The editions title earthlight is something of a misnomer, as earthlight is the title of a 1923 collection of breton s poetry, while this translation contains poetry from 1919 to 1936. Love, the manifestoes of surrealism, the magnetic fields with philippe soupault, and earthlight. Unlike certain schools of poetry, precision of meaning is not the important appeal to the conscious mind of the surrealist. Translator bill zavatsky worked as a pianist from the age of fifteen to twentyfive and studied music at the new school. Discover delightful childrens books with prime book box, a subscription that delivers new. Andre breton and the surrealist movement advice for writers. Merrill has published several books of poetry, and is author of the. Poems of andre breton, which won the pen book ofthemonth club translation prize. He holds a bachelors and a masters degree from columbia university. Earthlight, by andre breton translated by bill zavatsky. Spanning 19191936, this volume covers his early work, his associations with d. Nadja, a novel about his encounter with an imaginative woman who later became mentally ill, was published in 1928. As for surrealisms andre breton, something about his personality and.
His writings include the first surrealist manifesto manifeste du surrealisme of 1924, in which he defined surrealism as pure psychic automatism. Best known in the united states as the mastermind of the surrealist movement and as the author of nadja, andre breton has always enjoyed in europe the reputation of being a brilliant poet as well. Written to friends and fellow surrealists such as pablo picasso, andre derain, robert desnos, francis picabia, pierre reverdy, and max ernst, the poems in this collection date from 1919 to 1936, spanning breton s involvement with dadaism and his founding and development of surrealism. Best known in the united states as the mastermind of the surrealist move. Reading breton s book of verses recalls the impetus and roots of the surrealist movement. Breton s book, the original earthlight, is included in the translation, but it is only a small part of the entire book. Best known in the united states as the mastermind of the surrealist movement and as the author of the dreamlogic fiction nadja, andre breton has always enjoyed in europe the additional reputation of being a brilliant poet. Earthlight, with all its strange, hallucinatiory symbolism, demonstrates that art like life doesnt necessarily have any. Buy anthology of black humour by andre breton isbn. Andre breton and his friends wanted to reinvent mans relationship to life itself, and what better place to begin than with a simple. The range of poetic forms, from the early collage compositions to the five dreams of earthlight and. Discover delightful childrens books with prime book box, a subscription that. Andre bretons life is practically an intellectual and artistic history of his.
Winner of the pen book ofthemonth club translation prize. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. Poems of andre breton, city lights books andre breton. He is known best as the cofounder, leader, principal theorist and chief apologist of surrealism.