Warren F. Motte is a Professor of
French and
Comparative Literature at the
University of Colorado Boulder.[1] His focus is contemporary writing, with an emphasis upon experimental, avant-garde, or other subversive forms of both fiction and poetry.[2] Motte has authored or edited many volumes of literary criticism, including the first book-length study of the renowned French writer
Georges Perec, an authoritative book on the experimental writing group known as
Oulipo, and major studies of other writers such as
Edmond Jabès,
Marie NDiaye,
Christine Montalbetti,
Antoine Volodine, and
Jean Rolin. Motte's recent books include Mirror Gazing (
Dalkey Archive Press, 2014),[3] a study of over 12,000 mirror scenes in literature, and French Fiction Today (
Dalkey Archive Press, 2017), devoted to the contemporary French novel. In 2015 Motte was named a Knight in the
Ordre des Palmes Académiques by the French Republic.[4] In 2016 he was named a College Professor of Distinction by the University of Colorado Boulder, and in 2018 he was named a Distinguished Professor, the highest honor the University of Colorado awards to its faculty members.[5]
He is married to a Frenchwoman with whom he has two sons: Nicholas Motte, a graphic designer, and musician
Nathaniel Motte, one half of the American electronic music duo
3OH!3.