatever comes into view under scrutiny, with a preference for the ordinary, the minuscule, the incidental. A method that confirms this happy truth: under each close observation lie a thousand new enigmas. Following in the footsteps of Joe Brainard and Georges Perec, but focusing more on the reality at hand, Ito Naga offers an inventory of the given that is at once diverting, unexpected, and, inevitably, provisional—an inventory that presents reality for what it is: a universe infinitely expanding.” —Jean-Pierre Siméon, editor, Cheyne éditeur and author of Traité des sentiments contraries

Read Ito Naga’s pensees from I Know (Je sais).

About the Translator

Lynne Knight

Lynne Knight’s previous collections are Dissolving Borders (Quarterly Review of Literature), The Book of Common Betrayals (Bear Star Press), and Night in the Shape of a Mirror (David Robert Books), plus three award-winning chapbooks. Her cycle of poems on Impressionist winter paintings, Snow Effects (Small Poetry Press), has been translated into French by Nicole Courtet. Knight’s work has appeared in Best American Poetry 2000, and her awards include a Theodore Roethke Award from Poetry Northwest, a Lucille Medwick Memorial Award from the Poetry Society of America, and an NEA grant.

More About I Know (Je sais)

I Know (Je sais) Goes to Nkakanzock, Cameroon

In the spring of 2015, Élisa Minoue, a student at Oakland School for the Arts, decided that she would help the elementary school in her grandfather’s Cameroon village by raising funds through a “Music for Education” concert at the Alliance Française de Berkeley. When we at Sixteen Rivers learned of Élisa’s project, we asked if the high school in her grandfather’s village would like some copies of Ito Naga’s I Know (Je sais). Indeed—the high school students study both French and English, so the books were more than welcome. In September, 2015, we donated 128 copies of the book to the school, thanks to the generosity of the Howard S. Whitney Foundation, which provided us with a grant to cover the shipping costs. Élisa has written about her project here, and about her visit through Music For Education.

Lynne’s I Know (Je sais) was chosen by Vogue‘s Beauty Editor Catherine Piercy as a great summer read in the June 24, 2016 issue.

A podcast of “AMERICA LISTEN ALLEN GINSBERG IS CALLING YOU AGAIN,” part of the Poets Respond series, is up at RATTLE.

A podcast of Lynne’s poem “The Letter from James Foley,” is available at RATTLE. Her poem was published as part of the Poets Respond series.

Read Lynne’s interview with Ito Naga.

Read Lynne’s account of meeting Ito Naga.

Publication of this book has been made possible by a Grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.

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