Texts for Nothing and Other Shorter Prose, 1950-1976

Chapter 2

1945.

30 March Awarded the Croix de Guerre.

Aug.Dec. Volunteers as a storekeeper and interpreter with the Irish Red Cross in Saint-Lo, Normandy.

1946.

July Publishes first fiction in French a truncated version of the short story "Suite" (later to become "La Fin") in Les Temps modernes, owing to a misunderstanding by editors as well as a critical essay on Dutch painters Geer and Bram van Velde in Cahiers d"art.

1947.

Jan.Feb. Writes first play, in French, Eleutheria (published posthumously).

April Murphy, French translation (Paris: Bordas).

1948.

Undertakes a number of translations commissioned by UNESCO and by Georges Duthuit.

1950.

25 August Death of May Beckett.

1951.

March Molloy, in French (Paris: Les editions de Minuit).

November Malone meurt (Paris: Les editions de Minuit).

1952.

Purchases land at Ussy-sur-Marne, subsequently Beckett"s preferred location for writing.

September En attendant G.o.dot (Paris: Les editions de Minuit).

1953.

5 January Premiere of Waiting for G.o.dot at the Theatre de Babylone in Montparna.s.se, directed by Roger Blin.

May L"Innommable (Paris: Les editions de Minuit).

August Watt, in English (Paris: Olympia Press).

1954.

8 September Waiting for G.o.dot (New York: Grove Press).

13 September Death of Frank Beckett from lung cancer.

1955.

March Molloy, translated into English with Patrick Bowles (New York: Grove; Paris: Olympia).

3 August First English production of Waiting for G.o.dot opens in London at the Arts Theatre.

November Nouvelles et Textes pour rien (Paris: Les editions de Minuit).

1956.

3 January American Waiting for G.o.dot premiere in Miami.

February First British publication of Waiting for G.o.dot (London: Faber).

October Malone Dies (New York: Grove).

1957.

January First radio broadcast, All That Fall on the BBC Third Programme.

Fin de partie, suivi de Acte sans paroles (Paris: Les editions de Minuit).

28 March Death of Jack B.Yeats.

August All That Fall (London: Faber).

October Tous ceux qui tombent, translation of All That Fall with Robert Pinget (Paris: Les editions de Minuit).

1958.

April Endgame, translation of Fin de partie (London: Faber).

From an Abandoned Work (London: Faber).

July Krapp"s Last Tape in Grove Press"s literary magazine, Evergreen Review.

September The Unnamable (New York: Grove).

December Anthology of Mexican Poetry, translated by Beckett (Bloomington, Ind.: Indiana University Press; later reprinted in London by Thames & Hudson).

1959.

March La Derniere bande, translation of Krapp"s Last Tape with Pierre Leyris, in the Parisian literary magazine Les Lettres nouvelles.

2 July Receives honorary D.Litt. degree from Trinity College Dublin.

November Embers in Evergreen Review.

December Cendres, translation of Embers with Pinget, in Les Lettres nouvelles.

Three Novels: Molloy, Malone Dies,The Unnamable (New York: Grove; Paris: Olympia Press).

1961.

January Comment c"est (Paris: Les editions de Minuit).

24 March Marries Suzanne at Folkestone, Kent.

May Shares Prix International des Editeurs with Jorge Luis Borges.

August Poems in English (London: Calder).

September Happy Days (New York: Grove).

1963.

February Oh les beaux jours, translation of Happy Days (Paris: Les editions de Minuit).

May a.s.sists with the German production of Play (Spiel, translated by Elmar and Erika Tophoven) in Ulm.

22 May Outline of Film sent to Grove Press. Film would be produced in 1964, starring Buster Keaton, and released at the Venice Film Festival the following year.

1964.

March Play and Two Short Pieces for Radio (London: Faber).

April How It Is, translation of Comment c"est (London: Calder; New York: Grove).

June Comedie, translation of Play, in Les Lettres nouvelles.

JulyAug. First and only trip to the United States, to a.s.sist with the production of Film in New York.

1965.

October Imagination morte imaginez (Paris: Les editions de Minuit).

November Imagination Dead Imagine (London: The Sunday Times; Calder).

1966.

January Comedie et Actes divers, including Dis Joe and Va et vient (Paris: Les editions de Minuit).

February a.s.sez (Paris: Les editions de Minuit).

October Bing (Paris: Les editions de Minuit).

1967.

February D"un ouvrage abandonne (Paris: Les editions de Minuit).

Tetes-mortes (Paris: Les editions de Minuit).

16 March Death of Thomas MacGreevy.

June Eh Joe and Other Writings, including Act Without Words II and Film (London: Faber).

July Come and Go, English translation of Va et vient (London: Calder).

26 September Directs first solo production, Endspiel (translation of Endgame by Elmar Tophoven) in Berlin.

November No"s Knife: Collected Shorter Prose, 19451966 (London: Calder).

December Stories and Texts for Nothing, ill.u.s.trated with six ink line drawings by Avigdor Arikha (New York: Grove).

1968.

March Poemes (Paris: Les editions de Minuit).

December Watt, translated into French with Ludovic and Agnes Janvier (Paris: Les editions de Minuit).

1969.

23 October Awarded the n.o.bel Prize for Literature. Sans (Paris: Les editions de Minuit).

1970.

April Mercier et Camier (Paris: Les editions de Minuit).

Premier amour (Paris: Les editions de Minuit).

July Lessness, translation of Sans (London: Calder).

September Le Depeupleur (Paris: Les editions de Minuit).

1972.

January The Lost Ones, translation of Le Depeupleur (London: Calder; New York: Grove). The North, part of The Lost Ones, ill.u.s.trated with etchings by Arikha (London: Enitharmon Press).

1973.

January Not I (London: Faber).

July First Love (London: Calder).

1974.

Mercier and Camier (London: Calder).

1975.