David Gascoyne was perhaps Britain’s greatest surrealist poet. A Salisbury school friend of Geoffrey Bush, Gascoyne published his first collection of poetry, Roman Balcony and Other poems, at 16. His novel, Opening Day, followed within a year. In later life he believed he suffered as a result of this precocity. The early success allowed him to travel. He headed straight to Paris where his fascination with Surrealism began and his circle of friends included Dali, Éluard, Breton, Ernst. Gascoyne can be credited with bringing Surrealism to Britain, in both his own works and in the translations of Dali and Breton, and through the 1936 London Surrealist Exhibition. Gascoyne lived in France for much of his life, and was made Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Arts et Lettres. After a mental breakdown he moved to the Isle of Wight during 1964. While recovering in hospital, he met Judy Lewis who read poetry to the patients. After she read one of his poems, he approached her and said ‘I wrote that poem’. She replied, ‘Of course you did, dear’. They married soon after.

from notes by Robin Tritschler © 2024