Gellu Naum
Biography
Gellu Naum was born in Bucharest in 1915. His father was killed in World War I. He wrote his first poems whilel still at school. He started studying philosophy at the University of Bucharest He was caught writing subversive passwords on the walls of houses and decided to leave Bucharest He then continued his studies at the University of Paris, writing his Ph.D thesis on Pierre Abelard. He also became involved with the Surrealists.
He returned to Bucharest in1939 and fought in World War II. In 1941 he joined the Romanian surrealist group. However, after the Communist takeover, this was banned. He continued to write surrealist works but was only able to publish children’s works and works of socialist realism, which he later denounced. He taught philosophy at the Agronomic Institute in Bucharest while working also as a translator. He was only recognised as an important writer only after the publication of the novel Zenobia (Zenobia ). After the revolution of 1989 he travelled abroad, giving readings. He died in 2001.
Other links
Gellu Naum
Gellu Naum
Poems by Gellu Naum
Six Poems by Gellu Naum
Poetry Review: Romanian Poet Gellu Naum — Living in the “Blue Crypt under the Night’s Obscure Seal”
Communist Leftovers: The Forgotten Books of Gellu Naum
Bibliography
1937 Libertatea de a dormi pe o frunte (poetry)
1939 L’image présente à l’esprit (a collection of images cut and pasted from a magazine feature)
1940 Vasco de Gama (poetry)
1944 Culoarul somnului (poetry)
1945 Medium I(dreams
1945 Critica mizeriei (manifesto, with Paul Păun and Virgil Teodorescu)
1945 Teribilul interzis (drama)
1946 Spectrul longevității. 122 de cadavre (drama, with Virgil Teodorescu)
1946 Castelul orbilor (drama)
1947 L’Infra-Noir (manifesto, with Gherasim Luca, Paul Păun, Virgil Teodorescu, and Dolfi Trost)
1947 Éloge de Malombre. Cerne de l’amour absolu (manifesto with Gherasim Luca, Paul Păun, and Dolfi Trost)
1952 Filonul (children’s)
1953 Tabăra din munți (children’s)
1956 Așa-i Sanda (children’s)
1956 Kicsi Sari (children’s)
1958 Cel mai mare Gulliver (children’s)
1959 artea cu Apolodor, București (children’s)
1960 Poem despre tinerețea noastră (poetry)
1961 Soarele calm (poetry)
1964 A doua carte cu Apolodor (children’s)
1968 Athanor (Athanor & Other Pohems) (poetry)
1970 Poetizați, poetizați… (prose)
1970 Poeme alese (poetry)
1971 Copacul-animal (poetry)
1972 Tatăl meu obosit. Pohem (My Tired Father ) (poetry)
1975 Descrierea turnului (poetry)
1979 Insula. Ceasornicăria Taus. Poate Eleonora (drama)
1979 Cărțile cu Apolodor (children’s)
1980 Partea cealaltă (poetry)
1983 Poems – Poeme (bilingual poetry collection)
1985 Zenobia (Zenobia ) (novel)
1988 Amedeu, cel mai cumsecade leu (poetry)
1990 Malul albastru
1994 Fața și suprafața urmat de Malul albastru. Poeme (1989-1993) (poetry)
1995 Focul negru (poetry)
1996 Întrebătorul (collection of his prose)
1995 Sora fântână (poetry)
2000 Copacul-animal urmat de Avantajul vertebrelor (poetry)
2000 Ascet la baraca de tir (poetry)
2002 Calea șearpelui (poetry)
2003 Exact în același timp. Teatru (drama)
2003 Despre interior-exterior. Gellu Naum în dialog cu Sanda Roșescu (interview)
2004 Despre identic și felurit. Antologie (poetry)
2010 Exactitatea umbrei (poetry)
2011 ârsta semnului. 52 de poeme alese și rostite de Gellu Naum (poetry)
2011 Opere I. Poezii (collected works – poetry)
2012 Opere II. Proza (collected works – prose)