Xavier Grall

Xavier Grall (1930–1981) was a journalist and poet from Brittany, France who was a strong advocate of Breton nationalism during the Third Emsav. His work glorifies a mystical Brittany.

Xavier Grall was born in Landivisiau in Finistère, but moved to Paris. He worked as a journalist for Catholic publications, including the journals La Vie catholique, of which he was editor, and Témoignage chrétien. He also wrote for Le Monde and Bretagne.

Grall rediscovered his Breton identity in the 1970s, leaving Paris permanently in 1973, returning to Brittany to live at Bossulan Farm in Nizon, just outside Pont-Aven. Grall's reassertion of Breton identity followed a period of disillusionment with France following the Algerian War. He later wrote that the war undermined his belief in the idea of France:

I had done the Algerian War, in the wolfish sun my eyes were opened. Heartbreaking revelation. From Djebel Amour [in Algeria] to Montagnes Noires [in Brittany], there were similarities. Same tyrant: the French state. Same victim: the peasant. Same cops: CRS .... When we saw France torture, we could not put that song on the level to which we'd been lulled .... The image of France that I had formed, very high and almost mystical, found itself forever tarnished.

In response he defined himself as Breton in opposition to French identity:

You discover Bretonness as it is not allowed to be. ... And you think that your country does exist, dear God, terribly. You recover. You look straight ahead. You are decolonized. You are Berber, Kabyle, Breton.

From this point on his work emphasise a multicultural ideal, building a unique example of Breton literature in French.

With his friends Alain Guel and the protest singer Glenmor, he founded editions Kelenn, where he published Barde imaginé (1968), Keltia Blues (1971), La fête de la nuit (1972) and Rires et pleurs de l'Aven (1978). Alain Guel, who followed his first steps in literature, and with whom he maintained a voluminous correspondence, was one of his best friends, whose support and friendship continued until the end of his life.

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