Simon Watson Taylor (surrealist)
Simon Watson Taylor (15 May 1923 – 4 November 2005) was an
He was secretary for the
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 and plays by Boris Vian including The Empire Builders, The Generals' Tea Party and The Knackers' ABC. Others were The Cenci by Antonin Artaud, Paris Peasant by Louis Aragon and numerous works by Alfred Jarry. His collection of Jarry's The Ubu Plays (Methuen, London, 1968) included translations by himself and Cyril Connolly 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's papers are in a collection at
External links
- Obituary by George Melly in The Independent (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)