I am honoured to have one of my poems appear opposite a drawing by French poet, artist and publisher Robert Roman in Santanu Ray's poetry journal Barnaperon, published in Kolkata, India.
There is also a reproduction of a Dada 64 cover by late French artist and poet Pascal Ulrich.
Sabina, the widow of poet and publisher Subhankar Das, at the Graffiti stand of the Small Magazine Fair in Kolkata. At the front centre is a book of Subhankar with a painting by Pascal Ulrich on the cover.
Graffiti published my latest collection of poems, Somewhere else, in 2024, as well as an earlier collection, Sky dreaming, in 2011.
I recently conducted an interview with poet and publisher Robert Roman about the life and work of artist and poet Pascal Ulrich.
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| Robert Roman (R) and Pascal Ulrich in Toulouse 2000 |
Artist and poet Pascal Ulrich was born in Strasbourg in 1964. He started writing poetry at the age of 16 and at 23 he created a small poetry magazine called Dada 64. When he was 25, after a suicide attempt and time spent in a psychiatric hospital, he was given a disability pension and was thereafter able to devote himself to writing and art. Having battled with depression and alcohol problems throughout his life, Ulrich committed suicide in 2009.
Robert Roman is a poet and artist who befriend Ulrich in 1994. After Ulrich’s death he published a biography of him, Pascal Ulrich – The Lucid Dreamer, plus several collections of Ulrich’s poems and drawings. In 2014 he formed the BAKOU 98 association to preserve Ulrich’s work. He also created a blog devoted to Ulrich’s poetry, art and life.
When and how did you meet Pascal Ulrich? Had you been aware of his art or poetry before you met him?
Pascal Ulrich wrote me a first letter on June 16, 1994. I received it two days later, directly at my workplace. The letter came with a collage. In his letter, Pascal explained to me that he was contacting me following a request from Patrick Oustric, with whom he had been corresponding for several years. And it turns out that this Patrick Oustric, poet, and great lover of ancient letters, was one of my work colleagues! At that time I had not heard of Pascal Ulrich. I responded very quickly and that’s how our friendship began .. Read more
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| Pascal Ulrich in Toulouse in 2005. |
The latest issue of The Odd Magazine - Oddity 28 - contains an interview by Gary Cummiskey with Robert Roman, poet, artist and publisher, about artist and poet Pascal Ulrich.
The interview is both in English and French.
Thank you to Robert Roman for the interview and for translating the English interview into French.
There is an excellent blog, created by Robert Roman, devoted to the work of Pascal Ulrich.
Check out the latest issue of The Odd Magazine at: https://theoddmagazine.
Odd Poetry: Claudia Wysocky, Erin Jamieson, Jay Passer, John Grey, Mathew Friday, and Sean Meggeson.
Odd Shorts: Dominik Slusarczyk, John Fain, Kapka Nilan, Karen Schauber, Kathryn Silver-Hajo, Louella Lester, Luanne Castle, Mario Mussa, Meg Pokrass, and Mehreen Ahmed.
Odd Art: Pascal Ulrich, Howie Good, and Eric Brunet
Odd Interview: Robert Roman conversation with Gary Cummiskey (in English and French)
He recently published my new collection of poems, Somewhere else, and had also published my collection Sky Dreaming in 2011. He has also published poems of mine in various journals and used my artwork on covers of his poetry journal Graffiti.
The above photo shows a joyous Subhankar holding an original artwork by Pascal Ulrich, in January 2023. Photo courtesy of Robert Roman.
