Simon Watson Taylor (15 May 1923 – 4 November 2005) was an English

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

and

translator Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''trans ...

, often associated with the

Surrealist Surrealism is an art movement, art and cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists aimed to allow the unconscious mind to express itself, often resulting in the depiction of illogical or dreamlike s ...

movement.

Career

Taylor was born on 15 May 1923, in

Wallingford, Oxfordshire Wallingford () is a historic market town and civil parish on the River Thames in South Oxfordshire, England, north of Reading, south of Oxford and north west of Henley-on-Thames. Although belonging to the historic county of Berkshire, it ...

. He was secretary for the British Surrealist Group and edited the English language surrealist review ''Free Unions / Unions Libres'' but later became a key player in the "science" of

Pataphysics 'Pataphysics () is a sardonic "philosophy of science" invented by French writer Alfred Jarry (1873–1907) intended to be a parody of science. Difficult to be simply defined or pinned down, it has been described as the "science of imaginary solu ...

. He was educated in England, France, Switzerland, Germany and Austria. Taylor lived in Paris in 1946-7, working for the English section of Radiodiffusion Française. Taylor's extensive work as a translator of modern and avant-garde French literature and books about art included ''Surrealism and Painting'' by

André Breton André Robert Breton (; ; 19 February 1896 – 28 September 1966) was a French writer and poet, the co-founder, leader, and principal theorist of surrealism. His writings include the first ''Surrealist Manifesto'' (''Manifeste du surréalisme'') ...

and plays by

Boris Vian Boris Vian (; 10 March 1920 – 23 June 1959) was a French polymath who is primarily remembered for his novels. Those published under the pseudonym Vernon Sullivan were bizarre parodies of criminal fiction, highly controversial at the time of th ...

including ''The Empire Builders'', ''The Generals' Tea Party'' and ''The Knackers' ABC''. Others were ''The Cenci'' by

Antonin Artaud Antoine Maria Joseph Paul Artaud (; ; 4September 18964March 1948), better known as Antonin Artaud, was a French artist who worked across a variety of media. He is best known for his writings, as well as his work in the theatre and cinema. Widely ...

, ''Paris Peasant'' by

Louis Aragon Louis Aragon (; 3 October 1897 – 24 December 1982) was a French poet who was one of the leading voices of the Surrealism, surrealist movement in France. He co-founded with André Breton and Philippe Soupault the surrealist review ''Littératur ...

and numerous works by

Alfred Jarry Alfred Jarry (; ; 8 September 1873 – 1 November 1907) was a French Artistic symbol, symbolist writer who is best known for his play ''Ubu Roi'' (1896)'','' often cited as a forerunner of the Dada, Surrealism, Surrealist, and Futurism, Futurist ...

. His collection of Jarry's ''The Ubu Plays'' (Methuen, London, 1968) included translations by himself and

Cyril Connolly Cyril Vernon Connolly CBE (10 September 1903 – 26 November 1974) was an English literary critic and writer. He was the editor of the influential literary magazine ''Horizon (British magazine), Horizon'' (1940–49) and wrote ''Enemies of Pro ...

and remains in print. In 1968, Taylor edited ''French Writing Today'', published in the United Kingdom by Penguin and in 1969 by Grove Press in the United States. Taylor was an editorial advisor and frequent contributor to the London-based magazine ''Art and Artists'' and was the guest co-editor (with Roger Shattuck) of a special issue (May–June 1960) of the American literary magazine '' Evergreen Review;'' titled ''What is Pataphysics?'' With Shattuck he also edited ''The Selected Works of Alfred Jarry'' (Methuen & Co, London, 1965). Taylor died on 4 November 2005, in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. His papers are in a collection at the

University of Tulsa The University of Tulsa (TU) is a Private university, private research university in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It has a historic affiliation with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Presbyterian Church, although it is now nondenominational, and the campus ...

External links

* Obituary by

George Melly Alan George Heywood Melly (17 August 1926 – 5 July 2007) was an English jazz and blues singer, critic, writer, and lecturer. From 1965 to 1973, he was a film and television critic for ''The Observer''; he also lectured on art history, with an ...

in ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' (U.K.), 16 November 2005
"Simon Watson Taylor: Surrealist turned anarchist, Pataphysician and hippie"
* Simon Watson Taylor
Growing up with anarchists, surrealists and pataphysicians (with some comments on Surrealism in Britain by Michael Remy)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Watson Taylor, Simon 1923 births 2005 deaths 20th-century English translators British surrealist writers People from Wallingford, Oxfordshire Translators from French British expatriates in Germany British expatriates in France British expatriates in Switzerland British expatriates in Austria