Valéry and Einstein, or the poem of relativity

William Marx, critic and literary historian, Professor of Comparative Literatures at the University of Paris Nanterre, former Fellow of the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin and Honorary Member of the Institut Universitaire de France, works on the history of critical discourse, aesthetic theories and the idea of literature since Antiquity. His many books include Naissance de la critique moderne: la littérature selon Eliot et Valéry (2002) and five essays published by Éditions de Minuit and translated into ten languages: L'Adieu à la littérature (2005), Vie du lettré ( 2009), Le Tombeau d'Œdipe (2012), La Haine de la littérature (2015) and Un savoir gai (2018). He also co-edited Paul Valéry's Cahiers 1894-1914, the latest volume of which was published by Gallimard in 2016. In 2010, he was awarded the Montyon prize for literature and philosophy by the Académie française.