author
Natalie Clifford Barney
1877–1972
A fearless American expatriate in Paris, she turned her home into one of the city’s great literary salons and wrote with unusual openness about love, independence, and women’s lives. Her work and example made her a memorable figure in early feminist and lesbian literary history.
2 Audiobooks
Poems & Poèmes; autres alliances
by Natalie Clifford Barney
Pensées d'une amazone
by Natalie Clifford Barney
About the author
Born in Dayton, Ohio, in 1876, Natalie Clifford Barney spent most of her adult life in Paris, where she became known as a writer, memoirist, and the host of a long-running literary salon at her home on Rue Jacob. That gathering drew French and international writers and artists, helping make her a lively presence in modern literary culture.
Barney wrote poetry, plays, memoirs, and sharp epigrams, often in French. She is especially remembered for the frank way she wrote about women loving women and for the independence with which she lived, at a time when that openness was rare. Her circle included many important cultural figures, and her life became nearly as famous as her books.
She died in Paris in 1972. Today, she is often read not only as a literary figure, but also as a symbol of artistic freedom, salon culture, and lesbian visibility in the early 20th century.