Louise Varèse

Louise Varèse (20 November 1890 – 1 July 1989)[1] was an American writer, editor, and translator of French literature.

Born Louise McCutcheon in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, her first husband was poet and literary editor Allen Norton, with whom she edited the magazine Rogue from 1915-1916.[2] The couple had a son, Michael in 1912, separated in 1916, and divorced in 1920. Louise also had a grandaughter, Sylvia Calderwood (1930–1974).[3] A contributor to the Dada magazine The Blind Man,[4] Varèse (then Norton) was a close friend of Marcel Duchamp and was involved in the 1917 submission of the urinal that became Fountain.[5]

She was married to composer Edgard Varèse from 1922 until his death in 1965.

Varèse translated poetry and other works by Charles Baudelaire, Julien Gracq, Saint-John Perse, Marcel Proust, Arthur Rimbaud, Georges Simenon, and Stendhal.[6] Her translations of the work of Arthur Rimbaud for James Laughlin's New Directions imprint were particularly influential. In 1956, she translated the section "The Great Improvisation" from Adam Mickiewicz's poetic drama Dziady. She published in 1972 Edgar Varèse's biography, Varèse: A Looking-Glass Diary.

She was awarded the Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 1969.