Paul Claes

Paul Claes (born 30 October 1943) is a Flemish writer, poet and translator.

Born in Leuven, Claes graduated in classical literature and Germanic philology (Dutch and English). He obtained a PhD in 1981, with a dissertation De mot zit in de mythe on references to classical texts in the works of Hugo Claus. He worked at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven and the Catholic University of Nijmegen.

Claes made his debut as a poet in 1983 with sonnets in De zonen van de zon. His translation of T.S. Eliot's "The Waste Land" (2007) includes a comprehensive commentary and a new interpretation. "La clef des Illuminations" (2008) is a new interpretation of Arthur Rimbaud's masterpiece. "Concatenatio Catulliana" (2002) is a new theory about the arrangement of Catullus' "Carmina".