Ian Monk (1 January 1960 – 19 September 2025) was a British writer and translator, based in Paris, France. Ian Monk, Oulipo website (retrieved 29 December 2013).
Life and career Monk was born in Woking, England on 1 January 1960.
From 1998, Monk was a member of the French writing group Oulipo. Among his works in English are the books, Family Archaeology and Other Poems (2004) and Writings for the Oulipo (2005). His translations include several novels by Daniel Pennac,Write to Kill by Daniel Pennac, on Publishers Weekly (retrieved 29 December 2013). several works by his fellow Oulipian Georges Perec, and a rhymed translation of Raymond Roussel's New Impressions of Africa (Nouvelles Impressions d'Afrique).New Impressions of Africa , on Atlas press website (retrieved 29 December 2013). He wrote mainly in French, but in 2015 published a bilingual, self-translated (in both directions) ebook of poetry, Les feuilles de yucca / Leaves of the Yucca (Contre-mur).For some examples of his purely French writings, see the Oulipo link below. He won the Scott Moncrieff Prize in 2004 for his translation of Monsieur Malaussène by Daniel Pennac.
On 19 September 2025, Monk's body was discovered at his home in Bourges. He was 65.
Original works We Did Everything, Make Now Press, 2024 14 x 14 (English version, translated by Philip Terry and the author), Sagging Meniscus Press, 2024 Interludes (translated by Philip Terry), Ma Bibliothèque, 2022 PQR, éditions isabelle sauvage, 2021 Aujourd'hui le soleil, Les Venterniers, 2019 Vers de l'infini, Cambourakis, 2017 Ça coule et ça crache, poèmes sur les photos de Hervé Van De Meulebroeke, Les Venterniers, 2016 Twin Towers, 3D poem, les mille univers, 2015 Les feuilles de yucca / Leaves of the Yucca, bilingual ebook, Contre-mur, 2015 Là, Cambourakis, 2014 14 x 14, L'Âne qui butine, 2013 La Jeunesse de Mek-Ouyes, Cambourakis, 2010 Plouk Town, Cambourakis, 2007 Stoned at Bourges, les mille univers, 2006 Writings for the Oulipo, Make Now, 2005 N/S, Éditions de l'attente, 2004 (with Frédéric Forte) L'Inconnu du Sambre express, TEC-CRIAC, 2004 Family Archaeology and Other Poems, Make now, 2004 Le Voyage d'Ovide, le Verger éd., 2002 Le Désesperanto, Plurielle, 2001
In collaboration: Battre les rues, in Les Mystères de la capitale, (with Olivier Salon), Le bec en l'air, 2013 Septines en Septaine et autres poèmes, (with Frédéric Forte et al.), Les mille univers, 2013 Anthologie de l’Oulipo, Gallimard, 2009. À chacun sa place, La Contre Allée, 2008 Potje vleesch, La Nuit Myrtide, 2006 Oulipo Compendium, Atlas Press, 1998
Publications in La Bibliothèque oulipienne: La Mesure du volailler (or Poulter's Measure), n° 242, 2023 Canzone, La Bibliothèque oulipienne, n° 222, 2015 Le Monde des nonines, (with Michèle Audin) La Bibliothèque oulipienne, n° 218, 2015 Comment dire en anglais, La Bibliothèque oulipienne, n° 188, 2010 La Queninisation du yucca, La Bibliothèque oulipienne, n° 181, 2009 Les Feuilles du yucca, La Bibliothèque oulipienne, n° 176, 2008 Élémentaire, mon cher, La Bibliothèque oulipienne, n° 128, 2003 Quenoums, La Bibliothèque oulipienne, n° 127, 2003 Les États du sonnet, La Bibliothèque oulipienne, n° 116, 2001 Le Voyage d'Hoover, La Bibliothèque oulipienne, n° 110, 1999 Monquines, La Bibliothèque oulipienne, n° 109, 1999 Fractales, La Bibliothèque oulipienne, n° 102, 1999
Editor / translator (with Daniel Levin Becker)
All That is Evident is Suspect: Readings from the Oulipo 1963-2018, McSweeney's, 2018
Selected translations Rufo Quintavalle: Shelf 1–15, corrupt press, 2015 Frédéric Forte: Minute Operas (Opéras Minute), en collaboration, Burning Deck, 2014 Georges Perec / Oulipo: Winter Journeys (Le Voyage d'hiver & ses suites), Atlas Press, 2013 Jacques Roubaud: Mathematics: (Mathématique :) Dalkey Archive, 2012 Hervé Le Tellier: A Thousand Thoughts (Les amnésiques n'ont rien vécu d'inoubliable), Dalkey Archive, 2011 Yannick Haenel: The Messenger (Jan Karski), Text Publishing Company, 2010 Raymond Roussel: New Impressions of Africa (Nouvelles impressions d'Afrique), Atlas Press, 2005 Marie Darrieussecq: White (White), Faber, 2005 Marie Darrieussecq: A Brief Stay with the Living (Bref séjour chez les vivants), Faber, 2005 Camille Laurens: In Those Arms (Dans ces bras-là), Bloomsbury, 2005 Daniel Pennac: Monsieur Malaussène (Monsieur Malaussène), Harvill, 2003 Mathieu Ricard / Trinh Xuan Thuan: The Quantum and the Lotus (L'Univers dans la paume de la main), Random House, 2001 François Caradec: Raymond Roussel: A Life (Raymond Roussel), Atlas, 2001 Daniel Pennac: Passion Fruit (Aux fruits de la passion), Harvill, 2000 Daniel Pennac; Write to Kill (La Petite Marchande de prose), Harvill, 1999 Daniel Pennac: The Scapegoat (Au bonheur des ogres), Harvill, 1998 Daniel Pennac: The Fairy Gunmother (La Fée carabine), Harvill, 1997 Georges Perec: Three (Quel petit vélo...?, Les Revenentes & Un cabinet d'amateur), Harvill, 1998
References
External links
Some of Ian Monk's works online Ian Monk's page on the official Oulipo site (in French) Ian Monk reads Twin Towers in New York Ian Monk & The Outsiders Based on Ian Monk's texts, a rock adaptation and more...