In progress – looking for a publisher
Before punk, before the Beats, before existentialism, and beyond Surrealism there were two visionaries, two rebels, two friends…and two tragic heroes,
Antonin Artaud and Robert Desnos.
These two men should never be forgotten.
Please visit the Association Rodez Antonin Artaud for more information about Artaud’s life and work
From Book Four: What Hitler Did to Germans Too
Author’s Note: The Nazis were ordered to search the Ville-Évrard Asylum outside Paris while Antonin Artaud was held there. Even Hitler’s soldiers did not like doing this. Hitler abused his own people, denied his relatives (some of whom had mental disabilities), and hid his questionable past. This story needs to be told to finally breakContinue reading “From Book Four: What Hitler Did to Germans Too”
From Book 3: A Night on the rue Mazarine
Artaud was galvanized after his return to Paris. He wrote to and met with Breton frequently, but something about him was different. Now he had Cécile Schramme, who had waited for him. Everyone noticed the remarkable effect that this young Belgian girl seemed to have on the thirty-nine year-old man. He became energetic, humorousContinue reading “From Book 3: A Night on the rue Mazarine”
From Book 1: A Night on the rue Blomet
There were voices outside and someone pounded on the door. Desnos answered it and let in a group of five people. Before any introductions could begin more people walked up, so he left the door open to the warm night air. Some of the people I recognized from earlier this evening, but most wereContinue reading “From Book 1: A Night on the rue Blomet”
From Book 1: Teacher's Pet
“How can you keep track of so many people?” I asked. I was already thinking how I could devise a deck of cards to remember them all. Soupault, with his lamppost, was the ace, and Desnos was the joker, of course. I figured Artaud for the king, Péret for the knave, and this Simone couldContinue reading “From Book 1: Teacher's Pet”
From Book 3: The Cenci
In May, Louis, Anita, Justine and I attended the premiere of The Cenci with Desnos and Youki. It was a gala performance with many society members in attendance, including the Prince of Greece. The nobility stumbled about in the cramped foyer alongside the intellectuals who jabbered with their berets pressed close together. The venue,Continue reading “From Book 3: The Cenci”
Photos from my visit to Paris to write this series
The Theatre de l’Atelier, where Antonin Artaud acted as a member of Charles Dullin’s troupe 
The last residents of Robert Desnos with a placard: “Here lived from 1934 to 1944 ROBERT DESNOS, French poet, arrested by the Gestapo and deported, he died because he believed in freedom, progress, and justice.” 
Those rose I laid on the grave of Desnos in Montparnasse Cemetery. Desnos was cremated with a rose at Terezin after liberation. 
The Select features prominently in my novel. 
A coaster from this cafe once a haunt of artists and the working class 
Artaud’s favorite cafe, where the waiters were so kind to him
The Double, a novel series
about Antonin Artaud and Robert Desnos
Read Excerpts
i have been working on this series for 30 years and it has taken me where I did not expect to go. I never set out to write this book. Artaud and I merely shared the same concerns about language.
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I do not intend to profit from the sacrifices of these two men. I only want the world to know about them and never forget them. Please explore this important work done by others.
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About the Author
A novel, about my friends and beloved teachers who I’ve never met, Antonin Artaud and Robert Desnos.
It was Artaud who took over the book I tried to write, and it was knowing Artaud who led me to Desnos.
I am a writer, a former actress and dancer, and many other things. I have not been born yet; I am not in the world yet.
All I ask is Life. Therefore I offer this failed “spell.”
