Author · Playwright · Translator
Panache … is a scar that learned to shine.
— Edgard Bronce-CerayAbout the Author
Edgard Bronce-Ceray writes plays, novels, and translations that reimagine the monuments of French literature for contemporary readers. His work brings verse drama and swashbuckling narrative back to the English-speaking page — and, increasingly, to the stage.
His most ambitious project is The Panache Trilogy, a theatrical cycle that expands Edmond Rostand's Cyrano de Bergerac with an original prequel and sequel. The centrepiece is the first English translation of Rostand's play to preserve the alexandrine metre — the twelve-syllable line that gives French classical verse its music.
He is also the first translator to render Michel Zévaco's monumental Les Pardaillan in full — ten volumes of cape-and-sword adventure, over a century old, now available in English for the first time. Alongside these, he has translated Émile Gaboriau's founding detective novel The Lerouge Case and the anarchist memoirs of Alexandre Marius Jacob, the real-life inspiration for Arsène Lupin.
Featured Work
A theatrical trilogy that expands Rostand's masterpiece in both directions — backward into Cyrano's youth, and forward into the silent years between Christian's death and the final act.
A Prequel, the Play, and a Sequel — in English Alexandrines
Cyrano's panache has now inspired a trilogy. This includes a sparkling new English version of Rostand's play, in English alexandrines! Not only is this an excellent translation, but also the author has written two new plays: a Sequel and a Prequel. Highly recommended!
— Susan M. Lloyd, author of The Man Who Was Cyrano: A Life of Edmond Rostand (2002)Original Works
Reimagining the great texts of the French tradition — Hugo, Voltaire, and beyond — for a contemporary readership.
Victor Hugo's epic transposed to the American continent — the same relentless pursuit, the same impossible mercy, in a landscape Hugo never imagined but that his novel already contained.
Le Candide de Voltaire projeté dans le Donbass contemporain. Même candeur, mêmes horreurs, même question finale — mais le jardin qu'il faut cultiver est un champ de mines.
Translations
The complete ten-volume cycle by Michel Zévaco — translated into English for the first time. A monumental saga of swordplay, intrigue, and defiance in the France of the Wars of Religion.
The founding novel of French detective fiction — Gaboriau's 1866 masterpiece that invented the genre before Conan Doyle, in a new English translation.
Press & Reviews
Cyrano's panache has now inspired a trilogy. This includes a sparkling new English version of Rostand's play, in English alexandrines! Not only is this an excellent translation, but also the author has written two new plays: a Sequel and a Prequel. Highly recommended!
— Susan M. Lloyd, author of The Man Who Was Cyrano: A Life of Edmond Rostand (2002)