Surrealism in Canada

The Institute’s first lecture of the 2019-2020 academic year will take place on Wednesday 23 October, starting at 7.30 pm in the library of the Institute (Dionysiou Aiginitou 7, ground floor, Ilisia. Metro: Megaro Mousikis). In collaboration with the Embassy of Canada we welcome Canadian poet Beatriz Hausner, who will give a talk entitled, “Surrealism in Canada”, followed by readings from her own work.

“Historically there are basically three poles of surrealist activity in Canada. The first and most influential of these occurred in Quebec with the emergence and cultural dominance, through much of the 1940s and 1950s, of a radical artistic movement, the Automatistes de Montréal. The second emerges in Vancouver during the 1960s, and the third in Toronto begins in the 1970s. The talk will provide a historical overview of the three geographies, outlining the principal activities that characterized the surrealist movement in Canada at the time, including exhibitions and publications. The audience will then be taken into the present and provided with an overview of the exciting current resurgence of the surrealist movement in Canada. At every turn the audience will be provided with examples of surrealist literature by Canadians and pictorial examples will be provided to illustrate surrealism’s trajectory in Canada.”

Beatriz Hausner’s poetry books include: Enter the Raccoon, Sew Him Up, The Wardrobe Mistress, and many chapbooks, including Mornings With My Double, The Stitched Heart, The Metaphysics of Water, to name but three. Her new poetry collection, Beloved Revolutionary Sweetheart, is forthcoming in the spring of 2020. Her books have been translated into several languages, including Spanish (her mother tongue), French, Dutch and most recently Greek. She is a respected literary editor, and was one of the founding publishers of Quattro Books, and has worked tirelessly as an advocate for writers in Canada. She has translated many works of literature, primarily from Spanish into English, concentrating on Latin American surrealism. Hausner was Chair of the Public Lending Right Commission, and is current President of the Literary Translators’ Association of Canada.

You are all most welcome to join us next Wednesday for what promises to be a most interesting evening.

Jonathan Tomlinson
Assistant Director