Jean Portante was born into an Italian immigrant family in Differdange (Luxembourg). He works as a writer, poet, journalist and translator. His 30 books were translated into several languages. In France, his poetic work won the “Prix Mallarmé” and the “Prix d’automne de la Société des Gens des Lettres”. Among his recent works are “La mémoire de la baleine” (Memories of a whale) and “Le travail du poumon” (The work of the lung). In 2006, he was elected member of the French “Académie Mallarmé”.