Editing Renée Vivien (section)

=== Published works ===
Vivien wrote exclusively in [[French language|French]]. She published her first collection of poetry,  ''Études et préludes,'' in 1901. She would go on to publish 12 more collections of poetry in her lifetime. Contemporary feminists consider her to be one of the first women to write openly lesbian poetry.<ref name=":2" />

In 1903, Vivien produced a translation of [[Sappho]]'s poetry from the edition of Hentry Thornton Wharton, entitled ''Sapho, traduction nouvelle avec le texte grec'' (''Sapho: A New Translation with the Greek Text'').<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |first=Jacqueline |last=Fabre-Serris |author-link=Jacqueline Fabre-Serris |chapter=Anne Dacier (1681), Renée Vivien (1903): Or What Does it Mean for a Woman to Translate Sappho? |editor1-last=Wyles |editor1-first=Rosie |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pOYoDQAAQBAJ&q=%22Ren%C3%A9e+Vivien%22+classics |title=Women Classical Scholars: Unsealing the Fountain from the Renaissance to Jacqueline de Romilly |editor2-last=Hall |editor2-first=Edith |editor2-link=Edith Hall |date=2016 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-872520-6 |language=en}}</ref> <sup>[p. 78]</sup> She learned Greek by taking private lessons with a teacher, Gaetan Baron, because she wanted to read Homer in the original Greek.<ref name=":1" /> <sup>[p. 93]</sup> In 1904, Vivien published her autobiographical novel ''A Woman Appeared to Me.'' In 1976, the novel was translated to English by Jeanette Foster and published by Naiad Press. Naiad also published a translation of Vivien's poetry collection, ''The Muse of Violets,'' in 1977.<ref>{{Cite web|date=24 December 2017|title=A Crown of Violets by Renée Vivien, translated by Samantha Pious|url=https://www.lambdaliterary.org/2017/12/a-crown-of-violets-by-renee-vivien-translated-by-samantha-pious/|access-date=28 September 2020|website=Lambda Literary|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Naiad Press records|url=https://researchworks.oclc.org/archivegrid/collection/data/645691667|access-date=28 September 2020|website=researchworks.oclc.org|language=en}}</ref><ref name="Women and Women 1978/01/08">{{Cite news|last=|first=|date=1978-01-08 |title=Women and Women|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/entertainment/books/1978/01/08/women-and-women/3959a3f5-b3cd-443b-afc2-cd3adc2d5250/|access-date=27 September 2020|newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref>

Vivien also published poetry and prose in collaboration with lover, Hélène van Zuylen using the pseudonym, {{ill|Paule Riversdale|fr}}. The true attribution of these works is uncertain, however; some scholars believe they were written solely by Vivien, as well as some other books published under Zuylen's name.
[[File:Vivien - Anne Boleyn, 1909.pdf|thumb|Title page for Vivien's biography of Anne Boleyn, published in 1909]]
During her brief life, Vivien was an extremely prolific poet who came to be known as the "Muse of the Violets", derived from her love of the flower. Her obsession with [[Violet (plant)|violets]] (as well as with the colour violet) was likely a reminder of her beloved childhood friend, Violet Shillito.

She took to heart all the mannerisms of [[Parnassianism]] and of [[Symbolism (arts)|Symbolism]], as one of the last poets to claim allegiance to the school. Her compositions include [[sonnets]], [[hendecasyllabic verse]], and [[prose poetry]].

Virtually all her verse is veiled autobiography written in the French language, most of which has never been translated into English. Her principal published books of verse are ''Cendres et Poussières'' (1902), ''La Vénus des aveugles'' (1903), ''A l'heure des mains jointes'' (1906), ''Flambeaux éteints'' (1907), ''Sillages'' (1908), ''Poèmes en Prose'' (1909), ''Dans un coin de violettes'' (1909), and ''Haillons'' (1910).

Her poetry has earned even greater attention with the contemporary rediscovery of the works of [[Sappho]], bringing with it even more acclaim.