Landscapist
Selected Poems
John Ashbery's translations of Pierre Martory's poems offer a unique insight into the work of the French poet, and into the creative dialogue between two poets. Ashbery describes Martory's writing as "touched by the gaiety of Rene Clair's films and the melancholy of Piaf, echoing the witty surrealism of Pierre Reverdy and Raymond Queneau"; in Ashbery's translations, the distinctive flavour of Martory's poetry, "located somewhere between Paris and New York", finds its English voice. The Landscapist gathers Ashbery's published translations, some with emendations, together with uncollected pieces and facing-page French text. With a definitive introductory biographical essay by Ashbery and bibliographies of both the translations and Martory's publications, "The Landscapist" is an indispensable introduction to Martory's poetry and an illuminating addition to Ashbery's work.
About the author
Pierre Martory was born in Bayonne in 1920 and spent much of his childhood in Morocco. He entered the School of Political Science in Paris in 1939, and in June 1940 escaped from Paris on the last train to leave before the Germans arrived. After a brief stay in prison in Lyon he succeeded in joining the French Army in Morocco, and subsequently fought alongside the Allied forces in the Tunisian campaign. After the war he suffered from depression and drifted through a series of jobs, eventually becoming the editor of "Paris-Match". His novel "Phebus ou le beau mariage" was published in 1953. For nine years from the mid-1950s Martory lived with the American poet John Ashbery in Paris. Ashbery's translations of his poems have appeared in "Poetry" (Chicago), "American Poetry Review" and "The New Yorker". Martory suffered a stroke in 1995 and died in 1998.