TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE
Since I introduced Pierre Coran (pseud. Eugène Delaisse) to my anglophone readers with the collection Fables in a Modern Key (2014), my translation of his Fables à l'air dutemps, this whimsical octogenarian celebrated throughout his native Belgium as a preeminent "children's poet" -- though only, in truth, for the most precocious of children!-- has imperceptibly grown a year older and added to his already enviable list of literary honors.Coran continues to live in the rural town of Jurbise in the Walloon province of Hainaut, with his actress wife Irène, always finding time for enriching and inspiring travel-- and never without productive pen in hand.Pierre Coran, whose real name is Eugene Delaisse (born in 1934 in Mons ) is a poet and novelist of the Belgian French-language . He lives with his wife in the village 's Erbisoeul in the province of Hainaut. One of Belgium's most renowned poets with some 45 poetry books published to date. He is also the author of some 25 published novels, 24 books of fables, 100's of comic book stories, several screenplays, and a number of albums which have been translated into a dozen plus languages. His children stories and fables are widely published around the world but this is surprisingly only the second selection of his fables to be translated into English in a full length book format. Coran has been the recipient of all of Belgium's literary awards over the years. Translated by one of America's most award winning French translators Norman R. Shapiro