Remembering Georges Borchardt
Archipelago Books mourns the loss of Georges Borchardt, who made incomparable contributions to literature and publishing. Quoted below is an excerpt from an obituary in Publishers Weekly:
Georges Borchardt, one of the most important literary agents for more than half a century, died January 18. He was 97.
Borchardt, who emigrated to the U.S. from France in 1947, stood out from many agents with his French accent and flair. In the 1999 book Literary Agents, former Publishers Weekly editor-in-chief John Baker called Borchardt “the very model of a dapper Frenchman.”
Early in his career, Borchardt represented the French president Charles de Gaulle. Borchardt was also responsible for bringing Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot to the U.S. Though Borchardt became known for introducing a number of European authors to the U.S., he went on to represent scores of American authors ranging from Jane Fonda to T.C. Boyle.
Along with his wife, Anne, Borchardt started the Georges Borchardt Inc. literary agency in 1967. The firm continues to represent more than 200 mainly English-language authors today, including Ian McEwan and Lily Tuck, and its principals include Borchardt’s daughter Valerie.
Borchardt is best known for bringing Night, Elie Wiesel’s memoir of the Holocaust, to the U.S. Over the course of his career, Borchardt’s agency represented eight Pulitzer Prize winners and five Nobel Prize winners.
“Georges embodied the very highest professional and ethical standards of our field. A true gentleman, he practiced literary agenting with conviction and moral clarity, always mindful that our work carries cultural responsibility,” Regina Brooks, founder of Serendipity Literary Agency and president of the AALA, told PW. “He brought to the attention of the world extraordinary writers whose work expanded and shaped cultural consciousness. Those who knew him will remember his deep wisdom, his quirky sense of humor, and his unwavering commitment to his authors. He will be sorely missed.”
The full obituary can be found here.
His agency shared the following statement: “Georges devoted more than sixty years to representing writers of uncommon intelligence, originality, and courage. His career was defined by an unshakable belief in literature, an exacting editorial eye, and a lifelong commitment to his authors. He helped bring some of the most important voices of modern and contemporary writing to readers around the world, shaping literary culture across languages and generations. What began as a one-man shop, bringing French authors to an American audience, has grown into a vibrant, full-service agency that continues to represent fiction and nonfiction, with a dedicated team of agents committed to continuing Georges’ legacy.”
For those wanting to learn more about Borchardt’s life and career, there is also an obituary in the New York Times, and an interview from 2018 in The Paris Review.
