Philippe Soupault, Poetry, Prose, and Interviews

At the age of nine, John Ashbery saw a spread in Life Magazine on an exhibition of Fantastic Art, Dada, and Surrealism. He later said, “Those images made me want to be a Surrealist.”

Philippe Soupault is a key yet often overlooked figure of the Surrealist movement, and Mary Ann Caws, a leading scholar of that movement, has written: “Soupault is, at least in my opinion, the most appealing Surrealist since any encounter with him is both enriching and delightful.” 

This evening Gregg Ellis will read from his new book of translations of Soupault’s poems and prose. Eric Longo and Mark Dow will complement the readings with excerpts of the original French texts and a selection of Ashbery’s more “surrealistic” poems.

Praise for " Philippe Soupault, Poetry, Prose, and Interviews"

"These totally remarkable renderings - I won't even say translations -of the superb French Surrealist poet, Philippe Soupault, are nothing short of miraculous. Gregg Ellis has managed to offer more than I might have imagined. And Soupault is, at least for me, the most appealing Surrealist, even more so than the revered André Breton. All three parts of this book surpass anything an enthusiastic reader of Surrealists texts could long for. What else to say? These works will surely trigger a desire for more as any encounter with Soupault is both enriching and delightful."

—Mary Ann Caws, Distinguished Professor Emerita of Comparative Literature, English, and French at the Graduate School of the City University of New York

Gregg Ellis (left) was raised in the United States and has been living in France for a number of years. Philippe Soupault, the French Surrealist, was born outside of Paris, wrote poetry, novels, plays, art reviews, literary criticism, and ran a number of radio broadcasts during his life. Mr. Soupault has been in Mr. Ellis’s interest field for a long time and his translations of Mr. Soupault have appeared in a number of reviews.

Mark Dow (right) is the author of Plain Talk Rising, "Feedback" and Other Conversation Poems, and co-editor (with Kevin Pask) of the Westron Wynde blog. He has written about John Ashbery for The Miami Herald, Boston Review, and PN Review. He is also the author of American Gulag: Inside U.S. Immigration Prisons.