8/9/2019 Naum Cover (Spread) F4

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otherpohems

One of Romania’s most important poets and a key figure in the surrealist movement,Gellu Naum remains almost entirely unknown to English speaking audiences.

Sampling some of Naum’s best work from a unique literary career spanning over

more than 60 years, this collection offers a long overdue introduction to one of thegreatest figures in 20th century European poetry.

translated by  M  ARGENTO  and Mar tin Woodside

 Athanor 

 A T H A N O

 R &  O T H E R

 P  O H E M S 

 /   G E L  L  U

 N A U M 

 C A

 L  Y  P  S  O  E D I   T  I   O N S 

“In the history of radical modernismand of Surrealism in particular the timehas come for a reading of the secondgeneration of Surrealist poets spread overmultiple cultures and continents. It is inthis sense that the presentation here ofthe poetry of Gellu Naum both serves thisend and allows us to see a work of poesisremarkable enough in itself to call forour total attention. In  Athanor & OtherPohems , there is a thrill of discovery in thepresence of a mind and voice that bringsnew complexities and tonalities toward therebirth of something that we thought weknew and that even now astounds us.”

–Jerome Rothenberg

“In the beginning, there were several prizesin the Cosmic Lottery that were wonby poets. Gellu Naum won a telescope-microscope made from angel dew that wasinvisibly inserted behind his eyes. Over thecourse of a lifetime he viewed love, friends,fruit, weather, and writing through thatangelic instrument. Te poetry of GelluNaum is the script that inscribes Romania,the country lucky to have had him, onto theangelic map of the Cosmic L ottery.”

–Andrei Codrescu

“For those who thought provocatively

experimental writing left Romania with the

person of Tristan Tzara, in 1915, or Paul

Celan, as late as 1947—which is pretty

much all of us who read poetry in English—

the work of Gellu Naum is a revelation. In

these wonderful translations we feel the lifeof the poetic imagination owing freely

long after Dada, Surrealism, and their

discontents had faded into manner or

silence elsewhere. Naum is Tzara’s truest

heir, with the gravity of Apollinaire and the

eye of Breton.”

 –GC Waldrep

 other

pohems

GELLU N AUM (1915-2001) is one of thegreatest Europeanpoets of the 20thcentury and one ofthe most importantnames in the history

of Romanian literature. His one-of-a-kind surrealism defied both Communistpropaganda and escapist aestheticism while leaving an indelib le imprint ongenerations of Romanian non-conformistpoets and artists.

CALYPSO EDITIONSwww.CalypsoEditions.org 

 poetry

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