Katana

The first American translation of this fine poetry collection by Marie Étienne, centered on the French experience in Indochina (Vietnam), first appearing in book form in the Lumière ouverte series of Scandéditions, Paris, 1993. Translated by Anne Talvaz, illustrated by Sandra Monciardini. During World War II, Indochina, now Vietnam, was a French colony under the authority of Vichy France, and as such an ally of the Axis powers despite its occupation by Japan. The French and Japanese authorities cohabited uneasily until the liberation of France in 1944, when Governor Admiral Decoux recognized De Gaulle's provisional government. On 9 March 1945, fearing an Allied attack, the Japanese ordered the French troops to surrender. Many of them refused and were massacred. Civilians were interned in concentration camps. Marie Étienne's father, a French officer, managed to hide himself and his family and survived.