Roger Gilbert-Lecomte (18 May 1907, in
Reims,
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
– 31 December 1943, in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
) was a
French avant-garde
The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...
poet
A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems ( oral or wri ...
and co-founder (with
René Daumal
René Daumal (; 16 March 1908 – 21 May 1944) was a French spiritual para-surrealist writer, critic and poet, best known for his posthumously published novel '' Mount Analogue'' (1952) as well as for being an early, outspoken practitioner ...
,
Roger Vailland
Roger Vailland (16 October 1907 – 12 May 1965) was a French novelist, essayist, and screenwriter.
Biography
Vailland was born in Acy-en-Multien, Oise. His novels include the prize winning ''Drôle de jeu'' (1945), ''Les mauvais coups'' (1948) ...
and
Josef Šíma
Josef Šíma (18 March 1891 – 24 July 1971) was a Czechoslovak modernist painter.
Biography
After graduating from Academy of Arts in Prague where he was the student of Jan Preisler he was involved in the Devětsil movement and in Umělecká be ...
) of the artistic group and magazine ''Le Grand Jeu''. The group, associated with
surrealists, was "excommunicated" from the movement by
André Breton. Gilbert-Lecomte used drugs, in particular
morphine
Morphine is a strong opiate that is found naturally in opium, a dark brown resin in poppies (''Papaver somniferum''). It is mainly used as a pain medication, and is also commonly used recreationally, or to make other illicit opioids. T ...
, for both artistic and sociological reasons. As was predicted in his poetry, his death was the result of an infection caused by the use of dirty hypodermic needles.
"Coma Crossing: Collected Poems", Schism Books, 2019, is the most comprehensive bilingual anthology of his poetry and "Theory of the Great Game" (Atlas Books, 2015) gives a hefty selection of his prose, along with that of René Daumal and other members of "Le Grand Jeu."
Bibliography
* ''Le grand jeu'' (nos 1, 2, et 3)
* ''Testament'' (1955)
* ''Sacre et massacre de l'amour (1960)
* ''Tétanos mystique'' (1972)
* ''Lettres à Benjamin Fondane'' (1985)
* ''Monsieur Morphée empoisonneur public'' (1966)
* ''Correspondance'' (1971)
* ''Arthur Rimbaud'' (1971)
* ''L'horrible révélation… la seule'' (1973)
* ''Œuvres complètes'', 2 volumes (1974–1977)
* ''Caves en plein ciel'' (1977)
* ''Neuf haï kaï'' (1977)
* ''Poèmes et chroniques retrouvés'' (1982)
* ''Mes chers petits éternels'' (1992)
* ''La vie, l'amour, la mort, le vide et le vent''
* ''Joseph Sima'' (2000)
* ''Le miroir noir''
* ''Black Mirror: The Selected Poems of Roger Gilbert-Lecomte'' (Station Hill Press, 1991)
* ''The Book is a Ghost: Thoughts and Paroxysms for going Beyond'' (Solar▲Luxuriance, 2015)
* 'Coma Crossing: Collected Poems' (Schism Books, 2019)
External links
*
1907 births
1943 deaths
Writers from Reims
French surrealist writers
20th-century French poets
20th-century French male writers
Drug-related deaths in France
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